I enjoyed your interview. :)
Would you be able to shed some light on where the Anglican "Prayer of Humble Access" came from? I read somewhere that it had a predecessor in the Sarum Use, but have not been able to find out what the original was--at least in the Sarum texts I've consulted online. Or was it largely an invention of Cranmer's?
The Prayer of Humble Access is the work of Thomas Cranmer and a true gem of Anglican common prayer! Cranmer drew from the Biblical story of the Syro-Phoenican woman who asks Jesus to heal her daughter. The theology of this prayer is richly orthodox, seen in phrases such as this: "Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy." The 1979 prayer book corrupts the theology by changing the wording. Allow me to explain.
Cranmer's original prayer reads: "We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore gracious Lord so to eat the flesh of thy dear son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood in these holy Mysteries, that we may continually dwell in him, and he in us, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood."
Notice how the prayer appears in the 1979 ECUSA prayer book: "We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh if thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us."
Notice that Cranmer understands that being in Christ is prerequite to partaking of the holy Mysteries that purify us body and soul. ECUSA's liberal liturgical revisionists have reversed the order. They would have us believe (against 2000 years of Christian teaching) that by eating and drinking we come to dwell in Him. This is heresy.
I hope that this explanation is helpful.
Alice C. Linsley
The Prayer of Humble Access is the work of Thomas Cranmer and a true gem of Anglican common prayer! Cranmer drew from the Biblical story of the Syro-Phoenican woman who asks Jesus to heal her daughter. The theology of this prayer is richly orthodox, seen in phrases such as this: "Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy." The 1979 prayer book corrupts the theology by changing the wording. Allow me to explain.
Cranmer's original prayer reads: "We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore gracious Lord so to eat the flesh of thy dear son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood in these holy Mysteries, that we may continually dwell in him, and he in us, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body and our souls washed through his most precious blood."
Notice how the prayer appears in the 1979 ECUSA prayer book: "We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh if thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us."
Notice that Cranmer understands that being in Christ is prerequite to partaking of the holy Mysteries that purify us body and soul. ECUSA's liberal liturgical revisionists have reversed the order. They would have us believe (against 2000 years of Christian teaching) that by eating and drinking we come to dwell in Him. This is heresy.
I hope that this explanation is helpful.
Alice C. Linsley