It was on this day in history, 9th June 1549, at Whitsun (Pentecost) services around the country that the Book of Common Prayer was first used.
This prayer book was the official liturgy of Edward VI's Protestant Church and was composed mainly by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was written in English and it replaced the traditional Latin mass. It was revised in 1552.
You can read a copy of the original 1549 Book of Common Prayer on archive.org - click here and you can also read The Booke Of Common Prayer Its Making And Revisions 1549-1661 on the same site - click here.
Beth von Staats, author of Thomas Cranmer in a Nutshell wrote an excellent article for us on Thomas Cranmer and the Book of Common Prayer and you can click here to read that now.
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