The Book of Common Prayer: E-text Edition (American, 1979) Version 1.0 13 December 1993 If you are viewing this file with a word processor, we recommend you reformat it with a non-proportional, 10 point font, such as Courier 10. You should try to stop your program from automatically re-paragraphing the text, since line breaks are significant. This file, which should be called BCP10.TXT or bcp10.txt, is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN. You may make copies, distribute them, produce derivative works, reformat, and make extracts from it. If you do so, please do not distribute this header along with your altered E-text. In particular, if you remove this header, you may use this file in proprietary retrieval systems or embed the text in software that you sell. We wish to encourage the production of hypertext systems, both public domain and proprietary, containing the text of the _Book of Common Prayer_, and also of commentaries in electronic format. This version of the 1979 American version of the _Book of Common Prayer_ was edited by John E. Goodwin (jegoodwin@delphi.com). The text was contributed by members of the Electronic Mailing list ANGLICAN, which is sponsored by American Methodist University, Washington, DC. (The university has no connection with the E-text project). To subscribe to ANGLICAN, send the command "subscribe anglican" in the *body* of a message to "listserv@american.edu". You may then send messages to "anglican@american.edu". Notice that the addresses for sign-on and posting are different. The base text was largely hand-typed by Michael I. Bushnell, of the Church of St. John Evangelist, Boston; and John E. Goodwin, III, of St. Charles Episcopal Church, St. Charles, Illinois. Certain parts were contributed by: Barbara Bachman, St. Charles Episcopal Church Jim Bachman, St. Charles Episcopal Church John Covert, Church of the Advent, Boston The Psalter was prepared by John E. Goodwin and Robin Cover, with the assistance of: Janelle Allen Jo Blansett Michael Bushnell Janet Cover Jesse Cover Sarah Cover JoAnn Crupi Mike Herschenroeder Sherry Hines Steve McConnel Lark Rilling Linda Simons Jeanne Swanson John Thomson The present text of the Psalter is generated from an SGML-tagged version created by Robin and Michael Cover. The electronic edition of the BCP was prepared because all the E-text sources that we could find were proprietary, even though the text itself is guaranteed to be in the Public Domain by Canon Law. We feel strongly that the basic texts of major religions, especially our own, and especially those used in liturgies, should be freely available in a form that is not restricted by a requirement of registration or payment of a fee. Any fee, no matter how nominal, restricts the distribution of the text, prohibits its improvement by others and its inclusion in free software systems. Although this text has been checked with a spellchecker and checked for content by eye, we are aware that errors must still exist.** We did not think this fact merited withholding the text, especially since it is accurate enough for devotional use, for reading to the blind, and for use as a base text for parish bulletins and programs. Please send notice of errors more significant than simple typographical errors to "jegoodwin@delphi.com". ** In particular there are bugs in the page numbering. This text is supported in the sense that we are committed to correcting errors and improving the format, e.g. to migrate to SGML. If you need a highly accurate text for scholarly purposes, we recommend you contact us to help in the effort of preparing one. A monograph for programmers on the markup scheme of the display format used and on the electronic typesetting of liturgical texts in general is in preparation. We are also preparing an HTML version for posting on the World Wide Web (telnet info.cern.ch for more information about WWW). =John Goodwin= St. Charles, Illinois Winter Embertide 1993 THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church Together with The Psalter or Psalms of David According to the use of The Episcopal Church THE SEABURY PRESS : NEW YORK [The Certificate of the or Common Prayer 8 The Preface 9 Concerning the Service of the Church 13 The Calendar of the Church Year 15 Daily Morning Prayer: Rite One 37 Daily Evening Prayer: Rite One 61 Daily Morning Prayer: Rite Two 75 Noonday Prayer 103 Order of Worship for the Evening 108 Daily Evening Prayer: Rite Two 115 Compline 127 Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families 137 Table of Suggested Canticle 144 148 Seasons of the Year 159 Holy Days 185 Common of Saints 195 Various Occasions 199 Seasons of the Year 211 Holy Days 237 Common of Saints 246 Various Occasions 251 Ash Wednesday 264 Palm Sunday 270 Maundy Thursday 274 Good Friday 276 Holy Saturday 283 The Great Vigil of Easter 285 An Exhortation 316 A Penitential Order: Rite One 319 The Holy Eucharist: Rite One 323 A Penitential Order: Rite Two 351 The Holy Eucharist: Rite Two 355 Prayers of the People 383 Communion under Special Circumstances 396 An Order for Celebrating the Holy Eucharist 400 Confirmation 413 A Form of Commitment to Christian Service 420 Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage 423 The Blessing of a Civil Marriage 433 An Order for Marriage 435 Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child 439 Reconciliation of a Penitent 447 Ministration to the Sick 453 Ministration at the Time of Death 462 Burial of the Dead: Rite One 469 Burial of the Dead: Rite Two 491 An Order for Burial 506 Ordination of a Bishop 511 Ordination of a Priest 525 Ordination of a Deacon 537 Litany for Ordinations 548 Celebration of a New Ministry 557 Consecration of a Church or Chapel 567 585 810 845 864 (including the Articles of Religion) 880 888 Year A 889 Year B 900 Year C 911 Holy Days 921 Common of Saints 925 Various Occasions 927 934 Seasons of the Year 936 Holy Days 996 Special Occasions 1000