 |
|
|
|
|
| |
| A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
F
|
G
|
H
|
I
|
J
|
K
|
L
|
M
|
N
|
O
|
P
|
Q
|
R
|
S
|
T
|
U
|
V
|
W
|
X
|
Y
|
Z
|
| |
Baptismal Bowl:
A removable bowl sitting in the baptismal font and holding the water used for baptism.
Baptismal Shell: A shell for pouring water in baptism upon the head of the person being baptized. It may be a real sea shell or of a precious metal.
Blessed Sacrament: The consecrated bread and wine of the
Holy Eucharist which are the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Boat: A small container, with a lid and spoon, in which incense is kept before it is placed in the thurible.
Book of Common Prayer: The main pillar of doctrinal expression and primary guide for worship in the Episcopal Church. Most Anglican churches have their own version. Also called "The Prayer Book" or the "BCP". It consists of classic and contemporary prayers, devotions, services and psalms designed to allow the entire Church to worship in common union.
The first Anglican Book of Common Prayer (1549) was approved by Parliament and written in English by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, drawing on material from a number of Latin books and manuals then used to conduct services. It was mandated for use throughout the land through the Act of Uniformity. Too conservative both in doctrine and ritual to please advocates of more radical reform, it was followed in 1552 by a second edition with a more Reformed recasting of the liturgy for Holy Communion. Following the brief return to Catholicism under Queen Mary, a new BCP was approved in 1559 reflecting Queen Elizabeth's via media (middle way). In 1662, following Civil War and Restoration, a revised version introduced the 1611 Authorized Version (KJV) of the bible into the readings of the Epistles and Gospels throughout. This edition of the BCP remained practically unchanged into the twentieth century, when supplemental alternatives were published in the 1960's and later.
The current BCP for the Episcopal Church was adopted by the General Convention in 1979, incorporating parts of the 1928 version as Rite I, and updated portions as Rite II.
While the revision of the BCP is often a matter of controversy between conservatives that want things to stay the same and liberals who want things to change, even the preface of the original Anglican BCP noted "it is but reasonable that upon weighty and important considerations, according to the various exigency of times and occasions, such changes and alterations should be made therein, as to those that are in place of Authority should, from time to time, seem either necessary or expedient." (BCP, p. 9) Indeed, it was under that precedent that the first Episcopal BCP was produced.
Other books used in the Episcopal services are the Hymnal, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, and the Book of Occasional Services.
Bread: One of the two elements of communion, signifying to us the Body of Christ. As Scripture reminds us, "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body." (Matthew 26:26).
Wafers are placed in a "Bread Box."
Burse: From the Greek byrsa ("bag"). A burse is one of the furnishings of the altar for communion, and is a pocket case made from two squares of some rigid material covered in cloth of the seasonal color. The burse sits on top of the chalice, paten and veil, and serves to hold a corporal. Often, the burse also serves to hide an extra purificator.
|
|
