Norman Taylor was born in 1926, and educated at Bolton School. From 1944 to 1946 he served as an officer in the R.N.V.R. A scholar of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he read history before going to Cuddesdon College, Oxford to prepare for ordination. He served his title at the parish church of Clitheroe in Blackburn diocese. For fifteen years he was Rector of Little Wilbraham in Ely diocese, before becoming Chaplain of St. Faith's School, Cambridge, and finally, honorary assistant priest of Chesterton Parish Church. He now lives in retirement in Lyme Regis, and serves on the Salisbury branch committee of the Prayer Book Society.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsPrologue 1. Morning Prayer2. Evening Prayer3. Interlude: Parallel Patterns4. The Creed of St Athanasius - Quicunque Vult5. The Litany6. Prayers and Thanksgiving7. The Collects, Epistles and Gospels8. Holy Communion9. Interlude: 1662 and all that10. The Ministration of Public Baptism to Infants11. A Catechism12. The Order of Confirmation13. Interlude: Found in Possession14. The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony15. The Order for Visitation of the Sick16. The Order for the Burial of the Dead17. Thanksgiving of Women after Child Birth18. A Commination19. The Psalter - The Psalms of David20. Interlude: 'Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs'21. Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea22. Finale: Excellent ReferencesEpilogueIndex of AuthorsCopyright Permissions

"All good anthologies - and this is a very good one - stimulate the reader ... wide reading in the obscure and at first sight ephemeral ... yields some ... most memorable passages ...The author has made excellent use of fiction as well as memoirs to record the impact of the Prayer Book and the reactions of the congregation ..." Richard Olland, The Tablet "The appeal of this imaginative book ... will be by no means exclusively to Anglicans: it is not 'churchy', but wide in its trawl, literateurs vastly outnumbering divines. Lovers of English and all who try to worship in whatever tradition will appreciate the humour and humanity of the well chosen extracts ... delightful and timely ... beautifully produced." The Expository Times "A supreme masterpiece of English prose." The Tablet "This delightful book has only one demerit, that of being too short." P.D. James, Daily Telegraph "Here is evidence of how those beautiful cadences seduced whole generations into belief." The Independent "An eloquent champion for the Book of Common Prayer." Parish News

Norman Taylor was born in 1926, and educated at Bolton School. From 1944 to 1946 he served as an officer in the R.N.V.R. A scholar of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he read history before going to Cuddesdon College, Oxford to prepare for ordination. He served his title at the parish church of Clitheroe in Blackburn diocese. For fifteen years he was Rector of Little Wilbraham in Ely diocese, before becoming Chaplain of St. Faith's School, Cambridge, and finally, honorary assistant priest of Chesterton Parish Church. He now lives in retirement in Lyme Regis, and serves on the Salisbury branch committee of the Prayer Book Society.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsPrologue 1. Morning Prayer2. Evening Prayer3. Interlude: Parallel Patterns4. The Creed of St Athanasius - Quicunque Vult5. The Litany6. Prayers and Thanksgiving7. The Collects, Epistles and Gospels8. Holy Communion9. Interlude: 1662 and all that10. The Ministration of Public Baptism to Infants11. A Catechism12. The Order of Confirmation13. Interlude: Found in Possession14. The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony15. The Order for Visitation of the Sick16. The Order for the Burial of the Dead17. Thanksgiving of Women after Child Birth18. A Commination19. The Psalter - The Psalms of David20. Interlude: 'Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs'21. Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea22. Finale: Excellent ReferencesEpilogueIndex of AuthorsCopyright Permissions

"All good anthologies - and this is a very good one - stimulate the reader ... wide reading in the obscure and at first sight ephemeral ... yields some ... most memorable passages ...The author has made excellent use of fiction as well as memoirs to record the impact of the Prayer Book and the reactions of the congregation ..." Richard Olland, The Tablet "The appeal of this imaginative book ... will be by no means exclusively to Anglicans: it is not 'churchy', but wide in its trawl, literateurs vastly outnumbering divines. Lovers of English and all who try to worship in whatever tradition will appreciate the humour and humanity of the well chosen extracts ... delightful and timely ... beautifully produced." The Expository Times "A supreme masterpiece of English prose." The Tablet "This delightful book has only one demerit, that of being too short." P.D. James, Daily Telegraph "Here is evidence of how those beautiful cadences seduced whole generations into belief." The Independent "An eloquent champion for the Book of Common Prayer." Parish News

Norman Taylor was born in 1926, and educated at Bolton School. From 1944 to 1946 he served as an officer in the R.N.V.R. A scholar of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he read history before going to Cuddesdon College, Oxford to prepare for ordination. He served his title at the parish church of Clitheroe in Blackburn diocese. For fifteen years he was Rector of Little Wilbraham in Ely diocese, before becoming Chaplain of St. Faith's School, Cambridge, and finally, honorary assistant priest of Chesterton Parish Church. He now lives in retirement in Lyme Regis, and serves on the Salisbury branch committee of the Prayer Book Society.

• List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsPrologue 1. Morning Prayer2. Evening Prayer3. Interlude: Parallel Patterns4. The Creed of St Athanasius - Quicunque Vult5. The Litany6. Prayers and Thanksgiving7. The Collects, Epistles and Gospels8. Holy Communion9. Interlude: 1662 and all that10. The Ministration of Public Baptism to Infants11. A Catechism12. The Order of Confirmation13. Interlude: Found in Possession14. The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony15. The Order for Visitation of the Sick16. The Order for the Burial of the Dead17. Thanksgiving of Women after Child Birth18. A Commination19. The Psalter - The Psalms of David20. Interlude: 'Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs'21. Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea22. Finale: Excellent ReferencesEpilogueIndex of AuthorsCopyright Permissions

"All good anthologies - and this is a very good one - stimulate the reader ... wide reading in the obscure and at first sight ephemeral ... yields some ... most memorable passages ...The author has made excellent use of fiction as well as memoirs to record the impact of the Prayer Book and the reactions of the congregation ..." Richard Olland, The Tablet "The appeal of this imaginative book ... will be by no means exclusively to Anglicans: it is not 'churchy', but wide in its trawl, literateurs vastly outnumbering divines. Lovers of English and all who try to worship in whatever tradition will appreciate the humour and humanity of the well chosen extracts ... delightful and timely ... beautifully produced." The Expository Times "A supreme masterpiece of English prose." The Tablet "This delightful book has only one demerit, that of being too short." P.D. James, Daily Telegraph "Here is evidence of how those beautiful cadences seduced whole generations into belief." The Independent "An eloquent champion for the Book of Common Prayer." Parish News