Quick question for our esteemed members across the pond ...I notice that the ECUSA Lectionary has 3 readings prescribed for the Daily Office. (OT/NT/Gospel). The Lectionary doesn't seem to allocate these to specific Offices unlike the Psalms which are appointed for am and pm. How are the readings divided between the Offices? Thanks.
The answer varies. Most Cathedral's will celebrate the "hours" each day with morning, noon, and evening prayer, but the lectionary readings are usually reserved for a weekday Eucharist service, and all three are read then. The hours almost always will just utilize the suggested Psalm. Jeff
Interesting. I'm surprised that the office readings are omitted. The Cathedral in my Diocese uses 1662 for morning/evening prayer and we have 2 readings (OT & NT) at each. On weekdays if the office is not choral they start in 1549 fashion with the preces 'O Lord, open thou our lips'. Common Worship 2000 allows for either 1 or 2 readings however.
It was quite shocking for me to learn this about ECUSA, myself. If one Psalm is all that's prescribed for each office, it's no wonder that TEC is in such a horrible state of affairs. They don't even read the holy Scriptures!
As I said, it varies. Years ago I used to visit a parish in our diocese that was AC focused, and they would do morning prayer one day each week and all three readings were used. It's always been my impression that the daily office was for personal worship at home, and after attending a day long workshop on bible study last week, that is the prevailing practice around here. In my parish, our Wednesday morning service uses the Eucharistic celebration (BCP Rite II) with all 3 readings, but instead of a homily the Priest (or Deacon) talks about the particular saint celebrated that day. Now, if memory serves me correctly, our Cathedral celebrates a choral evensong on Thursday evenings, and they use Evening Prayer with all three readings. The rubrics of our prayer book allow great latitude in the ceremonies, due to the vast difference in size, demographics, and practice of each parish. Jeff
You possibly mis-read my comment. If you look in our BCP, the Morning Prayer service is 23 pages long, and the rubrics allow one or all of these to be read. As I said in earlier posts, they must allow for the practice of a Cathedral and/or a cabin on an Indian reservation with 5 people participating, hence the latitude. Jeff
The 1979 BCP doesn't allow for all readings to be omitted, at least one reading must be read at each Office.
Three Readings are provided for each Sunday and weekday in each of the two years. Two of the Readings may be used in the morning and one in the evening; or, if the Office is read only once in the day, all three Readings may be used. When the Office is read twice in the day, it is suggested that the Gospel Reading be used in the evening in Year One, and in the morning in Year Two. If two Readings are desired at both Offices, the Old Testament Reading for the alternate year is used as the First Reading at Evening Prayer. When more than one Reading is used at an Office, the first is always from the Old Testament (or the Apocrypha). BCP page 934 Again, latitude is given depending on the gathering.
Exactly, but there must be at least one Reading at the Office. The Cathedral that skipped over the readings is breaking the rubrics.