The Holy Communion, Second Order is now on the A Prayer Book for North America website. The following comes from the introduction to the service.
"The Holy Communion, Second Order is designed for use in a
variety of worship settings—both traditional and non-traditional. It may be tailored
to the circumstances of the congregation using it.
"The Sentence of Scripture, the Collect for Purity, and
the Gloria in Excelsis may be omitted at the beginning of the service and the
minister may greet the people immediately before the Collect of the Day,
permitting the restoration of the simplicity of the original entrance rite in
the Western tradition.
"Three Bible readings may read. The sermon may be preached
before or after the creed. The Apostles’ Creed may be used in place of the
Nicene Creed and the creed may be omitted on weekdays.
"The Prayers of
the People may conclude with the Lord’s Prayer.
"The Prayer of Thanksgiving and Consecration has two
epicleses—a brief petition before the Words of Institution in which the
minister prays that those eating and drinking the bread and wine may share in
Christ’s body and blood and a petition after the anamnesis in which the
minister prays that by the power of the Holy Spirit God will make the
communicants increase and overflow with love for each other and “all the
peoples of the Earth and strengthen their hearts so that they will be pure and
blameless in God’s presence at Christ’s second coming. The phrase “share in his
most precious body and blood” in the first epiclesis is taken from Holy
Communion, First Form, in the Prayer Book of the Church of England in South
Africa (1990) and is an allusion to 1 Corinthians 10:16. The second epiclesis
is adapted from 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13.
"The exordium
that begins the Post-Sanctus is a “recognition and joyful exclamation of God’s
blessedness,” acknowledging that God is “the fullness and source of all blessing.’”
Blessing God is not only a part of the Jewish synagogue services but also
Jewish table prayers. Jesus, when he gave thanks to God over the bread and the
cup at the Last Supper, would have blessed God for the bread and the wine.
"The people’s
parts in the prayer are the responses in the Sursum Corda, the Sanctus, the
Memorial Acclamation, and the concluding Doxology.
"Consistent
with Reformed theology the prayer contains no invocation of the descent of the
Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine nor oblation of any kind.
"Communion
immediately follows the consecration of the bread and wine. The bread may be
broken during the Words of Institution or immediately before the Communion.
During the Communion hymns, songs, and anthems may be sung.
Follow this link to A Prayer Book for North America.
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