Eastern Influences Part 2

Ok, as promised, here's a compilation of some of the responses I got on the APLM List-Serv when I asked about Eastern Influences on Anglican Liturgy. All the links are mine...

Dear Fr. Moss, I have just returned from the most recent SCLM meeting in Memphis, and am not yet unpacked. However, I will give some thought to your very important question. Off the top of my head, several suggestions: Andrewes' "Preces Privatae," with notes by F.E. Brightman, gives some concrete illustrations of the Orthodox influences on a major Anglican Divine, another important area would be available commentaries on the study of the Scottish Non-Jurors. Finally, I would urge you to put the same question to my collegue [and former neighbor at seminary] the Rev. Prof. J. Robert Wright. His long experience as an advisor to Presiding Bishops on Orthodox relations, together with his command of Anglican Liturgical history make him the best possible source of information. Greg Howe

There is an article by Boone Porter on Mozarabic influences on the Book of Commmon Prayer, written about 1989-92 or so. And although the Mozarabic liturgy was of course Latin, its roots are probably in Byzantium and Syria, by way of North Africa. Boone's article may have appreared in The Living Church--I do not know, but a bibliographic search might render its whereabouts! Juan Oliver

The direct influence on the early Tudor Prayer Books is pretty minimal -- the most famous example is the Prayer of St. Chrysostom in the office. The influence in the new rites is overwhelming. In the eucharist the Greeting, the Prayers of the People and the ecumenical eucharistic prayer are based on Eastern models. Perhaps the greatest influence is the baptismal rite which is arguably the most beautiful and influential work in the new rites. The introduction in the Canadian Book of Alternative Services gives a very brief outline of the sources. Doug Cowling

You can also find more about this precise Byzantium influence on Boone’s personal contribution and on the BCP in the book written to honor him upon his retirement. I can’t remember the title, though I contributed an article about his general impact on the church. Joe Doss

Another influence comes with the provision for several pieces of service music in the 1982 Hymnal They are probably little used. S123 is a Mozarabic setting of the Sanctus, and S 272 of the Gloria. (The index wrongly lists the memorial acclamation at S 140 as Mozarabic; it is in the Ambrosian preface tone.) The Altar Book includes a florid Mozarabic setting of the eucharistic dialogue and preface for Prayer D. My former rector, Wayne Wright (now bishop of Delaware), loved to sing this during Easter.
What makes a liturgy Mozarabic or Ambrosian or Byzantine or anything else is not only words, those least of all. It is music and vestments and the whole way they do the liturgy. Ormonde Plater

-t