Book of Divine Worship

The Roman Catholic Church adapted the Book of Common Prayer for the benefit of Anglican Use churches. This adaptation was revised according to the Roman Rite and first published in 2003 as The Book of Divine Worship.

Elements were drawn from the 1928 and 1979 editions of the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer, in addition to the 1973 English translation of Missale Romanum (Roman Missal).

The language in The Book of Divine Worship was often elevated and poetic, preserving many beautiful elements of the Anglican tradition (such as “thee,” “thou,” and “vouchsafe”) giving it a distinct flavour compared to the standard Roman Rite.

In 2015, the Book of Divine Worship was replaced by a new liturgical book called Divine Worship: The Missal, which is now used by Ordinariate parishes (Catholic structures created for former Anglicans worldwide).

(If you need to see an old page from The Book of Divine Worship, send us an email with the page number, title or any other details, and we'll try to recover it from our archives.)