Commemoration: First Book of Common Prayer

It was on Pentecost Sunday, June 9th, 1549, that the first Book of Common Prayer was used for worship in the churches of England. English men and women were able to pray in their own language. The first BCP was largely prepared by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He drew from the Latin services that had been used for centuries in the Catholic Church. But he also added from the worship liturgies of the Greek Orthodox Church, and the German services prepared by Martin Luther.

So the first Book of Common Prayer maintained continuity with the ways in which Christians had always prayed, while adapting those timeless prayers to the current spiritual needs of the people. As the British Empire spread throughout the world, so have other churches formed in many lands, all sharing the Anglican legacy. Each national church has adapted the Book of Common Prayer to its own needs. In the latest version of the American prayer book (1979), you can still hear the first 1549 Book of Common Prayer in our Rite I Eucharist during Advent before Christmas, and during Lent before Easter. Elsewhere, of course, the language is more contemporary.

The words, and our understanding of those words may change. But it is the same Spirit that has inspired those common prayers, from 1549 to 2011. Some might argue that saying set prayers from a book is contrary to what Jesus said: “true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). In other words, the Spirit of God is not present when we say prepared prayers, rather than praying “from the heart.” That is wrong. In truth, it is the Holy Spirit that has guided all those who have prepared all the Books of Common Prayer. Our set prayers are far too rich in truth and meaning for the Spirit to have been absent when they were written.

It is the Holy Spirit that breathes through us as we hear and say these prayers, which teach us how to pray to God. Every time we pray these familiar prayers, the words of those prayers seep deeper and deeper into our minds, hearts and souls. Then, with those words deeply rooted in us, we go out into the world. And wherever we go, rooted in those set prayers, our lives will be walking prayers for everything we touch. And as people of common prayer, our lives will be a blessing to all we meet. So with the Book of Common Prayer in our pews and in our hearts, let us always “pray in the Spirit and with the understanding.”

Almighty and everliving God, whose servant Thomas Cranmer, with others, restored the language of the people in the prayers of your Church: Make us always thankful for this heritage; and help us so to pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, that we may worthily magnify your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.