1928
Prayer Book Alliance
The 1928 Prayer Book Alliance celebrates our freedom to worship as we believe with the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.
George Frideric Handel
THOMAS HUDSON PORTRAIT
Handel's Messiah and
The Book of Common Prayer
"For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
April 13 is the anniversary of the premiere performance of Messiah. George Frideric Handel might have been testing the waters when he introduced his new oratorio off-season -- not at Christmas, when it most frequently is performed, nor on Easter, which in 2024 we celebrate today, March 31, but at noon on April 13, 1742 in Dublin, rather than London. Two of his previous works had received lukewarm receptions by London audiences, reason enough for his caution in staging an out-of-town opening.
Dubliners eagerly awaited the performance, and they were not disappointed. By opening day, word of the successful dress rehearsal had spread, fueled by ecstatic newspaper reviews. Women were instructed to wear their skirts without hoops and men were told to leave their swords at home, so that an audience of 700 could be crammed into Dublin's new Great Musick Hall, capacity 600.
Messiah tells the story of Christ's life, beginning with Old Testament prophesies of his coming and culminating in his Resurrection and glorious Ascension. Handel's great work is performed by orchestra, choir, and soloists - soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. The music is full of beauty and power, as are the words, taken directly from the King James Version of the Bible and The Book of Common Prayer, the same liturgy we use today in the 1928 edition.
Handel's friend Charles Jennens wrote the libretto, the text that accompanies the music. Jennens approached his task with reverence, noting that "The subject excels every other Subject. The Subject is Messiah.
Jennens was a Shakespearean scholar and patron of the arts. He drew about 60 percent of the libretto from the Old Testament, and much of the text from Psalms in the Book of Common Prayer, 1662 edition, still in use today throughout the Anglican Communion, and practically identical to our American BCP, 1928 edition.
If you know the traditional prayer book you'll recognize in Messiah passages you've heard in a traditional Episcopal or Anglican church. If you're familiar with the music, you'll discern its echo behind words voiced in worship services.
Jennens, an Anglican and believer in the authority of scripture, used Psalms 22, 69, 16, 24, 68, 19, and 2 (the order in which they are performed). Many of the Bible verses in Messiah also come to us through the 1928 BCP, which is based entirely on holy scripture. For example, the Chorus from 1 Corinthians is part of the Easter Day reading on page 163 of the 1928 BCP:
"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
Inspirational words coupled with soaring music: The traditional Book of Common Prayer, the King James Version of the Bible, and Messiah
reinforce our common experience as Anglicans, and define our American culture.
Hallelujah!
-Jan Mahood, Editor.
Charles Jennens drew passages from the Book of Common Prayer in collaboration with Handel.
THOMAS HUDSON PORTRAIT
Easter Day
March 31, 2024
The Collect
ALMIGHTY God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.
-- The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, page 156
"The white sails still fly seaward, seaward flying
Unbroken wings." -- T.S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday.
Add Something New for Lent
Instead of following the custom of giving up something for Lent, why not add something that will inspire and strengthen you? Worship with the 1928 Book of Common Prayer in church and use it at home for private devotions. If you read this classic prayer book daily for the 40 days of this Lenten season, you'll establish a beneficial habit that you'll want to continue throughout the year.
Pray that God create a new and contrite heart in you and in others, particularly those who care for and protect those "in all sorts and conditions of men," from the preborn to the elderly.
In the Lectionary section near the front of your Prayer Book are Psalms and Lessons for the Christian Year, readings for each day. Starting with Ash Wednesday on page xvii
Set aside time each day to read from this book. It will change your life. Yoga, diet, "wellness" meditation, aerobics, massage, and pills might provide temporary respite to the body and mind, but the inspirational, reverent words of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer will comfort and strengthen your very soul.
For Lent this year, give up chocolate or bourbon if you must. Donate to your parish church if you choose. Most important, give up an hour a day and "draw near in faith" with those millions worldwide who open their hearts to the Word as revealed in the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. Such a small thing -- 60 minutes that otherwise might be spent in some mundane pursuit -- in exchange for restorative time in the presence of the triune God.
Ashes, Reminder of our Human Nature
The ashes that your priest applies to your forehead today in the form of a cross are a reminder that God created Adam and all of us from dust, and we'll eventually die, just as Adam did.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
-- I Corinthians 15:22.
But look ahead 40 days to Easter, the highest holiday of the Christian year, the festival of Christ's glorious Resurrection, his triumph over death. Use the Lenten season as a time for reflection, penance, and renewal, in preparation for the path ahead and the life yet to come.
Order your new 1928 Book of Common Prayer today, so you can worship throughout Lent and through the year with a liturgy that is ancient, beautiful, and true.
If your parish church or diocese needs new prayer books, please ask your vestry, priest, or bishop to order them here.
For 475 Years, The Book of Common Prayer
Has Set the Standard for Anglican Worship
The Book of Common Prayer brought Christianity and the values of Western Civilization to the New World. The occasion of the first Prayer Book service on American soil is commemorated by a 57-foot high sandstone cross that towers over Drake’s Bay near San Francisco, California. In 1579, Sir Francis Drake’s ship the Golden Hind made landfall here during his voyage as a privateer commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1577, Drake set out from England in pursuit of Spanish treasure. He rounded Cape Horn on the treacherous seas later named Drake Passage, emerged onto the Pacific, sailed up the coast of South America, and continued north to Vancouver, seeking a northwestern passage. The bitter-cold weather drove him back south, where he hauled the Golden Hind to caulk its leaky timbers.
On June 24, 1579, a few days after Drake’s landfall, the first Christian service on the soil pf the New World was conducted by ship’s chaplain Rev. Francis Fletcher, a Church of England priest, near the place that is now San Francisco. This was at the midpoint in Drake’s voyage, the first circumnavigation by an Englishman.
In the early 1600s, a continent away on the East Coast, English settlers brought their Book of Common Prayer, the official liturgy of England then as today, to Jamestown and Plymouth.
According to a 2019 account in San Francisco’s Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon,
"The Midwinter Exposition, mentioned in the cross’ inscription, was to be San Francisco’s coming-out party as an up-and-coming city with its mild winters on the West Coast. Construction for California’s first world’s fair exposition would also create jobs during the economic downturn at the time. The cross was unveiled as part of the Midwinter Exposition running from January to July, 1894. “
The front and back inscriptions on the 57-foot-tall sandstone cross reads: “Presented to Golden Gate Park at the opening of the Midwinter Fair, January 1, A.D. 1894, as a memorial of the service held on the shore of Drake’s Bay about Saint John the Baptist’s Day, June 24, Anno Domini 1579, by Francis Fletcher, priest of the Church of England, chaplain of Sir Francis Drake, chronicler of the service. Gift of George W. Childs, Esquire, of Philadelphia. First Christian service in the English tongue on our coast. First use of the Book of Common Prayer in our country. One of the first recorded missionary prayers on our continent. Soli Deo sit semper Gloria (God alone be the glory forever).”
The 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Ancient Beautiful True
Set aside time for individual and family church activity.
Coming events and days to remember here and on your church's Sunday bulletins
March 21, 2024
Thomas Cranmer's martyrdom in 1556
March 24, 2024
Palm Sunday
March 28, 2024
Maundy Thursday
March 29, 2024
Good Friday
March 31, 2024
Easter Day
He is risen!
April 8, 2024
The Annunciation
April 13, 2024
282nd Anniversary
Handel's Messiah Premiere
BOOKSTORE
Great gifts come in small packages. This especially is true of the pocket paperback 1928 Book of Common Prayer.
Hardcover Prayer Books have sold out. This classic of Christian worship will be available again soon. We'll let you know when they're ready to send. To preorder your Prayer Book(s), send an order now through this website and be among the first to receive them.
