In a unique way, Anglicanism has retained the daily office as a form of regular worship of God and sanctification of Christians for all Christians, not just for priests. Even today, it is not unusual for Anglican churches to offer at least some regular public celebration of the daily office, and the office’s inclusion in Anglican liturgical books means that laypeople who own these books at least have access to the office, whether or not they actually pray it. It is not that only Anglicans have a tradition of daily liturgical prayer, or that Anglicans always faithfully follow this tradition. But the emphasis on the office for all is, I am convinced, an Anglican distinctive.
Moreover, this emphasis has shaped Anglican theologies of worship and of asceticism or discipleship in helpful ways. The office as an act of worship reminds us that worship is not about emotional highs, indeed not grounded in a particular affective experience at all, but about the faithful offering of our time and attention to God in prayer.
This wonderfully captures key aspects of the significance of Prayer Book Morning and Evening Prayer for Anglican piety. It is also, of course, important not to romanticise or exaggerate the form taken by the daily office in historic Anglican experience. Only an incredibly small proportion of Anglican laity throughout history have been in the parish church on Tuesday for Morning Prayer. Despite the 1662 rubric, the vast majority of 'Curates' were not in the parish church on Tuesday morning to say the office, after ringing the bell to call the laity to worship. When Jeremy Taylor sought to restore good order to his new diocese post-1660, he directed of Morning and Evening Prayer, "in great Towns and populous places conveniently inhabited, it must be read in Churches, that the daily sacrifice of Prayer and Thanksgiving may never cease". Such churches, with more than one cleric and in the midst of population centres, were expected to have public Mattins and Evensong but no such requirement was laid on country parsons. Added to this, of course, we must note that PECUSA in 1789 and Ireland in 1878 removed the relevant 1662 rubric, reflecting parochial realities.
None of this, however, detracts from what Draw Near With Faith has said. Indeed, I think it emphasises it. Cranmerian Morning and Evening Prayer shaped Anglican lay piety over centuries, even when it was only encountered in full in the parish church on Sunday morning or afternoon. Key to this - as noted - was the presence of Morning and Evening Prayer in the Prayer Books which were widely owned by Anglican families (and, as J.C.D. Clark has pointed out, it was one of the most widely owned books - across social classes - in 18th century England). The office may not have been said in full by laity, but the general Confession or the collect, the psalms of the day or the canticles, 'Lighten our darkness' or the Grace, could help shape and sustain daily prayer (for individuals and households). The Prayer Book could also aid and guide the reading of Holy Scripture. My 1862 copy of the Prayer Book of the United Church of England and Ireland contains the full daily New Testament readings for the calendar year, allowing laity at home to read the appointed lessons.
This points to what is fundamental in enabling Cranmerian daily office to nurture a culture of prayer, without unrealistic expectations regarding significant numbers attending daily prayer in the parish church: Sunday Mattins. Realistically, most laity will experience the gift of the daily office by means of Sunday Mattins. It is there that most laity will learn the rhythms and texts of Mattins and how these can sustain and enrich daily prayer. Removing regular experience of Sunday Mattins, in other words, removes the daily office from the vast majority of laity.
What this is suggesting, of course, is that the ability of Cranmerian daily office to shape, nurture, and sustain the prayer of the vast majority of lay people has inevitably been compromised by the removal of Sunday Mattins in many (though not all) places. Furthermore, Parish Communion is considerably less likely to provide texts and patterns for daily prayer precisely because of its nature as a Eucharistic liturgy. All of which leads to a concluding question: if, as Draw Near With Faith rightly states, the place of Morning and Evening Prayer is a "distinctive" aspect of Anglican piety, can this be meaningfully maintained without regularly experiencing Sunday Mattins?
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