Religion: Battle of the Prayer Books

Episcopalians seem to be polls apart

It was in 1549 that the Church of England forsook the Latin liturgy and began worshiping in the king's English. By the church's good fortune, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer edited the original Book of Common Prayer with such felicity that it has stood for centuries as a literary masterpiece. Its familiar phrases strike to the Anglican mind and heart and indeed can stir anyone who loves God or great language: "Almighty and most merciful Father . . . We have followed too much the devices and desires of our...

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