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Common Book of Prayer...question


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When people mention how good it is, which one are they referring to? :D

I am pretty sure I am not looking for the one by the Church of England...

Now, you are probably thinking "How should I know?" :tongue_smilie:

And the title should have been "... book of common prayer." Arrgghhh.

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=common+book+of+prayer&sprefix=Common+Book+of%2Caps%2C878

Edited by Liz CA
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I have never heard of another BCP than that published by the Episcopal/Anglican church. It is full of some of the most beautiful prayers in English. The psalms are not the prettiest versions, at least not in the ones I have seen, but the liturgical prayers are lovely.:001_smile:

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I have never heard of another BCP than that published by the Episcopal/Anglican church. It is full of some of the most beautiful prayers in English. The psalms are not the prettiest versions, at least not in the ones I have seen, but the liturgical prayers are lovely.:001_smile:

 

Is it by Hefling & Shattuck?

 

This one? http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Common-Prayer-Worldwide-Survey/dp/0195297628/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327201754&sr=1-7

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I think that is not the BCP itself, but rather a study of it. Is that what you are looking for? :001_smile:

 

If I only knew! :001_smile: I just heard people rave about this book, even people who are ordinarily not too interested in "canned" prayers. I think you are right and it is the Episcopalian version but I cannot seem to find it.

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If I only knew! :001_smile: I just heard people rave about this book, even people who are ordinarily not too interested in "canned" prayers. I think you are right and it is the Episcopalian version but I cannot seem to find it.

 

Does really sound like Claiborne's Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals that I linked above :).

 

Eta: I've looked at the samples, and they are pretty good, and pretty in line with the Western liturgical tradition.

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I can speak to the Book of Common Prayer issue. There are a lot of versions to it all over the world. The UK still uses the first BCP, but the American Church uses this version - http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Pew-Black/dp/0898690811/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1327203321&sr=8-5 . We had used the orginal BCP but when the revolution happened here it was not too popular to be praying for the King *grin*. In New Zealand they have an AMAZING BCP that is just plain amazing. Most liturgists I know salivate over it. There can be different versions from different years. In my early childhood we switched from the 1928 version, which had lots of 'thee's and "thou's" to the 1979 version with contemporary language.

 

One common mistake is that many people think CS Lewis loved the US version of the BCP. He didn't, he was a traditionalist and used the original one done by the Church of England, which is still used there today as far as I know.

 

Can you tell both of my parents are ministers in the Episcopal church :tongue_smilie:

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I have my grandmother's copy, what do you want to know?

 

 

I just want to see the ONE, not the guides. :D

Ann Voskamp's blog suggests that "Common Prayer - A guide for Radicals" is good as well but I think I'd like to see the original one - that is I would be okay with 70's version in modern language.

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Each province in the Anglican Communion has its own Book of Common Prayer. In op's link, I think any of the ones that have a plain cross on the front would be fine -- they are all the 1979 edition. The covers may be different colors, and there is regular pew size and also a slightly smaller size. I like the pew size myself. This edition has both Rite I (traditional language -- "and with thy spirit") and Rite II (modern -- "and also with you") for most, but not all, services. (Some parts are modern language only.)

 

In the U.S. some churches still use the older 1928 BCP; others use the Anglican Missal, others the Anglican Service Book -- this last is a traditional language version of the 1979 BCP. It has pretty much the same wording and arrangement as the 1979 book, but with traditional language throughout.

 

Many other countries/provinces have a similar situation with traditional vs modern PBs. The 1662 English version is the most classic. That is usually the one that people refer to when talking about how beautiful the language is. I have often seen headlines in The Economist that take a few words from these prayers ("read, mark, and inwardly digest"), so the BCP language has cultural connotation as well as a religious meaning.

 

The 1979 American version (Rite I) will have most of the language from the 1662.

Edited by Alessandra
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