The story of Henry VIII's obsession to secure a male heir so that the possibility of another Civil War (as had happened between the Lancasters and the Yorks in the brutal 'War of the Roses') could be avoided is well-known. Catherine of Aragon of Spain, had formerly been married to his older brother Arthur who died six months after their marriage.
Although Henry VII was not keen for his youngest son to marry Catherine, she did have a large dowry and when King Henry VII died, his son Henry VIII married Catherine.
But her child-bearing years with Henry were accompanied by frustration with the only success being her giving birth to a female heir (Mary, later Mary I). Therefore, Henry determined to gain an annulment from his marriage to Catherine from the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) but was refused for political reasons.
So, Henry decided to break with Rome by getting his own clergy to annul the marriage and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was happy to oblige his king.1
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) was a famous reforming Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and tragically during Mary I's (in which he was burned at the stake).
He can best be described as a quiet, humble genius who changed fundamentally the nature of the English Church's liturgy of his time. His talent can be seen in many aspects of The Book of Common Prayer. However, what I particularly want to focus on are the 'Collects' of Cranmer.2
But her child-bearing years with Henry were accompanied by frustration with the only success being her giving birth to a female heir (Mary, later Mary I). Therefore, Henry determined to gain an annulment from his marriage to Catherine from the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) but was refused for political reasons.
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) was a famous reforming Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and tragically during Mary I's (in which he was burned at the stake).
He can best be described as a quiet, humble genius who changed fundamentally the nature of the English Church's liturgy of his time. His talent can be seen in many aspects of The Book of Common Prayer. However, what I particularly want to focus on are the 'Collects' of Cranmer.2
Cranmer At Prayer
Many of the Anglican collects are very old and go back to AD 400-600 under three famous bishops of Rome (Leo I, Gelasius, and Gregory the Great). Collects are characteristic of the Western Church (Catholicism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism) and do not feature in Eastern Orthodoxy.
'Collect' comes from the Latin, 'to gather'. Some seem to believe that its meaning alludes to the people of God gathering together; others that the collect prayer itself is a gathering together of the prayers of God's people as they meet at worship. Perhaps its ambiguity indicates that both are intended.
A Collect is a short, pithy prayer with a characteristic, literary structure. It usually has five parts (but not always). First, the address or invocation which is almost always to the Father (only three times in Anglican collects is the Son directly addressed); second, the characteristic of God on which our petition is made; the petition for forgiveness, cleansing, protection, etc; an 'aspiration' or higher purpose: so that we may 'better fitted for God's service'; finally, the pleading, 'through the name of Jesus our Lord' because He is a one mediator between God and man.
We finish this introduction with the famous Collect for Purity showing the 5 parts numbered:
1. An interesting side on Cranmer's character which was always to support the properly, constituted monarch. Even with Mary I Cranmer struggled to do this but in the end decided that the truth of the gospel must come before that of the opinions of Mary.
2. I am heavily reliant on the wonderful text, The Collects of Thomas Cranmer. (1999) C. Frederick Barbee and Paul F. M. Zahl. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans.
'Collect' comes from the Latin, 'to gather'. Some seem to believe that its meaning alludes to the people of God gathering together; others that the collect prayer itself is a gathering together of the prayers of God's people as they meet at worship. Perhaps its ambiguity indicates that both are intended.
A Collect is a short, pithy prayer with a characteristic, literary structure. It usually has five parts (but not always). First, the address or invocation which is almost always to the Father (only three times in Anglican collects is the Son directly addressed); second, the characteristic of God on which our petition is made; the petition for forgiveness, cleansing, protection, etc; an 'aspiration' or higher purpose: so that we may 'better fitted for God's service'; finally, the pleading, 'through the name of Jesus our Lord' because He is a one mediator between God and man.
We finish this introduction with the famous Collect for Purity showing the 5 parts numbered:
1. Almighty God,
2. to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden,
3. cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
4. that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify you holy name,
5. through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
1. An interesting side on Cranmer's character which was always to support the properly, constituted monarch. Even with Mary I Cranmer struggled to do this but in the end decided that the truth of the gospel must come before that of the opinions of Mary.
2. I am heavily reliant on the wonderful text, The Collects of Thomas Cranmer. (1999) C. Frederick Barbee and Paul F. M. Zahl. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans.
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