Posts Tagged ‘Book of Common Prayer’

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a sermon for the Feast of the First Book of Common Prayer 

I’m thinking today of our friend, Dick Mahaffy, as we celebrate the feast that marks the publication of the first Book of Common Prayerin the Church of England in the year 1549.  Dick is an Episcopal priest, a graduate of the Episcopal Divinity School, and a member of the Fellowship of Saint John.  He is also profoundly Deaf, and has been since birth. He currently serves as the President of the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf (E.C.D.), an association of Episcopal churches that minister to and with Deaf people throughout the United States. I’m reminded of him today because I think this feast would be one that he would especially value.

The 1549 Book of Common Prayer was the first book of services written in English, the language of the people.  As such it was a powerful sign that the liturgy belonged to the people and not just to the educated priests who could read and speak Latin.  It was an invitation for all to participate in the worship of the Church with full comprehension of what was being said, for all to join in the “sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving” of the Eucharist in their own tongue, for all to be not merely spectators but actual participants in the Church’s worship.  The publication of the Book of Common Prayer in the English language in 1549 was an act of inclusion. Read More