Words of Administration in the Book of Common Prayer
The Words of Administration are the sentences spoken by the minister when distributing the consecrated bread and wine in the Holy Communion service of the Book of Common Prayer. In Anglican usage they are not merely practical directions for receiving the elements, but part of the liturgical expression of Eucharistic doctrine. Their history shows how the Prayer Book tradition held together reverence for the sacrament, the communicant's faithful reception, and the remembrance of Christ's saving death. The form most familiar in classical Anglican worship combines language of sacramental gift with language of memorial and thanksgiving.
Prayer Book development
The first English Prayer Book of 1549 provided words of administration that closely resembled medieval Western forms, adapted into English. At the delivery of the bread the priest said, "The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life." A corresponding sentence was used for the cup. This wording emphasized the sacramental gift being delivered to the communicant.
The 1552 Prayer Book replaced this with a different form: "Take and eat this, in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving." For the cup, the communicant was told to drink in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed. This revision emphasized reception by faith and the memorial character of the rite. It reflected Reformation concerns that communicants should not understand the sacrament apart from Christ's once-for-all sacrifice and the believer's faithful participation.
The Elizabethan Prayer Book of 1559 joined the two earlier forms, placing the 1549 words before the 1552 words. This combined wording was retained, with minor variations, in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The resulting formula became one of the characteristic features of Anglican Eucharistic liturgy. It allowed Anglican worship to speak both of the sacramental body and blood of Christ and of the communicant's faithful remembrance, without reducing the rite to either a bare memorial or an isolated sacramental act.
Liturgical use
In the classical Prayer Book rite the words are said individually to each communicant as the bread and the cup are administered. This gives the words a pastoral and personal character. The minister does not speak only to the congregation in general, but to each person receiving the sacrament. The repeated phrase "given for thee" and "shed for thee" places the communicant within the saving work proclaimed in the Eucharist.
The words also accompany a visible action. They are spoken while the consecrated elements are delivered, so that speech, gesture, and reception form a single liturgical moment. In this respect the Words of Administration differ from the Prayer of Consecration in the 1662 Communion Office, which is addressed to God, and from the Comfortable Words, which are scriptural assurances proclaimed to the penitent. The Words of Administration are directed to the communicant at the point of reception.
Later Anglican liturgies have sometimes shortened or varied the formula. Some rites use brief forms such as "The Body of Christ" and "The Blood of Christ," while others preserve the longer Prayer Book wording or provide it as an option. These variations usually reflect pastoral considerations, local liturgical custom, or the structure of modern Communion services. The classical form, however, remains important for understanding Anglican Eucharistic theology.
Theological significance
The combined Prayer Book formula is often noted for its doctrinal balance. The first half speaks of the body and blood of Christ as given and shed for the communicant, with prayer that they may preserve body and soul unto everlasting life. The second half directs the communicant to remember Christ's death and to feed on him in the heart by faith with thanksgiving. Together, these phrases express the Anglican concern that sacramental reception and faithful response belong together.
This balance is consistent with the wider teaching of the Thirty-Nine Articles, especially the article on the Lord's Supper, which describes the sacrament as a sign of Christian love and a means by which the faithful receive Christ. The Words of Administration do not attempt to define every aspect of Eucharistic presence. Instead, they locate the communicant within the gospel pattern of gift, remembrance, faith, and thanksgiving.
The formula has also shaped Anglican devotion. Because the words are addressed directly to each communicant, they have often been heard as a concise summary of the purpose of Holy Communion: Christ's sacrifice is proclaimed, the sacramental gifts are received, and the communicant responds in faith. In this way the Words of Administration occupy a small but significant place in the Prayer Book's pattern of worship and doctrine.