During
the Civil War, the Episcopal Church in the Confederate States was temporarily
separated from the rest of the Episcopal Church. There were three complete printings
of a Confederate Prayer Book, all done in London, and none apparently
formallly authorized. They had to be smuggled into the South, and only
one of the printings actually made it through the blockade, the other
two being captured and mostly destroyed. I have never seen a copy of a
Confederate BCP, but my understanding is that they were completely identical
to the 1789 BCP, with the exception of the
necessary changes in prayers for the President and Congress. Additionally, a number of partial Books of Common Prayer were printed locally.
The
University of North Carolina has placed online a number of texts connected
with the Episcopal Church in the Confederate States. Those of interest
here include:
- An
abridgement of the Book of Common Prayer, The Order for Daily
Morning and Evening Prayer, According to the Use of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in the Confederate States of America, Together with the Ante-Communion
Office and a Selection of Occasional Prayers from Various Offices of
the Book of Common Prayer. This book, printed in Atlanta, was intended
for use by soldiers, and contains most of the BCP services which do
not require a priest - e. g., it omits Holy Communion, Baptism, Marriage,
etc. In addition, while the Book is officially authorized, the services
it does have are nevertheless a bit different — for example, in
Morning and Evening Prayer, some of the introductory sentences and the
Nicene Creed are omitted, and the selection of Psalms and Hymns is different. It is also available from the Internet Archive.
- A Prayer
Book for the Camp, issued by the Diocese of Virginia and also
intended for use by the Military. This book includes Morning Prayer,
modified along the lines mentioned above, the Litany, ante-Communion,
the Burial service, the Collects, several prayers, and hymns. Also available as PDF graphics from the Internet Archive.
- A Catechism,
identical to that in the 1789 BCP.
- A
Catechism to be Taught Orally to those who cannot Read, intended
for the instruction of slaves.
- A
Calendar of the Days and Daily Lessons of the Year 1862. The
daily lectionary; also includes a clergy directory.
- A number of other
items not connected with the Book of Common Prayer, such as Convention
Journals.
The Internet Archive also has a partial BCP, containing a combined Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, Prayers & Thanksgivings, some additional prayers, and a few hymns, printed in Charlottesville.
Also, Project Canterbury
has online a History
of the [Episcopal]
Church in the Confederate States, which, among many other things,
describes the various Confederate Prayer Books in detail.
At the end of the
Civil War, Dioceses in the South again became part of the Episcopal Church,
and resumed using the 1789 Book of Common Prayer. |
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Title page from a Confederate Book of Common Prayer
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