At 08:54 AM 11/11/98 +0000, Graham Gould wrote:
>I wonder if any members of this list who are members of ECUSA would care to
>comment on the current usage and popularity of the eucharistic prayers of
>Rite 2 of the 1979 BCP, which I wish to discuss for comparative purposes in
>a study of new eucharistic prayers in the Church of England. Rite 2 is
>sometimes used in England, though the only prayer which is heard at all
>regularly is C. Personally I think this a very fine prayer, not least
>because of its successful integration of penitential material into praise
>for creation and God's dealings with human beings (the 1985 Canadian
>adaptation seems to me less good precisely because it changes the responses
>and eliminates the penitential element, but I have never heard this in
>use); I would be interested to know, however, what more regular users now
>think of C and the other prayers (and to receive any information about
>their revision).
I think the Canadian revision was intended to make the singing of the
prayer easier; the writers of the original had hoped it would be sung, but
the different responses made it all but impossible.
The prayer which is used most often is prayer A, because it is the one
located in sequence in Rite II. I also hear prayers B and C as seasonal
variants (C seems to be in favor during summer, a more informal time). D is
almost never used--considered to be too long, I imagine, although it is by
far my favorite of the four prayers.
It's also quite common for churches here to switch to Rite I during Lent
and sometimes Advent, as signs of penitence--a usage which is problematic
at best.
Steve Benner
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