Corporate and Private Prayer

The Prayer Book structures and orders the corporate prayers of the Church: not only the Daily Office, but also the sacramental rites, pastoral liturgies, and other acts of intercession and thanksgiving. The first English liturgy prepared by Thomas Cranmer, however, was a version of the Great Litany, in which the Church prays for her own life and members, for the national and social order, and for the world at large. It is a comprehensive act of intercession. Historically, the Great Litany was required to be used throughout the year on Sundays and certain weekdays as well. In contemporary practice it is most frequently used in Lent and Advent, especially on the first Sundays of these seasons.

It is important to recognize that all these liturgies and intercessions—even the Daily Office when it is said alone—are basically forms of corporate prayer. They enact the "royal priesthood" that the Church exercises in union with Christ's own priesthood. However, these corporate prayers are also meant to shape within individual believers a language and capacity for private prayer and devotion, which can be adapted and developed as part of extemporaneous prayer as well. The Prayer Book includes a number of resources for such private prayer, particularly in the Occasional Prayers section, as well as in brief sections following the Healing Rites and Family Prayers. These resources are also extremely valuable for pastoral practice, bringing the life of the Church to bear on various aspects of everyday life.

Candidates are expected to be familiar with the Great Litany and the Occasional Prayers provided in the Book of Common Prayer 2019. Candidates are also encouraged to think about which Psalms and prayers might be most appropriate for common pastoral situations.

Areas of Liturgics

1. History of Christian Worship
2. Content and use of The Book of Common Prayer
3. Daily Office
4. Corporate and Private Prayer
5. Sacramental Theology
6. The Holy Eucharist
7. Baptism and Confirmation
8. Marriage and Children
9. Rites of Healing
10. Death and Burial
11. Sanctification of Time
12. Sanctification of Space
13. Liturgy and Music
14. Liturgy and Mission