Book of Common Prayer
From Hull AWE
The Book of Common Prayer (formally The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Church of England, Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be Sung or said in churches: And the Form and Manner of Making, ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons) is the official service book of the Church of England. The history of the BCP (its conventional abbreviation) reflects the history of the C. of E.:
- In the early days of the Henrician Reformation, there was little change in the rituals and services of the church - Henry VIII appears to have thought of himself as a good and traditional Roman Catholic, apart from owing obedience to the Pope.
- Henry's successor Edward VI was brought up with tutors and others committed to the cause of the Reformation, including John Cheke (1514–1557), Professor of Greek at Cambridge; Richard Cox (c. 1500–1581), headmaster of Eton; Roger Ascham (1514/15–1568), teacher (of Princess Elizabeth) and writer; and Anthony Cooke (1505/6–1576). These were all "Cambridge-educated humanists zealously committed to evangelical reform" (ODNB, 2021), and helped form Edward as the reforming puritan king. In his reign, Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), was Archbishop of Canterbury, and oversaw many reforms - notably the first printed expression of the forms of worship in the newly established church. This was the Book of Common Prayer, of 1549.
- It was revised, still under the guidance of Cranmer, in 1552. The 1552 version went much further in the direction of reforming religious practice than the 1549. The words 'Mass' and 'altar' were removed, and the eucharistic celebration was rephrased as a ceremony of remembrance and an act of community, rather than a sacrifice.
- However, in 1553 Edward died, and was succeeded by his sister Mary, a devout and determined Roman Catholic, who restored the whole Roman tradition of the Mass, suppressed the Book of Common Prayer, and had Cranmer burned at the stake (i.e. alive). During Mary's reign, the Book of Common Prayer was used by English congregations abroad, although some rejected it in favour of more Calvinist prayer books.
- In 1558, Mary died, and was succeeded by her sister Elizabeth. She (once again the Head of the Church of England) re-introduced Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer, in a slightly edited version known as the 1559 Book of Common Prayer.
- This remained the official prayer book of the Church of England until 1604, when the next king, James, accustomed to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, authorized a new version. This was through the Hampton Court Conference, which also authorized the Authorized Version of the Bible. Some theological changes were made to the liturgy and its language; but much of the text was still Cranmer's. He had been known throughout his career as an accurate and elegant writer of English (and Latin), and The Book of Common Prayer is one of the three texts that most influenced the growth of modern English, the other two being the Authorized Version and the plays and poems of Shakespeare and their contemporary writers.
- The Book of Common Prayer remains in essence the liturgy of the Church of England.
