Exhortation in the Book of Common Prayer Communion Office
The Exhortation in the Book of Common Prayer Communion Office is a pastoral address appointed in historic Anglican eucharistic liturgy to prepare communicants for worthy reception of Holy Communion. In the Book of Common Prayer, especially in the 1662 English rite, exhortations connect the administration of the sacrament with repentance, faith, charity, and self-examination. They are not prayers in the strict sense, but liturgical admonitions spoken by the minister for the spiritual instruction of the congregation. In this way they reflect the pastoral and catechetical character of Anglicanism, in which public worship, doctrine, and moral formation are closely joined.
Place in the Communion Office
In the classical Prayer Book tradition, the exhortations appear in connection with the order for Holy Communion. They are associated especially with notice of an approaching celebration and with the immediate preparation of those who intend to receive. Their placement shows that the Prayer Book did not treat Communion as a merely private devotion, but as an ecclesial act requiring reconciliation with God and neighbour.
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer includes more than one form of exhortation. One form is used when the minister gives warning of a forthcoming Communion. Another addresses those who neglect reception after being invited. A further exhortation is appointed near the time of administration, calling communicants to examine themselves and come with repentance and faith. These texts give the minister a formal liturgical means of pastoral admonition without making the sermon carry the whole burden of eucharistic preparation.
The exhortations belong to a wider Prayer Book pattern in which spoken instruction is woven into worship. Similar pastoral functions may be seen in the rubrics, in the catechism, and in the forms for baptism, confirmation, marriage, and visitation of the sick. The Communion exhortations are distinctive because they address the conscience of the worshipper at the threshold of sacramental participation.
Theological Themes
The exhortations express several themes characteristic of classical Anglican eucharistic theology. First, they stress the seriousness of receiving the sacrament. Communion is presented as a gift of grace, but not as an act to be approached carelessly. The communicant is urged to consider sin, seek forgiveness, and amend life.
Second, the exhortations emphasize faith in Christ rather than confidence in personal merit. Worthy reception is not described as moral perfection, but as repentance, trust in divine mercy, and a desire to live in charity. This balance reflects the Prayer Book's concern to guard both reverence for the sacrament and confidence in the gospel.
Third, the texts give special attention to reconciliation. Communicants are warned against coming to the Lord's Table while remaining in malice, hatred, or unresolved offence. This emphasis connects the eucharistic rite with the ethical life of the Christian community. Reception of Communion is therefore presented as inseparable from forgiveness, peace, and visible fellowship within the Church.
Pastoral and Historical Significance
Historically, the exhortations helped shape Anglican patterns of sacramental discipline. In many parishes, Communion was not received weekly by the whole congregation, even where Morning Prayer, the Litany, and Ante-Communion were regularly used. The exhortations therefore served as formal invitations to communicate and as reminders that habitual absence from Communion was spiritually serious.
Their language also illustrates the Reformation-era concern for intelligible public instruction. The minister addresses the people directly in the vernacular, explaining the meaning and demands of the sacrament. This reflects the broader Prayer Book aim of forming a biblically instructed laity through common worship.
In later Anglican practice, the full exhortations have often been shortened, omitted, or reserved for particular seasons such as Lent. Some modern Anglican liturgies retain the substance of their teaching in invitations, confessions, absolutions, and pastoral addresses rather than in the older fixed forms. Nevertheless, the Prayer Book exhortations remain important witnesses to Anglican assumptions about sacramental preparation. They show that eucharistic participation is both gracious and demanding: a reception of Christ's benefits and a summons to repentance, faith, and charity.