The Book of Divine Worship

At CWN’s Off the Record, Fr. Wilson mentions that the Anglican-use Book of Divine Worship is going to appear in print Real Soon Now. If the sample files on the web are any indication, it’s going to be an attractive volume coming in at over 700 pages. Since I’m in San Antonio this week, I’m going to deliver an advance order to the publisher in person.
Update: At Sunday Mass on the 15th, Fr. Phillips said that the book is going to be over 1000 pages, and the price will likely be around $25! Send him an e-mail to let him know, as he says, “how many copies” you’ll want.
By the way, get a look at the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Atonement Church.

6 comments

  1. Irony of ironies. The Book of Divine Worship draws heavily on the Episcopal Church’s Revised Book of Common Prayer–especially for parts from the Rite I (in “traditional” language) and Rite II (in “contemporary” language), including the “horizontally inclusive language” Psalter of the latter. The Catholic Church at various levels has rejected proposals for the use of other inclusive language Psalters (such as the revised Grail and New American Bible versions as well as those of the New Revised Standard Version and ICEL). Now the authorities in Boston and Rome have approved (or overlooked?) the Episcopalian inclusive language Psalter–albeit one limited to Anglican-use Catholics when they choose to use the contemporary language Rite II (not too often).

  2. Hello All,
    Tom makes an interesting point about the Psalter – one which I hadn’t really considered.
    However, I think it is appropriate to look at the language and structure of the Anglican Use as a whole.
    We in the Latin Rite Church often note the fact that we are given a rather contemporary translation of the Novus Ordo for use in the English speaking world.
    The Anglican Use provides beautiful English that is very dignified for worship – it is, to put it simply, Elizabethan English – the language of Shakespeare.
    Secondly, the “Reform-of-the-Reform” school of thought notes that the Novus Ordo *may* have gone too far in simplifying the liturgy. This is not the case with the Anglican Use. It is a fuller liturgy than the Novus Ordo while remaining fairly accessible to the congregation.
    Thirdly, the Second Vatican Council (Decree on Ecumenism) recognizes two important facts: 1) that there have been legitimate developments in some Protestant ecclesial communities. 2) that these legitimate developments can find a place in the Catholic Church.
    Reading these two principles together, you have the Anglican Use. Not everything that has happened in the Church of England since the Reformation has been “bad” or “un-Catholic” or Protestant.
    By allowing for Elizabethan English and Anglican-style liturgy, the Church makes the transition to Catholicism easier for many.
    More importantly, it is a return to the pre-Reformation situation – where there were legitimate differences within the Western liturgical life — i.e. the Ambrosian rite, the Gallican rite, Sarum Rite. and so forth.
    By way of personal comment, I am Canadian and a Catholic. The liturgy in the English-speaking world can be influenced by the presence of the Anglican Use. If it is appropriate for former Episcopalians in the United States, it is also appropriate for former Anglicans in the Commonwealth (the UK, Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand).
    Mark

  3. As a former Anglican I would like to make a point about the Paslter in the Book of Common Prayer (and therefore the Book of Divine Worship). It is indeed “inclusive” but never where the traditional interpretation is that the verse refers to our Lord – only when the verses refer to the people of God in some way. For instance, Psalm 1 still starts off with “Blessed is the man…” because that blessed man was understood in the Church’s tradition to refer to the ultimate blessed Man – our Lord, therefore that is not changed in the Anglican Psalter – I learned this from one of the clergymen who had been part of the Psalter revision for the current Book of Common Prayer.

  4. I’m a bit confused by Patricia’s comments on the current BCP (1979 and Book of Divine Worship “contemporary”) Psalter. Psalm 1 is now translated as “Happy are they …,” not “Blessed is the man.”

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