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Do not fill this in! ===Structure of the rite=== The various Eucharistic liturgies used by national churches of the [[Anglican Communion]] have continuously evolved from the 1549 and 1552 editions of the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]],'' both of which owed their form and contents chiefly to the work of [[Thomas Cranmer]], who in about 1547 had rejected the medieval theology of the Mass.<ref name="MacCulloch 1996 412">{{cite book| last=MacCulloch| first=Diarmaid| title=Thomas Cranmer| url=https://archive.org/details/thomascranmerlif0000macc| url-access=registration| location=London| publisher=Yale UP|page=[https://archive.org/details/thomascranmerlif0000macc/page/412 412]| year=1996}}</ref> Although the 1549 rite retained the traditional sequence of the Mass, its underlying theology was Cranmer's and the four-day debate in the House of Lords during December 1548 makes it clear that this had already moved far beyond traditional Catholicism.<ref>{{cite book| last=MacCulloch| first=Diarmaid| title=Thomas Cranmer| url=https://archive.org/details/thomascranmerlif0000macc| url-access=registration| location=London| publisher=Yale UP|pages=[https://archive.org/details/thomascranmerlif0000macc/page/404 404]β8 & 629| year=1996}}</ref> In the 1552 revision, this was made clear by the restructuring of the elements of the rite while retaining nearly all the language so that it became, in the words of an Anglo-Catholic liturgical historian (Arthur Couratin) "a series of communion devotions; disembarrassed of the Mass with which they were temporarily associated in 1548 and 1549".<ref name="MacCulloch 1996 412"/> Some rites, such as the 1637 Scottish rite and the 1789 rite in the United States, went back to the 1549 model.<ref>{{cite book| last=Neill| first=Stephen| title=Anglicanism| publisher=Penguin| location=London| year=1960|page=152,3}}</ref> From the time of the [[Elizabethan Settlement]] in 1559 the services allowed for a certain variety of theological interpretation. Today's rites generally follow the same general five-part shape.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| last=Seddon| first=Philip| title=Word and Sacrament| editor-last=Bunting| editor-first=Ian| encyclopedia=Celebrating the Anglican Way| publisher=Hodder & Stoughton| year=1996| location=London| page=107,8}}</ref> Some or all of the following elements may be altered, transposed or absent depending on the rite, the liturgical season and use of the province or national church: * '''Gathering''': Begins with a [[Trinitarian formula|Trinitarian]]-based greeting or [[liturgical year|seasonal]] acclamation ("Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy spirit. And Blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen").<ref>Book of Common Prayer p. 355 Holy Eucharist Rite II</ref> Then the Kyrie and a general confession and absolution follow. On Sundays outside Advent and Lent and on major festivals, the {{lang|la|[[Gloria in Excelsis Deo]]|italic=no}} is sung or said. The entrance rite then concludes with the [[collect]] of the day. * '''Proclaiming and Hearing the Word''': Usually two to three readings of Scripture, one of which is always from the [[Gospel]]s, plus a [[psalm]] (or portion thereof) or [[canticle]] between the lessons. This is followed by a [[sermon]] or [[homily]]; the recitation of one of the Creeds, viz., the [[Apostles' Creed|Apostles']] or [[Nicene Creed|Nicene]], is done on Sundays and feasts. * '''The Prayers of the People''': Quite varied in their form. * '''The Peace''': The people stand and greet one another and exchange signs of God's peace in the name of the Lord. It functions as a bridge between the prayers, lessons, sermon and creeds to the Communion part of the Eucharist. *'''The Celebration of the Eucharist''': The gifts of bread and wine are brought up, along with other gifts (such as money or food for a food bank, etc.), and an [[offertory]] prayer is recited. Following this, a [[Eucharistic Prayer]] (called "The Great Thanksgiving") is offered. This prayer consists of a dialogue (the [[Sursum Corda]]), a preface, the [[sanctus]] and [[Sanctus Benedictus|benedictus]], the Words of Institution, the Anamnesis, an [[Epiclesis]], a petition for salvation, and a Doxology. The Lord's Prayer precedes the [[Fraction (religion)|fraction]] (the breaking of the bread), followed by the [[Prayer of Humble Access]] or the [[Agnus Dei (liturgy)|Agnus Dei]] and the distribution of the sacred elements (the bread and wine). *'''Dismissal''': There is a post-Communion prayer, which is a general prayer of thanksgiving. The service concludes with a Trinitarian blessing and the dismissal. The liturgy is divided into two main parts: The Liturgy of the Word (Gathering, Proclaiming and Hearing the Word, Prayers of the People) and the Liturgy of the Eucharist (together with the Dismissal), but the entire liturgy itself is also properly referred to as the Holy Eucharist. The sequence of the liturgy is almost identical to the [[Roman Rite]], except the Confession of Sin ends the Liturgy of the Word in the Anglican rites in North America, while in the Roman Rite (when used) and in Anglican rites in many jurisdictions the Confession is near the beginning of the service. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). 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