The Book of Common Prayer

As essential to the canon as the Bible and the plays of Shakespeare, The Book of Common Prayer has been in daily use for centuries. Originally produced for the Church of England in the sixteenth century by Thomas Cranmer, who was burned at the stake upon the accession to the throne of the ardently Catholic Queen Mary, it contains the entire liturgy as first presented in English - as well as some of the oldest phrases to be used by modern English speakers. Here are the daily prayers, scripture readings, psalm recitals, and the services marking such religious milestones as baptism, confirmation, and marriage, all from the 1662 edition, whose words live on to this day in figures of speech, ceremonial vows and benedictions, and in the work of some of the greatest writers in English literature.