 The following dates are suggested as being appropriate for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Book of Common Prayer. Following on the next National Council meeting, there will be added suggestions for each date. Wednesday, March 21: This is the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Translator, Compiler, and Author of the Book of Common Prayer Liturgical Resources
1. One of the best places to start is Stephen Reynolds’ book For All the Saints. There is a short biography on p.118 and eucharistic propers on p.119. The suggested readings are 1 Kings 22.8-10, 23.1-3, Psalm 143 (as a gradual psalm) and John 6.51-58. Unfortunately, the prayers are only given in contemporary language. On pp. 482-485 there is a longer biography of Cranmer and a discussion of his eucharistic theology, and on pp.485-487 there is an excerpt from his treatise, A Defence of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Our Saviour Christ (1551). A short bibliography follows.
2. The following traditional language Collect and suggested readings are taken from the 1963 edition of The Lesser Feasts and Fasts published by the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.
Almighty and everliving God, who didst guide thy servant Thomas Cranmer, with others, to render the worship of thy Church in a language understanded of the people: Make us ever thankful for this our heritage, and help us so to pray in the Spirit and with understanding also, that we may worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
The Lesson: Acts 2.38-42 The Gospel: Matthew 6.5-15
3. As a last resort, one may use the propers, “Of a Bishop or Archbishop,” found on pp.312-314 of the Book of Common Prayer. Cranmer
Outstretching flameward his upbraided hand (O God of mercy, may no earthly Seat Of judgement such presumptuous doom repeat!) Amid the shuddering throng doth Cranmer stand; Firm as the stake to which with iron band His frame is tied; firm from the naked feet To the bare head. The victory is complete; The shrouded Body to the Soul’s command Answers with more than Indian fortitude, Through all her nerves with finer sense endued, Till breath departs in blissful aspiration: Then, ‘mid the ghastly ruins of the fire, Behold the unalterable heart entire, Emblem of faith untouched, miraculous attestation!
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) Ecclesiastical Sonnets, Part II, XXXV Wednesday, May 2: This is the date for the big nation-wide celebration of the 1662 BCP in England. It will be an Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral in London. Monday, September 3: The date of the first recorded celebration of the Eucharist using the BCP in what is now Canada, by the Rev. Robert Wolfall, in Frobisher Bay, 1578 Sunday, December 2: (First Sunday in Advent) This is the date in 1962 on which the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada mandated the adoption of the 1962 Canadian BCP by all Canadian Anglicans.
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2012 BCP Golden Jubilee
