Comfortable Words

The Comfortable Words are a set of scriptural sentences appointed in many forms of the Book of Common Prayer for use in the celebration of Holy Communion. In the classical Anglican rite they follow the confession of sin and absolution and precede the Sursum Corda and Prayer of Consecration. Their title uses the older English sense of "comfortable" as strengthening, consoling, or encouraging. The sentences announce the mercy of God in Christ and prepare communicants to receive the sacrament with faith rather than presumption or despair. Because they combine biblical proclamation with pastoral assurance, the Comfortable Words have become one of the distinctive features of Anglican eucharistic liturgy.

Text and liturgical place

In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the priest says, "Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him," and then reads sentences drawn from the New Testament. The traditional series includes passages associated with Matthew 11:28, John 3:16, 1 Timothy 1:15, and 1 John 2:1-2. Together they speak of Christ's invitation to the weary, God's saving love for the world, Christ's coming to save sinners, and Christ's advocacy for the faithful.

Their placement is significant. They are not a separate sermon or meditation, but a liturgical proclamation within the movement from penitence to thanksgiving. After the congregation has confessed sin and received absolution, the Comfortable Words reinforce the gospel promise on which absolution rests. They therefore stand close to the pastoral heart of the communion office: the worshipper is called to repentance, assured of divine mercy, and then drawn into eucharistic praise.

Theological significance

The Comfortable Words express several themes central to Anglicanism. First, they show the Prayer Book's close dependence on Scripture. The words of assurance are not improvised by the minister but taken from the Bible and placed in the mouth of the Church's public worship. This reflects the Anglican conviction that liturgy should be scriptural in language, doctrine, and devotional formation.

Second, they hold together penitence and confidence. The communicant approaches the Lord's Table as a sinner in need of grace, yet also as one invited by Christ. This balance is characteristic of the Prayer Book communion rite, in which confession, absolution, thanksgiving, and reception belong to one ordered action. The Comfortable Words do not minimize sin, but they direct attention from the worshipper's worthiness to the sufficiency of Christ.

Third, the sentences are pastoral. They are addressed to those who "truly turn" to Christ, and they are especially suited to consciences burdened by fear or spiritual heaviness. In this way the rite teaches that preparation for Communion includes both self-examination and trust in the promises of God.

History and reception

The Comfortable Words entered English liturgical use with the Reformation-era Prayer Book tradition and have remained closely associated with classical Anglican worship. Their presence in the communion service reflects the pastoral and evangelical concerns of the early English reformers, who sought to place biblical assurance prominently within the public administration of the sacrament. Later Prayer Books and Anglican liturgies have sometimes retained the traditional form, shortened it, or placed similar words of assurance elsewhere in the rite.

In churches that use the 1662 Prayer Book, the Comfortable Words remain a fixed part of the communion office. In provinces using modern liturgies, their exact form varies. Some contemporary rites include different sentences of scripture after confession or absolution, while others preserve the traditional four passages as an optional or customary text. Even where the phrase "Comfortable Words" is not printed as a heading, the liturgical function often remains: the congregation hears the promise of the gospel before entering the central thanksgiving of the Eucharist.

The Comfortable Words have also influenced Anglican preaching and devotional writing. They are frequently cited as an example of the Prayer Book's ability to join doctrine, biblical language, and pastoral care in a concise liturgical form. Their enduring use illustrates how Anglican eucharistic worship seeks to form communicants not only by instruction, but by repeated participation in a pattern of repentance, assurance, and thanksgiving.