This week I am thinking about the treasure trove that is The Book of Common Prayer and other authorized liturgies in the Episcopal tradition. Most of us have no idea just how many wonderful prayers and liturgies there are for all occasions of life. For obvious reasons, the one that is foremost on my mind is on page 439 in The Book of Common Prayer, Thanksgiving for the Birth or Adoption of a Child. This liturgy has quite a history, going back hundreds of years. It has its roots in the Jewish tradition of purification rites for women 40 days after childbirth, but equally emphasizes thanksgiving for the birth of a child. In centuries where mortality rates of women during the birth of a child were very high, it became particularly important to thank God for safety in coming through it. It also was often the first time much of the community would be introduced to the child, who may or may not have been baptized yet, and thus it became a presentation of the child to God and to the community of God.
This liturgy has stood for hundreds of years in our prayer book alongside the liturgies of baptism, confirmation, eucharist, burial rites, etc., but my guess is that you have never seen it. Why have we forgotten so much of the prayer book?
There are other wonderful liturgies that have also fallen out of disuse, or have not been adequately been made available to the people. The rite of confession on pg. 447 of the prayer book is one such example. Or the vigil that may be prayed after a death and before a funeral on pg. 465 in the prayer book. Even more unknown are the incredible liturgies included in The Book of Occasional Services, such as
- Blessing of a Garden
- Welcoming New People to a Congregation
- A Service of Renaming
- Blessing of a Pregnant Woman
- Quinceañera
- Blessing of a Home
- A Public Service of Healing
- Anniversary of Marriage
- And more
And then there are the liturgies included in Enriching Our Worship, such as
- A Litany for Discontinuing Life-Sustaining Treatment
- A Rite for Mourning the Loss of a Pregnancy
- Rites and Prayers for Ending a Pregnancy (be it desired or undesired, repentance or discernment)
- Prayers for Adoption
- Litanies for Remembrance, Complaint, or Lament
- And more
All of these liturgies are available to you, not simply as novel ways to celebrate or recognize a life event, but as ways of shaping our lives in prayer and acknowledging God’s presence in every moment. In fact, there are ways of bringing prayer and liturgies into every aspect of life, even when there is no formally offered liturgy in books of prayer. I remember a few months ago praying in a parishioner’s home with a liturgy I created at the time of death of a pet. Anyone that has lost a pet before knows how painful it can be. Why not invite God into that pain and honor our animal loved one with a liturgy?
This Sunday my family will make use of the centuries old tradition, Thanksgiving for the Birth of a Child, at the 10:30am mass as LauraAnn and the baby come back to worship. Are there prayers or liturgies that you want to make use of in your life? Let me know how I can support you in that holy work.
That’s what’s on my mind this week. What’s on yours? I’d love to hear.
Peace,
Derek
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