During the course of the English Reformation the Church of England revised the liturgy of the church. Matins, Lauds, and Prime were compressed into the office of Morning Prayer while Vespers and Compline were compressed into Evening Prayer, while Terce, Sext, and None were eliminated. Liturgical revision has restored some offices; in addition, numerous breviaries have been created. However, many of these breviaries serve only to restore the offices in their ancient complexity, rather than in the theological spirit of Archbishop Cranmer while many modern prayer books have diverged from classical Prayer Book Anglicanism. This work is a response to these issues, the continued complexity of Anglican breviaries in the modern context and their theological discontinuity with the original task of liturgical revision. It is to these ends, simplicity and theological conformity to the original Prayer Book tradition, that this simplified Anglican breviary has been compiled.
During the course of the English Reformation the Church of England revised the liturgy of the church. Matins, Lauds, and Prime were compressed into the office of Morning Prayer while Vespers and Compline were compressed into Evening Prayer, while Terce, Sext, and None were eliminated. Liturgical revision has restored some offices; in addition, numerous breviaries have been created. However, many of these breviaries serve only to restore the offices in their ancient complexity, rather than in the theological spirit of Archbishop Cranmer while many modern prayer books have diverged from classical Prayer Book Anglicanism. This work is a response to these issues, the continued complexity of Anglican breviaries in the modern context and their theological discontinuity with the original task of liturgical revision. It is to these ends, simplicity and theological conformity to the original Prayer Book tradition, that this simplified Anglican breviary has been compiled.