During his holiday Cranmer's Curate attended St Simon Zelotes in Chelsea, south-west London, and realised what a superb sermon the Book of Common Prayer is.
St Simon's is a church where the BCP is used at all its services. Its vicar, the Revd Michael Neville, was doing a sermon series on the biblical canticles in the Prayer Book.
In a magnificent sermon on the Benedictus - the prophecy of John the Baptist's father Zechariah as recorded in Luke 1v67-80 - Mr Neville showed that its central message is the glory of God's salvation through the remission of sins achieved by the Lord for whom John was going to prepare the way - Jesus Christ.
Mr Neville, an Anglican evangelical, pointed out that the placing of the the Benedictus at the end of the set readings from both the Old and New Testament in the BCP service of Morning Prayer is highly significant. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), who authored the Prayer Book, was thus intentionally proclaiming the fact that the crowning message of the Bible is God's gift of eternal salvation by his forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
With alternative gospels on offer in the modern Church - salvation through socio-political action or therapeutic spirituality or emotionally-charged worship - that is a sermon your curate was very thankful to hear.
This by cc - preaching is the best antidote to violent Jihadism - appeared this week on Heresy Corner.
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More years ago than I care to remember, I sat at the feet of Alan Stibbs as he expounded the Benedictus. He took, if I remember rightly, "His holy covenant" (v.72b) as the heart of the Canticle. He then expanded it from there as v.72a = v.73a. v.71 = v.73b. v70 = v. 76 etc. Try it and see! He explained that it was one form of Hebrew poetry.
ReplyDeleteThe Benedictus is of course THE Gospel Canticle for Morning Prayer as the Magnificat is for Evensong.
There were giants on the earth in those days!
blessings
Terry
Great post, Julian. The treasures of the prayer book have so much to offer us even today
ReplyDeleteCranmer and the team of reformers he headed were careful to preserve as much as possible of the traditions of the church over the previous 1500 years, yet at all times giving the highest and overriding priority to the teachings of Christ, his prophets and apostles in scripture.
From the services to the articles, the result is a profound treasury that provides a remarkable foundation for Anglicanism.
Of course, cc, you say Morning and Evening Prayer daily as instructed by the BCP - and using the BCP and not the CW order, naturally?
ReplyDeleteWhether one does or doesn't use it daily, that does not detract from the fact that the BCP is wonderful biblically-rich liturgy.
ReplyDeleteSteve raises another good point, which brings us back to the Anglican reformers' purpose in creating the BCP. On taking up his role as ABC, Cranmer found the church in some disarray, with most parishioners receiving communion only a couple of times a year (generally at Christmas and weddings), and priests otherwise occupied mainly with private masses or their own affairs.
ReplyDeleteCranmer's team of reformers wanted to see Communion being celebrated every Sunday, with the whole village gathered together with the leaders of the church (the elder or priest, deacons and lay leaders).
But the reformers also wanted people to have the opportunity to engage in corporate devotions at other times, if they wished. Because the vast majority of English people lived in villages and worked on the land, the only practical way to do that was for the priest or deacon to run a short morning and evening prayer service on every weekday. Villagers were able to attend at short notice. If no-one turned up then the service could not be held (the Order cannot be used if only the priest is present) and the priest or deacon were free for other duties.
In the different context of life in a modern industrial society, there is nothing wrong with finding out beforehand which times suit the congregation for mid-week services and scheduling them at those times only. After all, the Anglican reformer's concept was not for the priest to "say an office" (as though it were a medieval private mass), but to run a public service when God's people could gather together.
Of course, cc, I was slightly pulling your leg; but have you ever looked at the daily office in Common Worship Daily Prayer? It's manifestly biblically richer than the BCP, not least because of a MUCH wider variety of canticles. Consider: Morning and Evening Prayer in the BCP have between them a total of ten canticles, of which four are psalms (which means they'd still be used in the rotation of the psalter even if they were never used as canticles), one is used only once a year (the Easter Anthems), one is from the Apocrypha (the Benedicite) and one is not from Scripture at all (the Te Deum, though its content is of course wholly in accordance with Scripture) - that leaves three (Benedictus, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis); in CW, not counting psalms or anything from the Apocrypha or outside Scripture, there are - wait for it - FORTY-NINE canticles available (including the Benedictus, which your brother-priest in Chelsea preached on, and the Mag and Nunc). Another advantage of CW is that the office varies slightly according to the season of the year (e.g. more downbeat in Lent, decidedly upbeat in Eastertide). Added to that, there is also, of course, the fact that CW is in contemporary language, whereas the BCP.... well, you've heard from me before as to why I think 16th/17th century English in the liturgy is a dead end.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, even though I'm not ordained, I actually do use CW Morning and Evening Prayer daily.
Common Worship is a significant downgrade from the Prayer Book. Of course, one can use the Prayer Book in a variety of ways,including using different Biblical Canticles, if you really want to. It isnlt the canticles that make the Prayer Book so much (immeasurably) better than Common Worship - it is the overall doctrine, the real understanding of God's free grace that comes through Christ alone, and our complete need for it because of our 'deadness' in sin, that permeates the teaching of the Prayer Book from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteCommon Worship is more about the person doing than about the God giving, more about the worth of the worship than about the glory of God Himself, more about what we want to say than about what God asks to hear.
As to up-to-date language - why on earth should that stop you using the Prayer Book? If it is an issue, which I can accept, than translate it into modern English, it won't take long. Or even better, go to the Church Society website and download 'An English Prayer Book', which has already done the job for you.