The Prayer Book Society bring us Cranmer Day Celebration to commemorate the martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer. This year, there will be a special Choral BCP Service of Holy Communion and a talk as well as tea and bicuits. It is a very special occasion and it is open to anyone who would like to attend.
15:30 in the OCS: Tea and biscuits
16:00 in the OCS: A talk by Revd Professor Andrew Lewis titled ‘The Prayer Book Revolt and its Effect on the Cornish Language’.
17:30 in the cathedral: Choral BCP Holy Communion, sung by Truro Cathedral Choir and preached by Dean Simon Robinson
The history of Thomas Cranmer
In the final years of Henry VIII’s reign, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, conceived and wrote the original Book of Common Prayer.
After the accession of the Catholic Mary I, Cranmer was put on trial for treason and heresy. Imprisoned for over two years and under pressure from Church authorities, he made several recantations and apparently reconciled himself with the Catholic Church.
While this would have normally absolved him, Mary wanted him executed, and, on the day of his execution, he withdrew his recantations, to die a heretic to Catholics and a martyr for the principles of the English Reformation
One year after his death in 1547, Parliament enacted the Act of Uniformity and for the first time England had its first, single church service, set out in the Book of Common Prayer.
For over 350 years the Book of Common Prayer has been the bedrock service book for the Anglican Church.
