In 2002 we recall and celebrate the 450th anniversary of the publication and use of The Book of Common Prayer of 1552. This was the second edition of the official English Prayer Book which on its first appearing in 1549 had replaced all the previous Latin liturgical books.

It is commonly asserted both by Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals that the 1552 BCP is a Protestant Book while the 1549 remains a Catholic Book, even though it is a rigorous revision of the Latin Catholic Liturgy. What I think is true is that the nature of the Reformed Catholicism of the Church of England is made clearer in the 1552 edition. Yet the C of E may genuinely be called Protestant only if we define "Protestant" as "protesting on behalf of the Gospel as it was received, understood and given expression in the Early Church of the first five centuries." Thus for the Church of England as the background and basis of her Liturgy there was One Canon of Scripture with Two Testaments, interpreted by Three Creeds and Four General Councils and set in the context of Five Centuries of developing life & Ministry.

Yes there are minor doctrinal differences between the 1552 and the 1549 Prayer Books but these are less important that the continuity of general purpose between the two editions. And nowhere is this continuity more clear than in the emphasis upon the reality and use of common prayer by clergy and people, and by all sorts and conditions of men in the nation. This particular emphasis on the commonality of the Common Prayer begun in earnest by the 1549 edition is intensified as we move from the 1549 to the 1552 Liturgy.

One clear aim of Thomas Cranmer, editor-in-chief of both editions, was to get a whole nation using daily, and especially on the Lord's Day, the same form of sound words. His belief was that this habit of common and identical use would be the means over time of causing the reformed catholic religion communicated by the style and form of words to be inwardly digested by the people, clergy and laity alike. The English Reformers wanted at all costs to avoid the practice of each person in the congregation pursuing his own devotions while the priest at the altar did the official thing (as had been the case with medieval Catholicism). Their aim was to bring clergy and people together in the use of one English text so that all could from its holy use learn and practice true godliness. Their view was that a sound common liturgy instilled by good habit leads to true religion and is pleasing to God.

The worshipping together using one text towards one mind (Common Prayer) is achieved by the requirement that the Minister speaks clearly and loudly, that the People hear, inwardly digest and respond with a hearty "Amen", and also that at various points the Minister and People say together important parts of the Services such as the Creed and the Lord's Prayer.

So as we move from 1549 to 1552 we notice the enlargement of Morning and Evening Prayer and the making of them more explicitly congregational services. Not only do the original opening Versicles and Responses of 1549 move from first person singular to person plural (O Lord open thou my/our lips) in 1552, but there is added before these a Call to Public Worship emphasizing the benefits of common prayer, followed by a common Confession of Sins said by all.

In fact, all through the 1552 BCP we can see examples of the tidying up of rubrics and the provision of materials (exhortations, prayers etc.) in order to make as explicit as possible that this is truly and really Common Prayer for all and to be used by all for their true edification.

The 1552 BCP with only minor changes via the 1559 & 1604 editions became the 1662 BCP, which we may call the classic edition of the English Prayer Book. And this classic edition has been translated into over 150 languages. It was modified to become the 1789 BCP for the PECUSA and is a very close relative of the 1928 BCP of PECUSA.

A final comment. It is instructive to note how different is the basic intention of the classic Common Prayer from that of the modern forms of Anglican Worship, introduced since the 1970s. In the latter, there are only common elements and common structures, not common texts and thus there is no genuinely common prayer in the sense understood by Cranmer. Thus the original aim of the English Reformation of changing the inner man through the use, learning and repetition of sound and familiar and common texts has been abandoned in favour of ringing the changes in order to cater for as many tastes as possible.