View

150

Book of Common Prayer

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) born at Aslocton, Nottinghamshire, England. Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, ordained 1523. Preacher and theologian. Appointed Archibishop of Canterbury by King Henry. Advocated doctrinal reform and promoted translation of the Bible into English, (Cranmer's Bible). Largely responsible for the First Book of Prayer, the Second Book of Prayer, and the Forty-Two Articles, and doing away with the Mass in Latin. Under the Catholic Queen Mary, he was arrested, and then excommunicated by the Pope. He recanted his Protestant views, but later recanted his recantations and died a martyr, being burned at the stake.

The worship manual of the Protestant Epsicopal Church.

The Book of Common Prayer is the liturgical and service book of the Anglican and Protestant Episcopal churches. Its origins go back to the 16th century in England and the Institution of a Christian Man (1537), with the first version of 1549 attributed largely to Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. This handbook for the worship service provided "common prayer" – both used in common and in a common language (English, instead of ecclesiastical Latin). The second and third editions (1552 and 1662) brought the language and doctrinal expression more in line with Protestantism. This current (1979) version is that used by the Protestant Episcopal Church. It outlines the service of worship for the Daily Office, Baptism, Eucharist, Pastoral and Episcopal services; it provides a calendar of the Church Year, with related litanies and liturgical forms; and it includes the Psalter, prayers for various occasions, the Lectionary, an Outline of the Faith, and some historical documents of the Church.

Denominations

Anglican