The Book of Common Prayer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thomas Cranmer

The book was first published during the reign of Edward VI, in 1549, and a reformed, revised version was prepared in 1552. Thomas Cranmer, who shaped the book and wrote parts of it, was then the Archbishop of Canterbury. The book fell out of use when Mary I came to the throne and restored Roman Catholicism in England, but Elizabeth I again brought the book back into use (with some further revision) when she assumed the throne.

Answer: Blessing of pets

The Book of Common Prayer includes liturgies for baptism, confirmation, matrimony, thanksgiving after childbirth, visitation of the sick, burial of the dead, burial of a child, and other occasions. While it is not uncommon for Anglicans to participate in the blessing of pets, there is no specific liturgy for this included in the book.

Answer: The Psalter

The rather lengthy full name of the 1662 edition of The Book of Common Prayer included the words "Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung or said in churches." The Psalter appears after the order for the burial of the dead.

The psalms are often read responsively during Anglican church services. Many allusions to the psalms in Shakespeare's plays can be linked to the versions found in the Psalter in the Book of Common Prayer rather than the Geneva Bible he likely would have read.

Answer: The Thirty-Nine Articles

"The Westminster Confession of Faith", which was drawn up in 1646, is a subordinate standard of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has also influenced Presbyterian churches. "The Doctrine and Covenants" is a book belonging to the Latter-Day Saints movement (Mormonism).

The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican church were formulated in the decades following Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church and were finalized in 1571. These doctrines are now often included as an appendix in a historical documents sections of the Book of Common Prayer.

Answer: peace

This phrase comes to us from the marriage liturgy, which in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer is worded thus: "If a man can show just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace." Another phrase that entered common English usage through the Anglican marriage liturgy is "'til death do us part."

Answer: dust to dust

This famous phrase comes from the funeral liturgy ("The Order for Burial of The Dead") in the Book of Common Prayer: "Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself" (1662 version).

This reference to dust alludes to Genesis 3:19: "For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return" (KJV).

Answer: digest

This line comes from the collect for the second Sunday of Advent: "BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen" (1928 version).

Collects are short prayers used in the liturgies of the Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, Methodist, Lutheran and other liturgical churches. The Book of Common Prayer contains a section of collects to be used at various times of the church year.

Answer: For those undergoing a divorce

Other family prayers include those for the absent, for children, for those we love, for the recovery of a sick person, for one about to undergo an operation, and for an anniversary of one departed. The prayer for those in mental darkness reads, "O Heavenly Father, we beseech thee to have mercy upon all thy children who are living in mental darkness. Restore them to strength of mind and cheerfulness of spirit, and give them health and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen" (1928 version).

Answer: no secrets are hid

This collect is included in "The Order for Holy Communion" and is traditionally given the name "Collect for Purity." It continues, "that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name, through Christ our Lord. Amen" (1928 version). Originally a Latin prayer, the oldest known source is from the 10th century "Sacramentarium Fuldense Saeculi X." It was translated into English by Thomas Cranmer.

Answer: Epiphany

The key word here is "manifested." In the Anglican church, Epiphany is traditionally observed on January 6 (or the Sunday falling between January 2 and 8) and observes God's physical manifestation to the gentiles when the magi came to visit Jesus. There are also prefaces for Whitsuntide (Pentecost), Trinity Sunday, All Saints Day, Purification, Annunciation, and Transfiguration.

Answer: Wars and rumours of war

The phrase "wars and rumours of war" originates with the King James Version of the Bible, which was first published in 1611: "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet" (Matthew 24:6).

The phrase "all sorts of condition of men" was employed as the title for a 1921 British silent film. The phrase comes from the Order for Morning Prayer: "O God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou would be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations" (1662 version).

The Litany from the Book of Common Prayer contains, "From all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, Good Lord, deliver us. From battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord, deliver us..."

As previously mentioned, "'til death do us part" is found in the marriage liturgy.

Answer: Unitarian

King's Chapel was the first Anglican church in New England and was founded in 1686. In 1785, under the leadership of James Freeman, it became Unitarian, and he revised the Book of Common Prayer to eliminate references to the Trinity and otherwise comply with Unitarian doctrines. The church still uses "The Book of Common Prayer According to the Use in King's Chapel."

Answer: Devices and Desires

The "devices and desires" phrase comes from the liturgy for morning prayer: "We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws" (1662 version).

In her essay "Through all the Changing Scenes of Life: Living with the Prayer Book", which was included in the 2011 book "The Book of Common Prayer: Past, Present and Future: A 350th Anniversary Celebration", P.D. James noted how the cadences of the Book of Common Prayer can be detected "in the majestic phrases of John Milton, Sir Thomas Browne and Edward Gibbon" as well as in the works of Isaac Walton, John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, T. S. Eliot, and many others.

Answer: John Wesley

Wesley wrote this praise in his preface to his 1784 book "The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America". Some of the liturgies in the United Methodist Church, including the liturgy for the Eucharist, are still very similar to those found in The Book of Common Prayer.

Answer: Ash Wednesday

This text is quoted from the collect for Ash Wednesday in the 1928 version of the Book of Common Prayer, which continues, "That we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

This collect is said every day in Lent until Palm Sunday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and is a day of prayer and fasting and repentance from sins.

In addition to the sections already covered in this quiz, The Book of Common prayer contains a catechism, a litany for ordinations, a form for a consecration of a church or chapel, tables for holy days, and a lectionary.