Why a lectionary? And why, moreover, placed in such a prominent position, virtually at the beginning of the Book of Common Prayer, even before the liturgical services themselves? What sense does it make for a book designed to order the Church’s public prayer to begin by establishing which portions of Scripture are to be read each day?
The answer is neither accidental nor merely practical. The placement of the lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer reveals a fundamental theological conviction: the prayer of the Church is born from the Word of God and is ordered by it. Before speaking to God, the Church must listen to God. Positioned at the opening of the book, the lectionary thus functions as a silent yet decisive declaration of priorities. Scripture does not accompany worship; it governs it.
In a book of liturgical services, this decision is profoundly Reformed in character. The Book of Common Prayer does not begin with ritual instructions, sacramental formularies, or a calendar of feasts, but with the ordered reading of the Word. The message is clear: the spiritual life of the Church does not rest upon the creativity of the minister or the spontaneity of the congregation, but upon sustained exposure to Scripture.
From this conviction emerges the lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer (1662), not as a functional appendix, but as a central component of the Anglican reforming project.
What is the lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer?
The lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer establishes an ordered system of biblical readings for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, distributed throughout the liturgical year and the civil calendar. Unlike later lectionaries, which are focused almost exclusively on Sunday worship, the lectionary of 1662 is designed for the daily prayer of the Church.
Its most distinctive feature is its sequential and continuous character. The books of Scripture are read chapter by chapter, with minimal interruption, so that the people of God are exposed in a sustained way to the biblical narrative, its literary diversity, and its theological development. It is not a thematic selection of passages, but a progressive immersion in the biblical witness.
Why include a lectionary in a book of prayer?
The inclusion of the lectionary responds to a fundamental Reformed conviction: the Church is formed by the Word of God, not merely instructed by it on occasion. For Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformers, Scripture could not be confined to the Sunday pulpit or to the private study of the clergy. It had to be heard regularly, corporately, and within the context of prayer.
Before the Reformation, public biblical reading was fragmented, mediated through complex cycles, limited selections, and often through a language inaccessible to the people. The lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer sought to correct this situation by establishing a clear, broad, and intelligible reading of Scripture in the vernacular. In this way, the Bible ceased to be the exclusive possession of the clergy and became the structuring centre of the Church’s daily devotional life.
What was Cranmer seeking to achieve?
Cranmer’s purpose was eminently formative and pastoral. His intention was not simply to organise readings, but to reconfigure the spiritual imagination of the Christian people. Through the daily hearing of Scripture, the believer is introduced into the language, rhythm, and priorities of biblical revelation. By the daily hearing of the Word of God, the whole nation is evangelised.
Cranmer sought for the people to know Scripture broadly rather than fragmentarily, for the Bible to interpret the Bible through its continuous reading, and for the prayer of the Church to arise as a response to the Word that has been heard. In this sense, the lectionary and the prayers of the Book of Common Prayer form a coherent theological unity: God speaks first; the Church responds afterwards.
Historical and political considerations in the design of the lectionary
It must be acknowledged that the lectionary reflected in the Book of Common Prayer (1662) does not lead to the reading of the entirety of Scripture. This limitation does not arise from a restrictive theological decision or from distrust towards certain biblical books, but from very concrete pastoral, social, and political contingencies.
England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries experienced a period of profound instability. Civil conflicts, disputes over legitimate authority, and radical movements shaped the cultural and ecclesial climate. In this context, certain groups appealed to highly selective readings of Scripture, particularly of apocalyptic texts, in order to foster millenarian expectations, undermine established authority, and legitimise actions that destabilised both social and ecclesial order.
Against this backdrop, the lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer reflects a deliberate pastoral decision: to protect the public reading of Scripture from ideological instrumentalisation. Caution in the distribution of certain texts did not imply a negative judgement upon them, but rather the recognition that the Word of God must be read within the Church, in an ordered, canonical, and responsible manner. The lectionary thus sought to preserve the formative function of Scripture, preventing complex and symbolic passages from being isolated from their canonical context and used to promote confusion, fear, or violence.
This political dimension, understood not as propaganda but as care for the common good, forms an integral part of the Anglican reforming project. The Church assumed pastoral responsibility for ordering the public hearing of the Word so that it might edify, instruct, and lead to peace.
Historical limits and the possibility of a responsible renewal
The limitations of the 1662 lectionary must be understood in light of its time. Cranmer and the Reformers worked within very specific conditions: limited levels of literacy, restricted access to biblical texts, and an almost total dependence upon public worship for biblical exposure.
Today, many of these difficulties no longer exist. Acknowledging this fact does not relativise the historical lectionary, but rather receives its Reformed spirit faithfully. The same logic that prompted its creation invites reflection on whether the contemporary Church is listening sufficiently to the whole Word of God and whether the ordering of its readings adequately serves the biblical formation of the Christian people.
To speak of a responsible renewal of the lectionary is not to speak of rupture, but of living continuity. It is to allow the Reformed principle that gave birth to the lectionary to continue fulfilling its purpose under new circumstances.
Unity, identity, and common prayer
The lectionary is inseparably linked to the purpose of the Book of Common Prayer to establish truly common prayer. Prior to its adoption, multiple books and local uses coexisted, producing confusion and fragmentation. The decision to establish a single lectionary for the whole realm contributed decisively to the formation of a shared Christian identity.
By hearing the same readings, in the same order, under the same common rule, the Church affirmed that the Christian faith was not a private or merely local matter, but a public reality shaping the spiritual consciousness of the people.
What can we learn today, especially in Latin America?
In the Latin American context, the lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer offers particularly urgent lessons. We inhabit an environment marked by biblical fragmentation, arbitrary selection of texts, and a strong dependence on the individual charisma of leadership. The lectionary proposes a different path: allowing Scripture to set the rhythm, content, and horizon of the Church’s spiritual life.
It also offers a corrective to ecclesial activism. The Church is not defined first by what it does, but by what it listens to. To recover the daily and communal reading of Scripture is to recover a form of spiritual humility and formative patience.
Conclusion
The inclusion of the lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer (1662) was not a technical detail, but a theological decision of far-reaching significance. It expresses a vision of the Church as a community that listens before it speaks, that is formed before it acts, and that lives under the living authority of the Word of God.
To receive that lectionary faithfully today does not mean freezing it in time, but understanding its deeper intention and allowing it to continue fulfilling its purpose under new circumstances. For Reformed Anglicanism, and especially for its expression in the Latin American world, the lectionary remains a living invitation to a biblical, ecclesial, and persevering spirituality, rooted in the Word and oriented to the glory of God.
