The Exhortation to Holy Communion in Anglican Worship
The Exhortation to Holy Communion is a pastoral address appointed in historic Anglican eucharistic rites to prepare the congregation for worthy reception of the sacrament. In the Book of Common Prayer tradition, exhortations stand between catechesis, admonition, and invitation: they teach the meaning of communion, warn against careless reception, and urge communicants to repentance, faith, charity, and reconciliation. Although their frequency and placement have varied across Anglican provinces, they remain an important witness to the moral and devotional character of Anglican sacramental theology.
Place in the Prayer Book tradition
The classical English Prayer Book contains longer exhortations connected with the administration of Holy Communion. These texts reflect the Reformation concern that lay people should receive the sacrament with understanding rather than merely observe the rite. They also reflect the pastoral situation of parish life, in which communion was not always received weekly by the whole congregation.
The exhortations are not themselves consecratory prayers. Their function is preparatory and pastoral. They interpret the coming celebration, call the people to self-examination, and direct communicants toward the promises of the Gospel. In this respect they belong to the same broad family of Prayer Book material as the Comfortable Words, the Prayer of Humble Access, and the confession and absolution in the Communion Office.
In some editions of the Prayer Book, one exhortation is appointed to be read when the minister gives notice that Holy Communion will be celebrated. Another is addressed to those intending to receive. A further admonition may be used when the minister perceives negligence or refusal among parishioners. These forms show that the Prayer Book treated communion as both a gift of grace and a discipline of the visible Church.
Theological emphasis
The Exhortation presents Holy Communion as participation in the benefits of Christ's death and passion, received by faith with thanksgiving. Its language assumes that the sacrament is not a bare memorial detached from the worshipper's spiritual condition. At the same time, it avoids treating preparation as a meritorious work. The communicant is summoned to repentance because the sacrament is holy, and to confidence because Christ is merciful.
Several themes recur in the Prayer Book exhortations. The first is self-examination, drawn especially from the apostolic warning in 1 Corinthians concerning unworthy reception. The second is reconciliation with one's neighbours. Communicants are urged to forgive injuries and make restitution where possible, so that reception of the sacrament is not contradicted by malice or injustice. The third is thanksgiving: communion is approached as an act of grateful remembrance and faithful feeding upon Christ.
These themes express a characteristic Anglican balance. The rite is corporate and ecclesial, not merely private devotion; yet the individual conscience is addressed seriously. The communicant is not told to stay away because of ordinary weakness, but to come with repentance and faith. This pastoral distinction helped shape Anglican teaching on preparation for communion in catechesis, preaching, and devotional manuals.
Later use and adaptation
In later Anglican practice, the long exhortations became less frequently heard in ordinary Sunday worship, especially where weekly or frequent communion became normal. Some Prayer Books retained them as optional texts, seasonal admonitions, or forms to be used at the discretion of the minister. Modern liturgies often express similar themes through shorter invitations, penitential rites, catechetical teaching, or pastoral instruction before confirmation and first communion.
The decline in regular public reading did not erase their influence. The exhortations helped preserve the idea that eucharistic participation involves conversion of life as well as liturgical attendance. They also provide evidence for the Prayer Book's understanding of the minister as pastor and teacher, charged not only with saying the rite but with preparing the people to receive it fruitfully.
Within Anglican church history, the Exhortation to Holy Communion is therefore significant as a bridge between doctrine and parish practice. It shows how the Book of Common Prayer sought to form communicants through repeated public language, joining sacramental reverence to evangelical assurance and moral amendment.