Some Poetry from the Book of Common Prayer

To many people today the Book of Common Prayer is unknown territory, especially with the advent of the Alternative Service Book (ASB) in 1980 and more recently the more open, modern and unwieldy Common Worship book.

I was brought up in a village community in Surrey where the only Primary school to attend was a Church of England school. In those dark ages (c.1960-1966) the school and village church were very much intertwined and we were taught the catechism where we had to state that our names were given to us by our God parents at our baptism. My father was quite upset about this, as we were Brethren and didn't practise 'infant baptism' as we would now call it. However, apart from this hiccough, we did learn some very beautiful prayers from the Book of Common Prayer.

In more recent times I have been involved in playing the organ for Morning Prayer in a local Anglican church where I was once again reminded of the beauty of the poetry in the Book of Common Prayer and the skill with which it was crafted. I found this a great enhancement to my own spiritual development, particularly in the area of personal prayer and intercession and reading and studying the Bible as part of my daily Christian pilgrimage. When you find it hard to pray because of overwhelming circumstances in life, the Book of Common Prayer can be a great aid to overcoming a spiritual 'block'. Even though the language may seem old to us now, there is a rhythm and pace to it which calms the troubled soul and helps to put things in an eternal perspective rather than a time/space constraint. Someone reminded me recently, "when confronting a problem, ask yourself the question, Will this be important to me in five years time?"

What a lot of people fail to realize is that the Book of Common Prayer is one of the main pillars on which the modern English language rests, along with the King James Version of the Bible and Shakespeare. The Book of Common Prayer may also be regarded as a cornerstone of the Reformation which was fired by Martin Luther in Germany, the baton being taken up in England by Henry VIII and the Elizabethan Reformers such as John Knox later on.

After a number of revisions, the version of the Book of Common Prayer most widely used is that of 1662, incorporating the book of Psalms which differs slightly from the King James Version in that it was translated from the Latin Vulgate. I want to share with you what I consider to be some real poetic gems from the Psalter, followed by some set prayers which I have found helpful in my own Christian devotion and personal walk with God.

Psalm 95, Venite, exultemus

O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving: and shew ourselves glad in Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God: and a great King above all gods. In His hand are all the corners of the earth: and the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is his, and He made it: and His hands prepared the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: and kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is the Lord our God: and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts: as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me: proved me and saw my works. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said: It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath: that they should not enter into my rest.

Psalm 98, Cantate Domino

O sing unto the Lord a new song: for He hath done marvellous things. With His own right hand, and with His holy arm: hath He gotten Himself the victory. The Lord declared His salvation: His righteousness hath He openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered His mercy and truth toward the house of Israel: and all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God. Shew yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye lands: sing, rejoice, and give thanks. Praise the Lord upon the harp: sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving. With trumpets also and shawms: O shew yourselves joyful before the Lord the King. Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is: the round world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together before the Lord: for He is come to judge the earth. With righteousness shall He judge the world: and the people with equity.

Evening Prayer Collect

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by Thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Communion Prayer, for Easter

But chiefly are we bound to praise Thee for the glorious Resurrection of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord: for He is the very Paschal Lamb, which was offered for us, and hath taken away the sin of the world: who by His death hath destroyed death, and by His rising to life hath restored to us everlasting life. Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious Name; evermore praising Thee, and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory: Glory be to Thee, O Lord most High. Amen.

Crucifixion Resurrection Ascension

More information and history of the Book of Common Prayer can be found on the website of the Prayer Book Society, at http://www.pbs.org.uk/

To hear a high quality sung version of Choral Evensong, where the Psalms are sung to probably the highest standard in the world, try this link. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tp7r

Two contrasting Hymns (Old and New)

I am not a tremendous fan of the new style hymns and choruses that are flooding into the singing repertoire of our newer and not so new churches. However, as a pianist in a newer church for a while and later as a church organist, choir master and music group leader I have had to lead people in singing music written in both newer and older styles.

In this article I would like to draw attention to two pieces which have had an impact on me, in terms of the words and inevitably the tunes used in conjunction with these words, which in the case of these items are both very well suited.

First, the older hymn, which is 'My song is love unknown', the words to which were written by Samuel Crossman (1624-83) and which is generally sung to the tune called 'Love Unknown' by the English composer John Ireland (1879-1962).

All Saints, Sudbury Pembroke College, Cambridge

Samuel Crossman was an Anglican minister and hymnwriter born at Bradfield Monachorum in Suffolk. He earned a B.D. at Pembroke College, Cambridge and became Prebendary of Bristol. He then ministered to an Anglican congregation at All Saints, Sudbury and to a Puritan congregation at the same time. He had a great affinity with the Puritan cause and in 1661 attended the Savoy Conference, which sought to update the Book of Common Prayer to make it suitable for use by both Anglicans and Puritans. This project was unsuccessful and the ensuing 1662 Act of Uniformity led to Crossman being expelled with some 2,000 other Puritan inclined ministers from the Church of England. Shortly after this he renounced his Puritan affiliations and was ordained in 1665, becoming a Royal chaplain. He took up a post in Bristol in 1667 and became Dean of Bristol Cathedral in 1683. After he died on 4th. February, 1683, in Bristol, he was buried in the South aisle of Bristol Cathedral. Crossman's most well known hymns are 'My song is love unknown', 'Jerusalem on High' and 'Sweet Place'.

Crossman Quincentenary plaque Bristol Cathedral

John Ireland

My Song is Love Unknown

My song is love unknown,

My Saviour's love to me:

Love to the loveless shown,

That they might lovely be,

O who am I,

That for my sake

My Lord should take frail flesh, and die?

He came from His blest throne,

Salvation to bestow;

But men made strange, and none

The longed-for Christ would know;

But O my friend,

My friend indeed,

Who at my need

His life did spend.

Sometimes they strew His way,

And His sweet praises sing;

Resounding all the day

Hosannas to their King:

Then "Crucify!"

Is all their breath,

And for His death

They thirst and cry.

They rise and needs will have

My dear Lord made away;

A murderer they save,

The prince of life they slay;

Yet cheerful He

To suffering goes,

That He His foes

From thence might free.

In life, no house, no home

My Lord on earth might have;

In death, no friendly tomb,

But what a stranger gave.

What may I say?

Heaven was His home;

But mine the tomb

Wherein He lay.

Here might I stay and sing,

No story so divine;

Never was love, dear King!

Never was grief like Thine.

This is my friend,

In whose sweet praise

I all my days

Could gladly spend.

The second hymn is a modern one which has spoken to me more profoundly than any other new hymn, it is called 'Above All' and is written and performed by a contemporary worship leader, Lenny Leblanc. The theme of the hymn is similar to the Crossman one, dwelling on the price Jesus paid by dying on the cross to bear away our sin.

Lenny Leblanc Lenny (again)

It is possible to listen to this piece on Last FM at the following link.

http://www.last.fm/music/Lenny%2520Leblanc/Above%2520All?ac=Lenny%20Leblanc

Lenny Leblanc is a successful singer and songwriter who wrote the hit ballad 'Falling' which was popular in the 70's. He was an integral part of the musical epicentre known as Muscle Shoals music. He formed a duo known as LeBlanc and Carr after signing to Atlantic Records and success came quickly with 'Falling' which was named one of Billboard's all time favourite Top 40 hits. Lenny then moved on to a solo career with Capitol Records and soon became disenchanted with the music scene but continued to write songs and came to know God in a personal, life-changing way that altered the course of his career for ever.

Today, Lenny Leblanc's name appears on dozens of popular new church songs, notably 'Above All' and 'There is none like You'. His voice and compositions are featured on many classic worship recordings for Maranatha and Integrity.

Lenny continues to write pop and country songs and he still travels nationally and internationally as a Christian artist and worship leader. His recent release, 'Love Like No Other' includes a newly-recorded version of 'Falling', as well as 9 newly written worship songs. Looking back over his career and personal life, Lenny grins and says, "It's amazing what God has done with a life like mine."

Above All

Above all powers, above all kings,
Above all nature and all created things,
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man,
You were here before the world began.

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones,
Above all wonders the world has ever known,
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth,
There's no way to measure what You're worth.

Crucified, laid behind a stone,
You lived to die, rejected and alone,
Like a rose trampled on the ground,
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all.

© 1999 Hosanna

Quotation

"It's amazing what God has done with a life like mine." ~ Lenny Leblanc