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Bible Encyclopedias
Common Prayer
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or the service-book of the Church of England and of the Protestant Episcopal Church. It is so called because it contains the prayers which the members of those churches use in common, as distinguished from their devotions as private individuals. In the view of those churches, the devotions of separate families or persons may be conducted in any mode which best suits the circumstances of each; but joint worship, common prayer, must be in forms on which all are previously agreed, because these alone can equally express common wants (see Canons 4, 38, and 98, Church of England, on the obligation to use the Book of Common Prayer. Eden, Churchman's Dictionary, s.v.). As to the question of the value of such forms, (See FORMS OF PRAYER). On liturgies proper (i.e. communion service), (See LITURGY). We give here a brief sketch of the history of English and American Prayer-books.
I. The English Prayer-book. — The "Common Prayer" contains, in one volume, the articles of faith, and all the rites, ceremonies, and prescribed forms of the Church of England; and it is thus not only a Prayerbook, but a Ritual and Confession of Faith. Before the Reformation, the Missals, Breviaries, etc., of the Church of Rome were in use in England. In 1537 the Convocation put forth, in English, "The godly and pious Institution of a Christian Man," containing the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Commandments, and the Ave Maria. In 1547, the first of Edward VI, a committee was appointed to draw up a liturgy in English, free from Popish errors. Cranmer, Ridley, and other eminent reformers were of this committee, and their book was confirmed in Parliament in 1548. This is known as the first Prayer-book of Edward VI. Great part of it was taken from the old services used in England before the Reformation; but the labors of Melancthon and Bucer helped to give the book its Protestant form. "About the end of the year 1550 exceptions were taken against some parts of this book, and archbishop Cranmer proposed a new review. The principal alterations occasioned by this second review were the addition of the Sentences, Exhortation, Confession, and Absolution, at the beginning of the morning and evening services, which in the first Common Prayer- book began with the Lord's Prayer; the addition of the Commandments at the beginning of the communion office; the removing of some rites and ceremonies retained in the former book, such as the use of oil in confirmation, the unction of the sick, prayers for the departed souls, the invocation of the Holy Ghost at the consecration of the eucharist, and the prayer of oblation that used to follow it; the omitting the rubric that ordered water to be mixed with the wine, with several other less material variations. The habits, likewise, which were prescribed in the former book were in this laid aside; and, lastly, a rubric was added at the end of the communion office to explain the reason of kneeling at the sacrament" (Hook). The liturgy, thus revised and altered, was again confirmed by Parliament A.D. 1551; This is cited as the second Prayer-book of Edward VI. See Cardwell, Two Books of Common Prayer set forth under Edward VI compared (Lond. 1838, 8vo); Ketley, The two Liturgies, A.D. 1549 and 1552 (edited for the Parker Society, 8vo, 1844). (See CRANMER).
Queen Mary, on her accession, repealed the acts of Edward, and restored the Romanist prayer-book. "On the accession of Elizabeth, however, this repeal was reversed, and the second book of Edward VI, with several alterations, was re-established. This liturgy continued in use during the long reign of Elizabeth, and received further additions and improvements. An accurate edition of it, and of the Latin translation of it made by Alexander Ales, was published for the Parker Society by the Rev. W. K. Clay, B.D. It is entitled Liturgies and occasional Forms of Prayer set forth in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (Cambridge University Press, 1847, 8vo). Early in the reign of James I it was again revised. At this revision a collect in the daily morning and evening service, and a particular intercession in the litany, were appointed for the royal family; the forms of thanksgiving upon several occasions were then added; the questions and answers concerning the sacraments were subjoined to the catechism; and the administration of baptism was by the rubric expressly confined to the lawful minister. These and some other additions and improvements were made by the authority of James I, though they were not ratified l)y Parliament. In 1661, the year after the restoration of Charles II, the commissioners, both Episcopal and Presbyterian, who had met at the Savoy to revise the liturgy, having come to no agreement, (See SAVOY CONFERENCE), the Convocation agreed to the following alterations and additions, viz. several lessons in the calendar were changed for others more proper for the days; the prayers upon particular occasions were disjoined from the litany; several of the collects were altered; the epistles and gospels were taken out of the last translation of the Bible, published in 1611, instead of being read from the old version.
Further, the prayer for the Parliament, that for all conditions of men, the general thanksgiving, the office of baptism for those of riper years, the forms of prayer to be used at sea, for the anniversary of the martyrdom of Charles I, and for the restoration of the royal family, were added; and throughout the whole liturgy ambiguities were removed, and various improvements made. The whole book, being finished, passed both houses of Convocation; it was subscribed by the bishops and clergy, and was ratified by act of Parliament, and received the royal assent May 19, 1662. This was the last revisal of the Book of Common Prayer in which any alteration was made by public authority. (Wheatly's Illust. of the Common Prayer, appendix to introduction; Nicholl's Pref. To his Comment. On the Book of Common Prayer; Tomline's Christ. Theol. 2:20-29; Dr. Cardwell's History of Conferences and other Proceedings connected with the Revision of the Book of Common Prayer, from the year 1558 to the year 1690, Oxford, 1840, 8vo). Hanmon l'Estrange's Alliance of Divine Offices (Lond. 1659, fol.; reprinted at Oxford in 1844 in 8vo), exhibits all the liturgies of the Church of England since the Reformation, as also the service book introduced into the Church of Scotland in 1637: it is illustrated with ample annotations. The Liturgicae Britanicae, published by the Rev. William Keeling, B.D., at London in 18,12, exhibits the several editions of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England from its first compilation to its last revision in 1662, together with the liturgy set forth for the use of the Episcopal Church in Scotland. The Rev. W. K. Clay's Book of Common Prayer Illustrated (Lond. 1841, 8vo) most commodiously shows its various modifications, the date of its several parts, and the authority on which they rest. An appendix, containing various important ecclesiastical documents, concludes the volume. To those who can procure more expensive publications, the complete collection of the authentic editions of the Book of Common Prayer, published at London in 1848, in six large folio volumes, will doubtless be preferred.
The collection, which is uniformly printed in black letter, like the original editions, comprises the liturgies of king Edward VI, 1549 and 1552; the first Prayer-book of queen Elizabeth, 1550; king James the First's Prayer-book, as settled at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604; the Scotch book of king Charles I; and Charles the Second's book, as settled at the Savoy Conference in 1662. By the Act of Uniformity, 13 and 14 Car. II, c. 4, sec. 28, it was enacted that true and perfect copies of that act, and of the Book of Common Prayer, 1662, should be delivered into the respective courts, and into the Tower of London, to be preserved among the records thereof in all time to come. These copies are usually termed ‘ the Sealed Books,' from their being exemplified under the great seal of England. From the copy in the Tower of London the folio fac-simile edition of 1848 was chiefly printed. In 1849-50 Mr. A. J. Stephens published an edition of the Book of Common Prayer in three octavo volumes, with notes legal and historical. The text of this edition is taken from the ‘ Sealed Book' of the Court of Chancery, collated with the copies preserved in the courts of Queen's Bench and Exchequer, and also with the copies in the Tower of London; in the library of St. Paul's Cathedral, London; of Christ Church, Oxford; at Ely; and with the manuscript Book of Common Prayer originally annexed to the Irish statute 17 and 18 Car. II, c. 6, now preserved in the Rolls Office at Dublin. In 1849-55 Mr. Stephens also published (3 vols. 8vo) the text of the Book of Common Prayer for the use of the Church of Ireland, from the same manuscript, with an introduction and notes" (Eadie, Eccles. Encyclopaedia, s.v.).
Several attempts have been made to revise the book since 1662 without success. The first was in the reign of William III, furthered by Tillotson and Stillingfleet, who in 1668 had united with Bates, Manton, and Baxter in preparing a bill for the "comprehension of Dissenters." Failing then and in 1681, the scheme was resumed after the Revolution, and in 1689 a commission was formed to revise the Prayer-book. A number of alterations were suggested, in order, if possible, to gratify the Dissenters (see the Revised Liturgy of 1689, a blue-book, 1855). Nothing came of the proposition. A full account of this and other proposed revisions is given by Procter, Hist. of the Book of Common Prayer (Camb. 1856, 2d edit.). There is now a Liturgical Revision Society in England, which in its Declaration of Principles and Objects proposes the following changes:
"1. The Rubric: the word priest to be changed;
2. The Ordination Service: words abused to the purposes of sacerdotal assumption to be altered.
3. The Visitation of the Sick: the absolution to be omitted or qualified.
4. The Baptismal Offices: words asserting the spiritual regeneration of each recipient to be altered.
5. The Catechism to be revised.
6. The Burial Service: general language to be employed in expressing hope for the departed.
7. The Athanasian Creed: the damnatory clauses to be omitted.
8. The Apocryphal Lessons to be replaced by Scripture.
A careful examination of the changes here specified will illustrate the chief aim of this society, which is to bring the Book of Common Prayer into closer conformity with the written word of God and the principles of the Reformation, by excluding all those expressions which have been assumed to countenance Romanizing doctrine or practice. It is believed this object will be greatly advanced by the combination of numbers, and the abandonment of desultory for systematic action. All, therefore, who are friendly to the cause of Protestantism in our Church — all who would gladly see the letter of our formularies, which have been altered for the worse more than once since the Reformation, brought again into harmony with the spirit of that glorious epoch — are invited to cooperate in this work, and to aid the society with their contributions, their influence, and, above all, their prayers." Four hundred and sixty English clergymen signed a petition in 1860, presented by Lord Ebury, asking for a commission to revise the Book of Common Prayer. On the other hand, the clerical declaration against the proposed revision received between six and seven thousand signatures. See also Fisher, Liturgical Purity our Rightful Inheritance (Lond. 1857, 12mo).
The Nonjurors (q.v.), whose quasi-separation from the Church of England lasted from 1688 to 1779, generally used the authorized Prayer-book, except in the prayer for the king. "Dr. Hicks, whose example was probably followed by Jeremy Collier, used the communion office in the first book of king Edward VI, which he regarded as more conformable to the ancient practice; but most others continued to use the English Prayer-book until the year 1718 (Lathbury's History of the Nonjurors). The following are the principal liturgies of the Nonjurors:
(1.) A Communion Office, taken partly from the Primitive Liturgies, and partly from the first English Reformed Common Prayer-book: together with Offices for Confirmation and the Visitation of the Sick (London, 1718, 8vo. Reprinted in the fifth volume of Hall's Fragmenta Liturgica, in 1848, 12mo). From the publication of these offices the Nonjurors were divided into two parties — those who adopted the new, and those who retained the old offices. The obsolete, not to say superstitious ceremonies, revived in this new communion office, were four, viz. mixing water with the wine, prayer for the dead, prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit on the elements, and the prayer of oblation. These were called the usages, and those who practiced them were called usagers. Three other ceremonies, apart from.these usages, are frequently reckoned among them, viz. trine immersion at baptism; chrism, or consecrated oil in confirmation; and unction at the visitation of the sick (ibid. vol. 1, p. 38).
(2.) A Compleat Collection of Devotions, taken from the Apostolical Constitutions, the Ancient Liturgies, and the Common Prayer-book of the Church of England. Part I comprehending the Publick Offices of the Church. . . . . . Part II a Method of Private Prayer (London, 1734, 8vo). Part I is reprinted in Hall's Fragmenta Liturgica (Eadie, s.v.).
2. Common Prayer-books of Dissenters from the Church of England. —
(1.) "The earliest of these is A Booke of the Forme of Common Prayers, Administration of the Sacraments, etc., agreeable to God's Worde and the use of the Reformed Churches. This liturgy was printed by Waldegrave at London, without date, and at Middleburg, in Holland, in 1586,1587, and 1602. The text of Waldegrave's edition is reprinted in Hall's Fragmenta Liturgica, vol. 1; and that of the Middleburg edition, 1586, in his Reliquicae Liturgicae, vol. 1.
(2.) At the conference held in the Savoy in 1661 between the royal commissioners for reviewing the liturgy and the Nonconformists, the office of drawing up certain additional forms was assigned to Baxter, who presented a new form of prayer of his own composition, entitled, The Reformation of the Liturgy as it was presented to the Right Reverend the Bishops, by the Divines appointed by his Majesties Commission to treat with them about the alteration of it. This form of prayers is now more generally known as the Savoy Liturgy. It has been repeatedly reprinted, and will be found in the fourth volume of Hall's Reliquiae Liturgicae. A new edition of The Book of Common Prayer, as amended by the Westminster Divines in 1661, edited by the Rev. Dr. C.W. Shields, was published in Philadelphia (1865). The Savoy Liturgy comprises forms of prayer for ‘ the ordinary public worship of the Lord's day; the order of celebrating the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, and the celebration of the sacrament of baptism; a short discourse of catechizing, and the approbation of those who are to be admitted to the Lord's Supper; the celebration of matrimony; directions for the visitation of the sick, and their communion,' with prayers; ‘ the order for the burial of the dead, prayer and thanksgiving for particular members of the Church;' a discourse ‘ of pastoral discipline,' with forms of ‘ public confession, absolution, and excusion from the holy communion of the Church.'
(3.) William Whiston (q.v.) was deprived of his professorship as an Arian, and being for a time suspended from communion with the Church by an act of convocation, he formed a religious society at his house in London for public worship. There he employed The Liturgy of the Church of England reduced nearer to the primitive standard, humbly propos'd to publick consideration. This liturgy was first published at London in 1713. Whiston believed the pseudo-Apostolical Constitutions to be the genuine work of the apostles, and has made use of them in the composition of some of his prayers.
(4.) The Book of Common Prayer, Reformed according to the Plan of the late Dr. Samuel Clarke; or, as it is designated in the prefatory advertisement, The Liturgy of the Church of England, with the Amendments of Dr. Clarke, and such further Alterations as were judged necessary to render it Unexceptionable with respect to the Object of Religious Worship, was first published in 1774 by the Rev. Theophilus Lindsay, M.A., who Socinianized the Arian alterations proposed by Dr. Samuel Clarke, rector of St. James's, Westminster. This Prayer-book has subsequently passed through numerous editions. It contains almost all the offices in the Book of Common Prayer, except the order of baptism for persons of riper years and the commination. The great object of the whole is to address the entire worship to God the Father, to the utter exclusion of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This liturgy is the basis of A Liturgy collected principally from the Book of Common Prayer, for the Use of the First Episcopal Chapel in Boston [Massachusetts], together with the Psalter or Psalms of David (Boston, 1785, 8vo). This was reprinted in 1811, and again in 1838, with further alterations.
(5.) The Book of Common Prayer, compiled for the Use of the English Church at Dunkirk, together with a Collection of Psalms, was printed at Dunkirk in 1791. The anonymous compiler states that he followed throughout the plan proposed by Dr. Clarke. This book deviates less from the liturgy of the Church of England than the Socinian liturgy above noticed" (Eadie, s.v.).
(6.) The Sunday Service of the Methodists was originally prepared by John Wesley. On comparing a copy of the edition of The Sunday Service of the Methodists, with other Occasional Services (reprinted in 1826), with the Book of Common Prayer, we find that the first lessons for Sundays are retained; but for the second lessons in the morning, a chapter out of the four Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles is to be read, and in the evening a chapter out of the epistles in regular rotation. Many verbal expressions, which have been excepted against, are here corrected. Select psalms are appointed to be read, while others are abridged. The only creed read is that of the apostles. The offices for the baptism of infants, or of persons of riper years, the celebration of matrimony, the communion of the sick, and the burial of the dead, are shortened. The offices for the ordination of priests and deacons, and for the consecration of bishops, are altered into forms for the ordination of deacons, elders, and superintendents; and the Thirty-nine Articles are reduced to twenty-five. The Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, and the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, are omitted. Some obsolete words are replaced by others which are more easily understood. An edition of this book was prepared, with the necessary modifications, for the use of the American Methodist Church, by Mr. Wesley, in 1784; a second edition, slightly modified, in 1786. This Prayer-book was used for some time in the American Methodist Church; but it gradually dropped out of use, without any prohibition, however, on the part of the General Conference. A modified form of it appears in The Sunday Service of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, edited by T. O. Summers, D.D. (Nashville, 1867).
(7.) The Liturgy of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation, prepared by Order of the General Conference, was published in 1828, and superseded all the liturgies which had previously been used by the Swedenborgians, or followers of Emanuel Swedenborg.
3. Scottish Common Prayer-books. —
"1. Ancient Liturgy of the Kirk of Scotland. — At the commencement of the Reformation in Scotland the Protestant nobles and barons, assembled at Edinburgh in December, 1557, agreed that they would rest satisfied for the present with the reading of the prayers and lessons in English, according to the order of the Book of Common Prayer, that is, the liturgy of king Edward VI, in every parish on Sundays and other festival days! This regulation, however, continued in force only a short time; for in 1562 the Book of Common Order, commonly termed ‘ Knox's Liturgy,' was partially introduced; and by an act of the General Assembly, passed December 26, 1564, its use was authoritatively ordained in all the churches in Scotland. This liturgy was taken from the order or liturgy used by the English church at Geneva. It contains forms for morning and evening prayer, the celebration of baptism, the Lord's Supper, and marriage; and for the election of superintendents or presbyters who were invested with episcopal functions; the order of ecclesiastical discipline, of excommunication, and of public repentance; a treatise on fasting; and forms of prayer for domestic and private use. A new edition of The Liturgy of the Church of Scotland; or, John Knox's Book of Common Order, was published by the Rev. Dr. Cumming, at London, in 1840, in 18mo. The New Booke of Common Prayer, according to the Forme of the Kirke of Scotland, our Brethren in Faith and Covenant, printed in 1644, is a very brief abstract of Calvin's Genevan Prayer-book, or rather of Knox's Book of Common Order. It is reprinted in the first volume of Hall's Fragmenta Liturgica. (See DIRECTORY).
"2. Liturgy of the Episcopal Church in Scotland.The liturgy of the Episcopal Church in Scotland is at present nearly the same as that of the Church of England. Charles I, in 1637, made an unsuccessful attempt to introduce into Scotland a Book of Common Prayer, copied, with some alterations, from that of England, which produced the Solemn League and Covenant. That liturgy was prepared by archbishop Spottiswoode, of St. Andrew's, and Lindsay of Glasgow, assisted by Wedderburn, dean of the Chapel Royal at Edinburgh, and by bishops Guthrie, Maxwell, and Whitford. On its being sent to London, Charles I referred it to the examination of archbishop Laud, and of Wren, bishop of Ely. It was published at Edinburgh in folio, and entitled The Booke of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other parts of Divine Service, for the Use of the Church of Scotland. This liturgy is reprinted in the second volume of Hall's Reliquio Liturgica; a copious bibliographical and historical account of it will be found in vol. i, p. 13-35. From 1645 until after the restoration in 1660, the Westminster Directory was adopted, but by no means strictly adhered to, in various instances (as in that of praying for the civil government); and when episcopacy was restored together with monarchy, it was not thought advisable to renew the attempt to introduce a public liturgy; so that, except at ordinations, when the English forms were used, as far as local circumstances would admit, no regular form of prayer was in general use, while episcopacy continued to be the form of ministry in the Established Church. Many, indeed, of the episcopal clergy compiled forms to be used by themselves in their particular congregations, with some petitions and collects taken out of the English book, and all of them uniformly concluded their prayers with the Lord's Prayer, and their singing with the doxology. Prayers for the Morning and Evening Service of the Cathedral Church of Aberdeen, composed by the Rev. Henry Scougal, professor of theology in the King's College, continued in use until the Revolution, when the Presbyterians would no longer tolerate a written prayer.
At length, in 1712, the English Book of Common Prayer was universally adopted by the Scottish Episcopal Church with little variation, except in the celebration of the Eucharist. In that service the order for the administration of the Lord's Supper is substantially that in the liturgy authorized by Charles I, but with alterations made to make it more conformable to the first and comparatively imperfectly reformed liturgy of king Edward VI. By the twenty-first canon of The Code of Canons of the Episcopal Church in Scotland, as revised, amended, and enacted, by an ecclesiastical synod, holden for that purpose at Edinburgh, from August 20 till September 6, 1838 (Edinburgh, 1838, 8vo), after ratifying and confirming the permission formerly granted by the bishops ‘ to all those who profess to be of the episcopal persuasion in Scotland .... to retain the use of the English office in all congregations where the said office had previously been in use,' it is enacted, "That in the use of either the Scotch or English office no amalgamation, alteration, or interpolation whatever shall take place, nor shall any substitution of the one for the other be admitted, unless it shall be approved by the bishop. From respect, however, for the authority which originally sanctioned the Scotch liturgy, and for other sufficient reasons, it is hereby enacted, that the Scotch communion office continue to be held of primary authority in this Church, and that it shall be used in all consecrations of bishops, but also at the opening of all general synods' — p. 29, 30. Although the Scotch communion office is thus established, it is worthy of notice that this canon does not bishop, in the lapse of years, having made additions, and even some changes, according to their own judgment or preference In point of doctrine, the difference between the English and Scotch offices is clear and unequivocal the English offices being exclusively commemorative, and the Scottish most distinctly sacrificial. Besides which, the following usages are practiced, not one of which is adopted in the English offices, viz. 1. The mixing of water with the wine in the Eucharist; 2. Commemorating the faithful departed at the altar; 3. Consecrating the elements by an express invocation; 4. Using the oblatory prayer before distribution" (Eadie, s.v.). (See COMMUNION SERVICE).
4. The American Prayer-book. — After the American Revolution the "Protestant Episcopal Church" was established as an organization separate from the Church of England in 1784. In 1786 a committee was appointed to adapt the English liturgy to use in this country, and they prepared a book which, however, never went into general use (The Proposed Book, 1786; reprinted in Hall, Reliquiae Liturgicae, Lond. 1847).
"At the General Convention in October, 1789, the whole subject of the liturgy was thrown open by appointing committees on the different portions of the Prayer-book, whose several reports, with the action of the two houses thereupon, were consolidated in the Book of Common Prayer, etc., as it is now in use, the whole book being ratified and set forth by a vote of the Convention on the 16th of October, 1789, its use being prescribed from and after the 1st day of October, 1790. The American liturgy retains all that is excellent in the English service, omits several of its really objectionable features, brings some of the offices (the communion, for example) nearer to the primitive pattern, modifies others to suit our peculiar institutions, and, on the whole, is a noble monument to the wisdom, prudence, piety, and churchmanship of the fathers of the American Church. By the 45th canon of 1832, it is required that every minister shall, before all sermons and lectures, and all other occasions of public worship, use the Book of Common Prayer, as the same is or may be established by the authority of the General Convention of this Church. And in performing said service, no other prayers shall be used than those prescribed by the said book" (Hook, Church Dictionary, Am. ed. s.v.).
There seems to be a widely-diffused conviction, both in England and America, quite apart from doctrinal considerations, that the forms of distinct services, are too long for use. Bennett, in his Paraphrase with Annotations on the Book of Common Prayer (Lond. 1709, 8vo), observes that the using of the morning prayer, the litany, and communion service at one and the same time, in one continued order, is contrary to the first intention and practice of the Church. On this subject the Church of England Quarterly (London, 1855, p. 20) remarks, "That our services are too long is generally, although not universally conceded. There is, no one will deny, much repetition in them as they are at present conducted; and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer six times on a sacrament morning may be taken as an instance. We recognize our liturgy as deservedly endeared to our people; and neither would we recommend, nor would they suffer, any alterations in it which would tend to lower its tone. A few verbal changes, the omission of a few rubrics, a new arrangement of the morning lessons, and we might go on without detriment for another three centuries. Much, too, must at all times be left to the discretion of the clergy." On this and other questions as to needed changes, see the Memorial Papers, containing the Circular and Questions of an Episcopal Commission ordered by the General Convention of the P. E. Church in 1853, edited by Bp. A. Potter (Phila. 1857, 12mo); Powys, Reconstruction of the Liturgy (Lond. 1854).
"A writer in the London Daily News (1867) relates the discovery, in the library of the House of Lords, of the copy of the Act of Uniformity, 14 Charles II, 1662, with the roll affixed containing the words of the Book of Common Prayer, which had been detached and lost from the copy deposited with the House of Commons. Technically and practically, therefore, the writer remarks, the two rolls form one engrossed act, and ‘ nothing can be so distinct a proof that the prayers, psalms, rubrics, etc., are the law of the land'" (Nation, Sept. 19, 1867).
The most important works on the Common Prayer, besides those cited in the course of this article, are Wheatly, Rational Illustration of the Common Prayer (London, 1720, fol.; new ed. 1842, 8vo; also in Bohn's Standard Library, 12mo); Comber, Companion to the Temple (new ed. Oxf. 1841, 7 vols. 8vo); Sparrow, Rationale upon the Book of Common Prayer (new ed. Oxf. 1839, sm. 8vo); Bailey, The Liturgy compared with the Bible (Lond. 1833, 2 vols. 8vo); Palmer, Origines Liturgicae (Oxf. 1832, 2 vols. 8vo); Berens, Lectures on Catechism and Offices (Oxf. 1823); Procter, History of the Book of Common Prayer (Lond. 1856, 2d ed. 8vo); Cardwell, The two Liturgies of Edward VI compared (Oxf. 1838, 8vo); Maskell, Monumenta Ritualia Ecclesiae Anglicanae (Lond. 1846, 3 vols. 8vo); Freeman, Principles of Divine Service (Lond. 1855, 8vo); Christian Remembrancer, Oct. 1855, art. vii; Lathbury, History of the Book of Common Prayer from the Reformation (1858, 2d ed. 8vo); Cardwell, History of Conferences for revision of the Common Prayer from 1558 to 1690 (Oxf. 1849, 3d ed. 8vo); Humphrey, Historical and Explanatory Treatise on the Common Prayer (Lond. 2d ed. 1856, 8vo); Stoddart, The History of the Prayerbook, and of its Formation from previous Liturgies, with a Draft showing how our present Liturgy might, with some alterations, be advantageously revised and rearranged in more varied services (Lond. 1864, crown 8vo); The Annotated Book of Common Prayer, being an Historical, Ritual, and Theological Commentary on the Devotional System of the Church of England, edited by John Henry Blunt (Lond. 1866, imp. 8vo). On the American book, see Brownell, Family Prayer-book (N. Y. 1855, royal 8vo); Butler, Common Prayer interpreted by its History (Boston, 1845, 12mo); Am. Church Review, Jan. 1858, art. 1. (See FORMS OF PRAYER); (See LITANY); (See LITURGY).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Common Prayer'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/c/common-prayer.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
