CANTERBURY, England (RNS/ENInews) “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” “All the deceits of the world, the flesh and the devil.” “Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.”
Shakespeare? The King James Bible? Close—the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, the liturgical and literary masterpiece that along with the playwright and the landmark Bible helped shape the English language, marks its 350th anniversary this year.
St. Paul’s Cathedral in London celebrated the occasion in May with a special service of evensong from the 1662 volume. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was there, along with members of Prayer Book societies in Australia, Canada and the U.K. that are dedicated to keeping the work alive.
The service was the flagship of a nationwide series of events that includes an exhibit at Lambeth Palace Library that also acknowledges the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, looking at the relationship between the monarchy and the Prayer Book. It includes a copy of the first Prayer Book, published in 1549, and the copy used at Queen Victoria’s wedding.
The anniversary actually refers to the revised edition that still stands as the official doctrinal standard of the Church of England and most other churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Prayer Book now appears in many variants in the 77-million-member Anglican Communion and has influenced the liturgical texts of other denominations.