The new ACNA eucharistic rites on closer inspection (Part 3)

By Robin G. Jordan

The Prayer of Consecration in the long form of the new ACNA eucharistic rites is a contemporary language adaptation of the Prayer of Consecration in the 1928 Communion Service and Eucharist Prayer I in Rite I of the 1979 Prayer Book. It differs from these two consecration prayers in that the Benedictus has been added to the Sanctus. The 1928 Consecration Prayer omits the Benedictus; Eucharist Prayer I permits its optional use.

In the 1662 Communion Service the Benedictus is omitted as it is in the 1552 Communion Service. The reason for its omission was its long association with the doctrines of the Sacrifice of the Mass and Transubstantiation. The Benedictus is one of a number of elements associated with these doctrines that have been included in the new ACNA eucharistic rites.

The Sursum Corda in both Prayers of Consecration begins with the salutation, “The Lord be with. And with your spirit.” Archbishop Cranmer omitted this salutation from the Sursum Corda in the 1552 Communion Service due to its long association with the Medieval doctrines of the Sacrifice of the Mass and Transubstantiation. See the discussion of the salutation in The new ACNA eucharistic rites on closer inspection (Part 2). It is also omitted from the Sursum Corda in the 1662 Communion Service. However, it is used at the beginning of the Sursum Corda in the new English translation of the third edition of the The Roman Missal, in use as of November 27, 2011.

The Prayer Book and Common Worship Task Force follow the Medieval view and consider the canon of consecration to begin after the Sanctus and the Benedictus and not with the Sursum corda—hence the task force titled the part of the prayer after the Sanctus and the Benedictus, “The Prayer of Consecration.”

The Prayer of Consecration in short form at first glance appears to be a contemporary language adaptation of the 1549 Canon. The Benedictus follows the Sanctus. The Epiclesis precedes the Words of Institution. There is no oblation of the bread and wine. However, the order in which the words “Word” and “Holy Spirit” are used in the Epiclesis is that of the 1764 Scottish Usager Non-Juror Epiclesis and 1928 Epiclesis. A memorial acclamation that is used in Eucharist Prayer A in the Rite II Holy Eucharist has been inserted after the Words of Institution. This memorial acclamation originated in the Eastern Church, and is used in a number of contemporary eucharistic prayers.

How do the Prayers of Consecration in the new ACNA eucharistic rites compare to the 1662 Prayer of Consecration? With the addition of the Manual Acts during the Words of Institution and an “Amen” at their conclusion, the 1662 Prayer of Consecration is the 1552 reformed Prayer of Consecration. Archbishop Cranmer stripped from the 1552 Consecration Prayer anything remotely suggestive of the doctrines of the Sacrifice of the Mass and Transubstantiation. This included the recitation of the Benedictus after the Sanctus and the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the Word upon the bread and wine. The latter not only suggested that the bread and wine underwent a change in substance but was not consistent with the teaching of the Bible.

Nowhere in the Bible do we find the practice of blessing inanimate objects or invoking the Holy Spirit or the Word upon them. We do, however, find the practice of invoking God’s blessing upon people. Our Lord at the institution of the Lord’s Supper gave thanks over the loaf of bread and the cup of wine. For this reason Cranmer and the English Reformers also discontinued the practice of blessing the water in the baptismal font.

The Greek word ἐπικαλέω, pronounced epikaleō, means to call out, to appeal. In the New Testament it used to refer to an appeal to God in prayer, a calling upon God. The term epiclesis is derived from epikaleō and describes such an appeal. Both the 1552 Prayer of Consecration and the 1662 Prayer of Consecration contain an epiclesis. It is the petition that immediately precedes the Words of Institution and introduces the Words of Institution:

Hear us O merciful Father we beseech thee; and grant that we, receiving these thy creatures of bread and wine, according to thy Son our Savior’s holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood….

The Prayers before the Baptism in the 1552 Baptismal Service contains a petition that parallels the one in the Prayer of Consecration:

Regard, we beseech thee, the supplications of thy congregation, and grant that all thy servants which shall be baptized in this water, may receive the fullness of thy grace, and ever remain in the number of thy faithful and elect children….

In the 1662 Baptismal Service the Restoration bishops added the words “ … sanctify this water to the mystical washing away of sin…” to the petition. This addition was totally unnecessary as earlier in the service, in the Flood Prayer, it had been acknowledged that God by the baptism of his well-beloved Son Jesus Christ in the river Jordan had sanctified water to the mystical washing away of sin. God by this means had already set apart water for the purposes of baptism.

Both Prayers of Consecration in the new ACNA eucharistic rites in their petitions that God sanctify and bless the bread and wine with His Word and Holy Spirit are clearly at odds with the teaching of the Bible and the doctrine of the 1662 Prayer Book.

Archbishop Cranmer also removed the oblation of the Church from the Prayer of Consecration in the 1552 Communion Service and moved it to after the Lord’s Prayer, after the Communion. There it forms a part of the Church’s response to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross commemorated in the Lord’s Supper and to the grace Christ gives to those who rightly receive the bread and wine. Both Prayers of Consecration, like the 1549 Canon, 1928 Prayer of Consecration, and Eucharist Prayer I contain an oblation of the Church. This also puts the doctrine of these prayers at odds with that of the 1662 Prayer Book.

The rubrics in both forms permit the breaking of the bread during the Words of Institution or after the Lord’s Prayer. Two fraction anthems are provided for optional use after the breaking of the bread if the bread is broken after the Lord’s Prayer. The first anthem comes from the Holy Eucharist, Rites I and II; the second anthem is an adaptation of a fraction anthem in the 1549 Communion Service.

In the FAQ section of the ACNA website’s Liturgy page Bishop Thompson interprets the first fraction anthem as embodying the Lambeth doctrine of eucharistic sacrifice. See The new ACNA eucharistic rites on closer inspection (Part1) for a discussion of the Lambeth doctrine of eucharistic sacrifice. It can also be interpreted to teach the Medieval doctrine of the Sacrifice of the Mass.

The second fraction anthem also presents difficulties. It too is open to interpretation as giving expression to both the Lambeth and Medieval doctrines of eucharistic sacrifice. The phrase “…has been sacrificed…” can refer to the recent past as well as the distant past. It does not entirely preclude the idea that the priest reiterates or represents Christ’s sacrifice in the Eucharist.

The doctrine expressed or implicit in the two fraction anthems is at odds with the teaching of the Bible and the doctrine of the Thirty-Nine Articles and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

The distribution of communion in both forms of the new ACNA eucharistic rites is preceded by a series of devotions—the Lord’s Prayer, the Prayer of Humble Access, and the Agnus Dei. Here both forms follow the pattern of the 1928 Communion Service. While the text of the Agnus Dei is not printed in the 1928 Communion Service, rubrics of the service do permit a hymn before the distribution of communion. This has been interpreted as permission to sing the Agnus Dei at this point in the service. Musical settings of the Agnus Dei are printed in the 1940 Hymnal for use before the distribution of communion.

In the 1552 reformed Communion Service the distribution of communion immediately follows the Words of Institution. Cranmer eliminated the Lord’s Prayer and the Prayer of Humble Access from before the distribution of communion and the Agnes Dei from during the distribution of communion because these devotions suggested that Christ was substantially present under the forms of bread and wine in the Holy Communion. He moved the Prayer of Humble Access to immediately after the Sanctus and the Lord’s Prayer to immediately after the distribution of communion. He dropped the Agnus Dei from the Communion Service. The Restoration bishops added an “Amen” to the conclusion of the Words of Institution. Otherwise, the distribution of communion follows the Words of Institution as in the 1552 reformed Communion Service.

The Prayer of Humble Access in both forms of the new ACNA eucharistic rites is a contemporary language version of the Prayer of Humble Access in the 1928 Communion Service. It is an original composition of Archbishop Cranmer. It contains “a curious relic of a speculation of the medieval theologians…that the bread is for our bodies and the chalice is for our souls.” Since the nineteenth century Anglo-Catholics have used this prayer to support their claim that the substantive presence of Christ under the forms of bread and wine in the Holy Communion is a doctrine of the 1662 Prayer Book. As in their interpretation of the Thirty-Nine Articles they ignore such consideration as historical context and authorial intent in their interpretation of the classic Anglican Prayer Book. Consequently, the newer Anglican service books have altered the language of the prayer, beginning with 1875 Prayer Book of the Reformed Episcopal Church. Typically the prayer is optional in the more recent Anglican service books and is included in the penitential preparation before the Prayer of Consecration. The rubrics of the new Anglican eucharistic rites do not permit its omission or its use elsewhere in the service.

In both forms of the new ACNA eucharistic rites the use of the Agnus Dei is optional. The rubrics permit another anthem to be sung in its place. This rubrical permission allows the use of an anthem even more suggestive of Christ’s substantive presence under the forms of bread and wine in the Holy Communion.

An Invitation to Communion in both forms of the new ACNA eucharistic rites follows the Agnus Dei (or the Prayer of Humble Access, if the Agnus Dei is omitted). The first Invitation to Communion is the Sancte sanctis, “The Gifts of God for the People of God,” which in the Eastern liturgies of the fourth century is associated with showing the Sacrament to the people. The second Invitation to Communion is the words “Behold the Lamb of God…” which in the Anglican missals is also associated with the showing the Sacrament to the people. The same text is used in the new English translation of the third edition of the The Roman Missal. The priest says “Behold the Lamb of God…” after the bread is broken and the Agnus Dei is sung and before communion is distributed. The people respond, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

The words of the text may come from the New Testament. However, the use to which they are put is far from Scriptural.

Both texts may be used to encourage the veneration of the sacramental species. Their use in this manner is decidedly at odds with the teaching of the Bible and the doctrine of the Thirty-Nine Articles and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

In both forms of the new ACNA eucharistic rites a contemporary language version of the 1549 Words of Administration are used for the distribution of communion. The 1552 Words of Administration may be added to the 1549 Words of Administration. Archbishop Cranmer replaced the 1549 Words of Administration in the 1552 Prayer Book because they could be interpreted to teach a substantive presence of Christ under forms of bread and wine in the Holy Communion. The 1559 Prayer Book put the 1549 and 1552 Words of Administration together. The Restoration bishops retained the combined Words of Administration in the 1662 Prayer Book. Since the sixteenth century the first part of the combined Words of Administration has been interpreted as a prayer for the communicant.

Most of the Anglican service books that I have examined retain the combined Words of Administration if the eucharistic rite use the 1549 and 1552 Words of Administration. Five service books that I have examined permit the use of the 1552 Words of Administration for the distribution of communion--An Australian Prayer (1978) in The Holy Communion, Second Order; An English Prayer Book (1994) in Holy Communion, Second Order; the Diocese of Sydney's Sunday Services (2000) in Services of the Lord's Supper, Forms 2 A and 2B; and the Diocese of Sydney’s Common Prayer: Resources for Gospel-Shaped Gatherings (2012) in Services of the Lord’s Supper, Forms 1 and 2. In Forms 3 and 4 the 1552 Words of Administration are printed in the service.  The use of the combined 1549 and 1552 Words of Administration is optional. In both forms of the service of Holy Communion in the Prayer Book of the Church of England in South Africa (1992) the minister says the 1559 Words of Administration before he distributes the bread and wine and says the 1552 Words of Administration to each communicant as he distributes the bread and wine.

The 1637 Scottish Prayer Book, the infamous “Laudian Liturgy, which Charles I tried to impose upon the Scottish Church and caused a riot, in which Jenny Geddes threw a folding stool at the head of the dean of St. Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, used the 1549 Words of Administration at the distribution of the communion. The book eventually cost Charles his head. The riot led to the English Civil War and to Charles’ arrest, trial, and execution.

The rubrics of both forms of the new ACNA eucharistic rites permit the Celebrant to “offer” a sentence of Scripture at the conclusion of the distribution of the communion. A rubric of the 1549 Prayer Book direct that Post-Communion Sentence be said or sung after the distribution of communion and provides 22 sentences of Scripture for this purpose. This rubric and 22 Post-Communion sentences were omitted from the 1552 Prayer Book. They were also omitted from the 1662 Prayer Book.

The concluding rites of both forms of the new ACNA eucharistic rites are modeled on those of Rite II in the 1979 Prayer Book. The long form provides a choice of two Post-Communion Prayers. Both prayers are taken from Rite II in the 1979 Prayer Book. The short form provides only one option—the second Post-Communion Prayer from Rite II.

The rubrics of both forms of the new ACNA euchristic rites, however, do permit the placement of the Gloria in excelsis after the Post-Communion Prayer and before the Blessing. While the rubrics permit the substitution of some other song of praise for the Gloria in Excelsis in the entrance rite, they do not extend this permission to the concluding rites. One of the better features of the American Prayer Book from the 1789 Prayer Book through the 1928 Prayer Book was that the rubrics permitted the substitution of “some proper hymn” for the Gloria in Excelsis in the concluding rites of the Communion Service. The new ACNA eucharistic rites discontinue this practice.

The concluding rites are the third part of the eucharistic liturgy that tends to mushroom, accumulating prayers and other devotions after the Blessing. The rubrics of both forms of the new ACNA eucharistic rites permit the use of one of four optional Dismissals after the Blessing as in Rite I. They also permit the singing of a hymn, psalm, or anthem after the Blessing or following the Dismissal.

In the new ACNA eucharistic rites the Prayer Book and Common Worship Task Force has produced concluding rites that, like the entrance rite and offertory, are particularly susceptible to the tendency to attract “clutter.” The design of these rites invites the development of a lengthy conclusion.

In the fourth part of this article I will complete my assessment of the new ACNA eucharistic rites.

Also see
The new ACNA eucharistic rites on closer inspection (Part 1)
The new ACNA eucharistic rites on closer inspection (Part 2)