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1. The Riches of the Book of Common Prayer
1. The Riches of the Book of Common Prayer
Address given by by John Sentamu to the Prayer Book
Society at Bishopthorpe on July 29th 2009
It is a great pleasure to be able to join you tonight to celebrate the gift of
the Prayer Book and to enjoy the richness of worshipping together, using the
words in which countless thousands across the centuries and across the world
have praised
God. It is now 469 years since the Prayer Book was crafted by Dr Thomas Cranmer,
Archbishop of Canterbury and nearly
350 years since it began to be used in its present form. That is a wonderful
heritage and tradition for our Church to celebrate, and it is important
not to lose the treasures contained in it.
What are the gifts of the Prayer Book which we value so much? When it came into
being it was revolutionary. One of the founding principles of the Church of
England when it became Catholic and Reformed was that church services should be
'in a tongue understanded of the people' (as Article 24 says in the Articles of
Religion) so that everyone present might be able to participate in public prayer
in the Church as well as the administration of the Sacraments.
And, once the Book of Common Prayer was created in English, it has subsequently
been translated into many languages, and in many countries. I myself grew up
using those very words in my worship of God in my mother tongue, Luganda.
The criticism of many is that the Book of Common Prayer contains language which
is no longer 'understanded of the people', and yet many of its words and phrases
are part of our common language. As Margot Lawrence pointed out in
Tudor English Today, the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations contains 549 of the
Prayer Book's phrases -'at death's door', 'give up for lost', 'moveable feasts',
'the jaws of death', 'passing all understanding', 'lead a new life', all of
these take their derivation straight from Cranmer's work and became the basis
for a generation of authors whose work shaped the language we speak. Some indeed
are so well 'understanded of the people' that they have become the titles of
television programmes and books -'Till Death us do Part'; 'Ashes to Ashes'.
Continuity with the past, indeed, is the life-blood of public language, and we
do well to value it. And the Prayer Book has, over the years, provided a bond of
unity throughout the Anglican Communion, through a common understanding of
worship and doctrine.
Liturgically, too, the Prayer Book is a treasure for the Church. Firstly in the
large quantity of scripture it contains - more than half of it is in selected
readings from the Bible.
Indeed, the principal importance of Archbishop Cranmer's use of Holy Scripture
lies in establishing the ordered reading of Scripture as the basis of common
prayer. As well as providing a large range of biblical passages for
congregations to hear and read together, it also contains the riches of the
elucidation of Scripture, tradition and lived Christian experience, through the
creeds and prayers.
And then we must value it for the sound doctrine it provides, giving liturgical
expression to the doctrine of salvation by grace, to the understanding of
Christ's sacrifice being a finished work. It affirms that our own offering is
one of praise and
thanksgiving in acknowledgement of his gift to us, and it preaches Jesus as a
living Saviour, not as a dead master of a by-gone age. The ever-present
Paraclete is evoked unashamedly
Next, we all know and love the excellent prayers, thanksgivings and
intercessions which sustain us and turn our hearts to God and to the hope he
offers for the world. And we are blessed by the range of services, covering
every variety of our human condition.
Finally, we enjoy the richness of its language. For many modernizers its
language is seen as a stumbling block; and it is true that the prayer Book needs
to be used with an historic understanding of the- language in order to
appreciate its true richness and depth of meaning. However, as with any poetry,
the language provides a way of conveying a complex vision, the many layered and
rich expression of creation and thought, through a form which arouses our
emotion and gives-us understanding beyond the surface meaning of the words
themselves. In this the Prayer Book perhaps succeeds, better than many other
forms, in expressing the love and grace of God, his glory and holiness, and the
proper and faithful response and service of his people.
We sometimes make the mistake of thinking that our modern versions are
automatically more intelligible to the modern mind, or to people of other
cultures and languages. This is to assume that intelligibility is only a mater
of paring down
language. What may be lost is the perception that there are greater meanings
that can be sought, greater mysteries beyond the surface, which it would profit
us to search for and discover. There may indeed be a case to be made that, if
the language we use is too banal, there might appear to be nothing beyond the
surface to be discerned.
I am glad therefore that the Book of Common Prayer is still a living spiritual
tradition, and that you in the Prayer Book Society continue to celebrate and
share in the worship of God in the language that so many have used before you.
May God bless you and maintain you in everything that is holy and good in your
life of common prayer.
Your opinion on these pages is invited. Please contact me by e-mail:- david.herring@ukonline.co.uk with any queries, comments, criticisms or suggestions - all are equally welcome !
Pages prepared by David Herring October/November 2005