A Short History Of The Book Of Common Prayer - free ebook by William Reed Huntington

WILLIAM REED HUNTINGTON D. D. D. C. L.

Rector of Grace Church New York 2 and 3 Bible House Copyright, 1893, by...

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THE MERSHON COMPANY PRESS, RAHWAY, N. J.

I. A Short History of the Book of Common Prayer: I. Origins, II. Vicissitudes, II. Revision of the American Common Prayer, III. The Book Annexed : Its Critics and its Prospects, Appendix: I. Permanent and Variable Characteristics of the Prayer Book—A Sermon Before Revision, 1878 II. The Outcome of Revision, 1892 III. Tabular View of Additions Made at the Successive Revisions, 1552-1892 The opening paper of this collection was originally read as a lecture before a liturgical class, and is now pub

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I. ORIGINS.

Liturgical worship, understood in the largest sense the phrase can bear, means divine service rendered in accordance with an established form. Of late years there has been an attempt made among purists to confine the word "liturgy" to the office entitled in the Prayer Book, The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion . This restricted and specialized interpretation of a familiar word may serve the purposes of technical scholarship, for undoubtedly there is much to be

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II.

Certain of the necromancers of the far East are said to have the power of causing a tree to spring up, spread its branches, blossom, and bear fruit before the eyes of the lookers-on within the space of a few moments. Modern liturgies have sometimes been brought into being by a process as extemporaneous as this, but not such was the genesis of the Book of Common Prayer. There are at least eight forms under which the Prayer Book has been from time to time authoritatively set forth—five English, on

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REVISION OF THE AMERICAN COMMON PRAYER. II. REVISION OF THE AMERICAN COMMON PRAYER.[1]

The revision of long established formularies of public worship is, as it ought to be, a matter compassed about with obstacles many and great. A wise doubtfulness prompts conservative minds to throw every mover for change upon the defensive, when liturgical interests are at stake. So many men are born into the world with a native disposition to tamper with and tinker all settled things, and so many more become persuaded, as time goes on, of a personal "mission" to pull down and remake whatever ha

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LIMITATIONS.

No estimate of the merits and demerits of The Book Annexed can be a just one that leaves out of account the limitations under which the framers of it did their work. These limitations were not unreasonable ones. It was right and proper that they should be imposed. There is no good ground for a belief that the time will ever come when a "blank cheque," to borrow Mr. Goschen's mercantile figure, will be given to any company of liturgical revisers to fill out as they may see fit. But the moulders o

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SPECIAL CRITICISMS.

( a ) Foreign . As there is reason to believe that opinion at home has been very considerably affected by foreign criticism of The Book Annexed , it will be well at this point to give some attention to what has been said in English journals in review of the work thus far accomplished. The more noteworthy of the foreign criticisms are those contained in The Church Quarterly Review , The Church Times , and The Guardian .[40] The Church Quarterly reviewer opens with an expression of deep regret at

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THE MOTIVE OF THE EFFORT AFTER REVISION.

It is asked, and with no little show of plausibility, Why—in the face of such manifold hostility and such persistent opposition, why press the movement for revision any further? Is it worth while to divide public sentiment in the Church upon a question that looks to many to be scarcely more than a literary one? Why not drop the whole thing, and let it fall into the limbo, where lie already the Proposed Book and the Memorial Papers ? For this reason, and it is sufficient: There has arisen in Amer

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II.

The Book Annexed may be said to hold to the possible standard Common Prayer of 1890 a relation not unlike that of a clay model to the statue which is to be. The material is still in condition to be moulded; the end is not yet. It was in anticipation of this state of things that the friends of revision in 1883 were anxious to carry through the preliminary stage of acceptance as many of their propositions as possible. To revert to our parable, the modeller, in treating the face of his provisional

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THE STANDARD PRAYER BOOK OF 1890.

The end we ought to have in view is the publication, in the year 1890, of a standard Book of Common Prayer, such as shall embody the ripe results of what will then have been a period of ten years of continuous labor in the work of liturgical revision. To this reckoning of ten years should properly be added the seventeen years that intervened between the presentation of "The Memorial" in 1853 and the passing of the "Enrichment Resolutions" in 1880: so that really our Revision would look back for

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THE MEANS TO THE END.

The most expeditious and every way satisfactory means to the end that has now been defined would be the appointment, at an early stage of the session in October, of a Joint Committee of Conference. To this committee should be referred: ( a ) The question: How many of the Resolutions of 1883, or of the "several recommendations therein contained," is it either practicable or desirable to approve at once? ( b ) The question: How may such of the Resolutions of 1883 as are too good to be lost, but no

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IMPROVEMENTS.

It follows, from what has been said, that if there are features that admit of improvement in the proposals which the Convention has laid before the Church for scrutiny, now is emphatically the time for suggesting the better thing that might be done. Even the bitterest opponents of The Book Annexed can scarcely be so sanguine as to imagine that nothing at all is coming from this labored movement for revision. A measure which was so far forth acceptable to the accredited representatives of the Chu

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RESOLUTION I.

The Title-page . The proposals under this head are two in number: ( a ) that the words, "together with the Psalter or Psalms of David," be dropped from the title-page as superfluous, and ( b ) that a general title, "THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER," be printed on the first page of the leaf preceding the title-page. Neither of these suggestions is of any great importance, and the interest attaching to them is mainly bibliographical. Whenever any addition has been made to the Prayer Book of the Church o

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RESOLUTION II.

The Introductory Portion . (a) Table of Contents .—The suggestion[64] that all entries after "The Psalter" should be printed in italics, is a good one. (b) Concerning the Service of the Church .—This substitute for the present "Order how the Psalter is appointed to be read" and "Order how the rest of the Holy Scripture is appointed to be read" is largely based on the provisions of the so-called "Shortened Services Act" of 1872. The second paragraph relating to the use of the Litany appears to be

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RESOLUTION III.

The Morning Prayer . (a) The First Rubric .—The Maryland Committee is quite right in remarking that the language of this important rubric, as set forth by the Convention of 1883, is "inelegant and inaccurate," but another diocese has called attention to the fact that the substitute which Maryland offers would, if adopted, enable any rector who might be so minded to withhold entirely from the non-communicating portion of his flock all opportunity for public confession and absolution from year's e

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RESOLUTION IV.

Daily Evening Prayer . (c) The proposed words, "Let us humbly confess our sins unto Almighty God," are justly thought by many to be inferior both in rhythm and in dignity to "Let us make humble confession to Almighty God." (i)-(l) There seems to be absolute unanimity in the judgment that Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis ought, as Gospel Hymns, to have the prior places after the Lessons which they follow. In the interest of simplicity of arrangement a like general consent to omit altogether Bonum est

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RESOLUTION V.

The Beatitudes of the Gospel . This is the one feature of The Book Annexed against which the fire of hostile criticism has been the most persistently directed. Whether the strictures passed upon the Office have been in all cases as intelligent as they have been severe, may be open to question, but there can be no doubt whatever that, in its present form, Resolution V. would, if put to the vote, be rejected. Passing by the more violent utterances of those whose language almost suggests that they

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RESOLUTION VI.

The Litany . The rubrics prefixed to the Litany are a gain, but except by the addition of the two new suffrages, the one for the President and the other for the increase of the ministry, it will probably be best to leave the text of this formulary untouched. Even in the case of the new petitions it would be well if they could be grafted upon suffrages already existing, a thing that might easily be done.[82] It would be a liturgical improvement if the Litany, in its shortened form, were to end at

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RESOLUTION VII.

Prayers and Thanksgivings . The Maryland Committee[83] have much to say in criticism of this section, and offer many valuable suggestions, the best of them being a recommendation to print the Prayer entitled, "For Grace to speak the Truth in Love," in Canon Bright's own words. Some of their comments, on the other hand, suggest canons of criticism which, if applied to "The Prayer Book as it is," would make havoc of its choicest treasures.[84] The Committee of Central New York[85] go much further

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RESOLUTION VIII.

Penitential Office for Ash-Wednesday . This is the English Commination Office, with the introductory portion omitted. It would add to the merit of the formulary, especially when used as a separate office, were it to be prefaced by the versicle and response, similarly employed in the Hereford Breviary: V . Let us confess unto the Lord, for he is gracious. R . And his mercy endureth forever. In view of the great length of the Morning Service on Ash-Wednesday, and the close similarity between the c

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RESOLUTION IX.

Thanksgiving-day or Harvest-home . The only alteration needed in this office is the restoration of the beautiful prayer for unity to its own proper wording as given in the so-called "Accession Service" appended to the English Prayer Book. As it stands in The Book Annexed the language of the prayer is possibly ungrammatical and certainly redundant. A critic, already more than once quoted,[87] protests against the prominence given to this office in The Book Annexed , ascribing it to influences bor

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RESOLUTION XI.

Collects, Epistles, and Gospels . No department of liturgical revision calls for a nicer touch than that which includes the Collects. That new collects for certain unsupplied feasts and fasts would be a genuine enrichment of The Book of Common Prayer, has long been generally acknowledged among Anglican scholars. The most weighty fault to be found with the collects added by the revisers is that in too large proportion they are addressed to the second and third Persons of the Holy Trinity. The Euc

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RESOLUTION XII.

The Holy Communion . To the few changes proposed in this Office, comparatively slight exception has been taken in any quarter. It will probably be wise to leave the language of the Prayer of Consecration wholly untouched, notwithstanding the alleged grammatical error near the end of it. The Rubric which it has been proposed to append to the Office, touching the number of communicants without which it shall not be lawful to administer the Sacrament, being of a disciplinary rather than of a liturg

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RESOLUTION XVI.

Confirmation . The permission to use a form of presentation instead of, or in addition to, the Preface is likely to be widely welcomed. The other addenda to this office, being apparently distasteful (for unlike reasons) to all the "schools of thoughts" in the Church, are likely to fail of acceptance; and on the whole may easily be spared....

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RESOLUTION XVIII.

Visitation of the Sick . The proposed Commendatory Prayer, though in some of its features strikingly felicitous, is open to formal improvement. The addition of a short Litany of the Dying would be appreciated by those whose ministry is largely exercised among the sick....

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RESOLUTION XX.

Burial of the Dead . By far the most important section of this Resolution is the one providing for the insertion of special features when the office is used at the burial of children. The provision, or at least the suggestion, of a more appropriate Lesson would be wise, but for the rest, the office is almost all that could be wished. A recent critic[88] raises the question, "Why single out infants alone for a special service? Why not forms for rich men and poor men—old men and maidens—widows and

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CONCLUSION.

The survey of corrigenda is now complete. The list looks like a long one, but really the points noted are few compared with those which have passed unchallenged. Here and there in the Resolutions that have not been considered are words or phrases that admit of improvement, and which in an actual and authorized re-review by a Committee of Conference would undoubtedly be improved. The bulk of the work has, for a period of three years, stood the incessant fire of a not always friendly criticism far

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THE BEATITUDES OF THE GOSPEL.

On Christmas-day, Easter-day, and Whitsunday, and on any week-day save Ash-Wednesday and Good Friday, this Office may be used in lieu of so much of The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper as precedeth the Epistle for the Day . This Office may also be used separately on occasions for which no proper Order hath been provided . The Minister standing up shall say the Lord's Prayer and the Collect following, the People kneeling, but the Lord's Prayer may be omitted if it hath been said

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APPENDIX.

One generation passeth away; and another generation cometh.—Eccles. i.4. Against the background of this sombre fact of change, whatever there is in life that is stable stands out with a sharpness that compels notice. Just because the world is so full of variableness, our hearts' affections fasten with the tighter grip upon anything that seems to have the guarantees of permanence. The Book of Common Prayer appeals to us on this score, precisely as the Bible, in its larger measure, does: it is the

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COMPARATIVE TABLE OF ADDITIONS MADE TO THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER AT THE SEVERAL REVISIONS SINCE 1549.

1552 1559 1604 1662 1789 1892 Scripture Sentences 11 8 31 Collects 3 1 3 Epistles 2 1 3 Gospels 1 1 3 Offices 13 8 1 1 Prayers 15 2 7 18 13 9 Proper Psalms (days) 2 10 Selections of Psalms 10 10 Canticles 8 2 Versicles 4 3 11 Litany Suffrages 1 1 Catechetical Questions 12 Exhortations 3 2...

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NOTES

Notes for a Short History of the Book of Common Prayer [1] First printed in the American Church Review , April, 1881. [2] Much confusion of thought and speech in connection with our ecclesiastical legislation grows out of not keeping in mind the fact that here in America the organic genetic law of the Church, as well as of the State, is in writing, and compacted into definite propositions. We draw, that is to say, a far sharper distinction than it is possible to do in England between what is con

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