If you’ve been exposed to the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer, whether through our Daily Office Booklets or otherwise, you’ve probably noticed that there are different readings of Scripture each time – usually one from the Psalms, one from the Old Testament, and one from the New Testament.
I don’t know about you, but the first time(s) I attended Morning or Evening Prayer, I wondered how you were supposed to figure out which Scripture passages to read on any given day.
The answer, as you might guess from the title of this post, is: you use the Daily Office Lectionary!
Lectionary? What’s a Lectionary?
When you hear “lectionary,” don’t get intimidated. It’s just a Bible reading plan.
A lectionary simply tells you which passages of Scripture to read on a certain day.
The Sunday/Eucharistic Lectionary vs. The Daily Office Lectionary
The main difference between these two lectionaries has to do with what kind of service they are used for. As you might expect:
- The Sunday/Eucharistic Lectionary is used for Sunday services of Holy Communion, as well as for Holy Communion on other special days throughout the Church Year.
- The Daily Office Lectionary is used for the Daily Office services of Morning and Evening Prayer.
(If you want to know more about Holy Communion, read my Rookie Anglican guide to Holy Communion here.
If you want to learn more about the Church Year, read my Rookie Anglican guide to the Christian Calendar here.)
How did we get to this point of using two different lectionaries simultaneously?
Excellent question. I did some digging, and here’s what Colin Buchanan has to say (in his Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism, 2nd ed. [affiliate link]):
On behalf of the Church of England, Thomas Cranmer was determined that the church read through whole books of the Bible in sequence, and from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer onward, he provided at Morning and Evening Prayer for this to be done on a daily basis through the calendar year, without distinction of Sundays (pp. 374-75).
So much for the Daily Office Lectionary. What about the Sunday/Eucharistic one?
For communion, he [Cranmer] retained the somewhat arbitrary and excerptive pre-Reformation pattern of unconnected Epistle and Gospel readings. In the 20th century, lectionaries were produced that distinguished between Sunday courses of readings and midweek ones and, by relating to the church year rather than the civil year, enabled high seasons to be properly celebrated (p. 375).
There you go. So, we’ve got one lectionary (the Daily Office Lectionary) to use throughout the week at Morning and Evening prayer, as well as another lectionary (the Sunday/Eucharist Lectionary) to use during celebrations of Holy Communion.
For now, I’m going to focus on the Daily Office Lectionary. It has enough complexities of its own, and we’ll cover the Sunday Lectionary in another post.
What’s the difference between the Revised Common Lectionary, the Daily Office Lectionary in the 1979 BCP, and the ACNA Daily Office Lectionary?
In a nutshell:
the Revised Common Lectionary is primarily a Sunday/Eucharist Lectionary, now used in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer for Sunday/Eucharist readings.
- The RCL is a three-year cycle of Sunday readings, Years A, B, and C.
- It is based on the liturgical year, not the civil calendar year.
- The Gospel readings are divided up: Mathew is primarily read during Year A, Mark during Year B, and Luke during Year C. Parts of John’s Gospel are read throughout all three years.
- You can access and learn more about the RCL here.
However, the Daily Office Lectionary in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer is its own thing. It is different than the Revised Common Lectionary’s “Daily Readings.”
- The 1979 BCP Daily Office Lectionary is a two-year cycle of readings, Year One and Year Two.
- It is based on the liturgical year, not the civil calendar year.
- Although it sometimes works its way through books of the Bible sequentially, it also thematically follows the church calendar.
- You can access the 1979 BCP Daily Office Lectionary here.
The Anglican Church in North America’s Daily Office Lectionary (now found in the 2019 BCP) is an attempt to return to Cranmer’s original vision of going through the books of the Bible in sequence in one calendar year.
To see what I mean, compare the ACNA Daily Office Lectionary (Word Document) with the Daily Office Lectionary found in the 1549 and 1662 Books of Common Prayer.
- The ACNA Daily Office Lectionary is a one-year cycle of readings, but it can be adapted for use as a two-year lectionary.
- It is based on the civil calendar year, not the liturgical year. (Although certain traditions, such as reading the book of Revelation during Advent, have been kept.)
- Books of the Bible are read sequentially. (You read your way through a book of the Bible, before moving on to the next one, instead of skipping around thematically.)
- You can access the ACNA’s Daily Office Lectionary along with the rest of the ACNA’s 2019 Book of Common Prayer here.
Here’s some more historical detail:
Time for another brief history lesson.
- Both the Revised Common Lectionary and the 1979 Book of Common Prayer Lectionary trace their origin back to Vatican II’s liturgical reforms in the 1963 Constitution on Sacred Liturgy.
- Following Vatican II, the Roman Catholic Church produced the three-year Lectionary for Mass in 1969.
- The Episcopal Church drew on this Roman Catholic lectionary in its 1979 Book of Common Prayer.
- The Consultation on Common Texts (CCT), an ecumenical body, made revisions to the 1969 Roman Catholic lectionary and published the Common Lectionary in 1983.
- The CCT collected feedback on the Common Lectionary and released the Revised Common Lectionary in 1992.
- The Episcopal Church officially adopted the RCL as its Sunday lectionary in 2006.
- The ACNA’s Daily Office Lectionary just underwent its latest and (hopefully) final revision in November 2018. It is now published in the ACNA’s 2019 Book of Common Prayer.
The history of various lectionaries in use by Anglicans is tied up with the history of the Book of Common Prayer. The history of the Book of Common Prayer, in all its editions throughout the Anglican Communion, is very complicated! Nevertheless, if you’d like to learn more about the history of the Book of Common Prayer, I suggest that you start with Alan Jacob’s excellent brief account in The “Book of Common Prayer”: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books) [affiliate link]. William Sydnor’s The Prayer Book Through the Ages [affiliate link] is also worth your time.
Which Daily Office Lectionary Should I Use?
That’s a tough question! First off, there are more Daily Office lectionaries out there than just the 1979 BCP and the ACNA’s
Other Lectionaries
- 1662 Daily Office Lectionary
- 1928 Daily Office Lectionary
- Common Worship Lectionary (As you’ll see, it’s much easier to look up the readings via the Common Worship Daily Prayer “all-in-one” resources.)
There’s also the lectionary that’s in use by the good folks over at The Trinity Mission. Check it out if you haven’t heard of it!
However, for the sake of simplicity, let’s talk about just the 1979 BCP and the ACNA.
1979 BCP Daily Office Lectionary
The advantage of this lectionary is that it is widely accessible.
- I think the easiest way to find out the readings is to use the BCP: Daily Office Readings app (iOS; Android ).
- You can also lookup the Scripture readings within the Mission St. Clare app (iOS; Android ). Just scroll down through the service until you reach the readings.
- If an app’s not your style, then try Satucket’s Lectionary Page. Scroll down to the “Daily Office and Daily Eucharistic Lectionary” or “Calendar View” sections.
- Or, you can access the 1979 BCP online for free.
- Or, you can get a physical copy of the 1979 BCP (affiliate link).
Disadvantages?
- You skip some significant portions of Scripture.
- You don’t make it through most of the Bible in a year.
ACNA Daily Office Lectionary
If you use our Daily Office Booklets, you’ll be using the ACNA’s Daily Office Lectionary.
As ACNA clergy, I’m a bit biased toward the ACNA lectionary. However, let me be upfront about its weaknesses at this point (December 2018).
Weaknesses
- (UPDATE: It’s now very easy to access the ACNA’s Daily Office Lectionary in either the 2019 BCP or at dailyoffice2019.com!) It’s difficult to access, apart from the Rookie Anglican Daily Office Booklets. We’re still waiting for the printed Prayer Book in 2019, and there aren’t as many apps or online options out there as there are for the 1979 BCP (Although, you should check out LectServe and Legereme!)
- Its readings are quite long. This isn’t a bad thing, of course. More Scripture! However, lengthy readings can cause difficulties in certain settings. They work much better when doing the Daily Office on one’s own than when doing it with a large group.
- It follows the civil calendar, instead of the Church calendar. While this WILL make it easier to make into future Daily Office Booklets, it does lose something of the richness of following along with the themes of the liturgical year.
Strengths
- It’s a return to Thomas Cranmer’s original vision for the Daily Office Lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer.
- It takes you through a ton of Scripture, almost the entire Bible, in a single year.
- It follows the contours of the biblical canon more closely than the 1979 BCP.
- You end up skipping fewer chunks of Scripture than you do in the 1979 BCP.
In the end, it’s better to pick a lectionary and use it than to wait around for the “perfect” lectionary.
So, dive in! Pick a lectionary and adopt the Christian habit of doing the Daily Office. Begin and end your day with Scripture reading and prayer, and see how God uses it to transform you more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Have lectionary questions? Ask them in the comments below!
This post was updated on 2020-06-11.
Josh: can you shed any light on pointed Psalters? Do Anglicans ever use the Grail or other pointed Psalter?
Hi Donald! I’m no expert on Anglican Psalter use, but Anglicans DO use pointed Psalters for chanting. Whether or not a particular parish does so would, of course, depend on any number of things. Have you heard of the ACNA’s Psalter project to renew the Coverdale Psalms? Read more about it here.
Also, have you heard of “The Anglican Psalter,” published by Church Publishing? Worth taking a look at!
Do you use a pointed Psalter? If so, in what context? I’m a rookie when it comes to chanting the Psalms, but I DO enjoy it!
I realize this is an older post, but I wanted to weigh in/ask a question. I do use a pointed psalter for chanting, though primarily a Lutheran one, because the audio resources available are fantastic, and it’s easy to learn from. My question is, have you seen the “Saint Dunstan’s Plainsong Psalter”, which is Anglican-ish (it follows the 1662 BCP Psalms with the Coverdale translation, but since it’s technically Western Rite Orthodox, the Creed omits the Filioque) and if you’ve seen it, what do you think?
Nathan, we love it when our older posts get some good attention! :) I have heard of St. Dunstan’s, thanks to Enoch Jacobus’ post here: http://anglicancompass.com/chanting-the-psalter-in-plainsong-pt-1-how-to-read-a-psalm-tone/
Are you aware of any effort to explain the choice of psalms in the 1979 Daily Office Lectionary?
Hi Thomas, I’d suggest taking a look at Marion Hatchett’s Commentary on the American Prayer Book for more information on this. You can get a limited preview at that Amazon link. Looks like pages 108-111 and 592-594 might have what you’re looking for.
In the 1979 Daily Office Lectionary, the Psalms are largely arranged in a seven-week cycle. It looks like they also considered which Psalms were more appropriate for the morning or evening, and arranged them accordingly. Also, I find it significant that the 1979 Psalter (BCP pp. 585-808) retains the 30 day cycle found in older Prayer Books and lectionaries.
Josh, thanks for your thoughts here. I’ve been using the Daily Lectionary available in the ESV Bible app for a couple years now; do you know which version this is? I find it helpful also that they have a podcast of the readings in audio form that I can listen to during my commute.
Hi David! The ESV’s Daily Office Lectionary is a fantastic resource! Both the podcast your referenced and the BCP: Daily Office Readings app should be using the Daily Office Lectionary found in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. There’s also an Android version of the app here.
If you don’t already have a copy of the 1979 BCP, you can access it online at http://www.bcponline.org/.
Hi, I am interested in the podcast of daily readings. Where can I find that? I looked in the ESV Bible app and also searched podcasts in Spotify, but I’m at a loss.
Hey Christine. I believe it is called the ESV Daily Office Lectionary. But it is not based on the 2019 ACNA daily office.
I just wanted to ask- I’ve started using the St. Mary’s Day Revision of the ACNA lectionary- is the one shown on this page the official lectionary that will be in the BCP ’19 or is the St. Mary’s?
Hi Joshua,
Can you shed some light on the forthcoming 2019 ACNA Lectionary? Do you know if that will follow the liturgical year as opposed to the civic calendar year?
Hi Zach, it will follow the civil calendar, but with readings assigned for the major feast days, Holy Week, etc. Check out the current St. Mary’s Day revision of the ACNA Lectionary here for something that’s really close to what the final product in the 2019 Prayer Book will be like: http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/texts_for_common_prayer
I just want to thank you very much for this break down. Im new to the idea of using a lectionary for daily bible reading and I was super confused by the options. This was a great explanation and great resources so thank you and God bless you!
Thanks, Nicole! Glad you found this post helpful.
Hello again! Im back with a question for you. I notice that many folks who I might loosely refer to as “traditional anglicans” seem to gravitate towards the 1928 BCP. Any insight as to why that is, say over the 1979? Thank you for all the great resources here, such a help!
Hi Nicole! Great question, and that appears to be a legitimate trend that you’ve noticed. As with many things in Anglicanism, I’m sure that “traditionalist” opinions are varied, but on the whole it seems fair to say that they prefer the 1928 BCP over the 1979 BCP due to a perceived theological shift “to the left” and away from the classic Prayer Book tradition in the latter book. (They would identify the classic Prayer Book tradition with BCPs from the 1549 to the 1928.) Some will specifically highlight that there is less penitential language in the 1979 than the 1928. Many also think that the Rite II (modern/contemporary) language in the 1979 BCP is a downgrade from the traditional language in the 1928.
For more on the history of the BCP from the 1549 to the 1979, check out William Sydnor’s The Prayer Book through the Ages (http://www.amazon.com/Prayer-Book-Through-Ages-Revised/dp/0819215090). For much more detail, including Prayer Books from around the globe, check out the Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer (http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Guide-Book-Common-Prayer/dp/0195297628/).
Hope that helps!
Thank you very much for that explanation. If it’s not too odd to ask a perfect stranger for prayer online, I would appreciate your prayers. I feel that traditional angicanism fits with my own personal theology like a glove, but unfortunately the nearest anglican church faithful to the gospel is hours away from me. I know the reality is that I am called to love and serve in the church I am in (a CRC church in rural Ontario, Canada) and I am incorporating some of the beautiful traditions of anglicanism into my daily devotional life, but I confess I hunger for a church that has regular communion (ours only has it once every two months) and practices and appreciates the apostolic traditions. Again I realize it’s odd to ask for prayer but as you gentleman are clearly passionate about Anglicanism, I figured you might be sympathetic to my plight and pray that God will help me find joy and serve well where I am planted. God bless you! -Nicole
Hi Nicole! No shame in using the wonders of the internet to ask for prayer! You can do a whole lot worse online, right??
I just prayed for you, and I think you’ve got a lot of wisdom in seeking joy and service opportunities where you’re planted. Not that leaving a church is never a wise option, but I think that too many people choose that option too quickly!
Just curious: have you asked the pastor(s) at your church if more regular communion might be a possibility? Greg Goebel’s piece comes to mind: http://dev.anglicanpastor.com/why-every-church-should-have-weekly-sunday-communion-like-the-anglicans-do/
Hey Joshua – Grateful for your offerings! I’m a presbyterian pastor that has great appreciation for weekly communion, the daily office, contemplative prayer, I have a high view of the churches liturgy. My church at large is new to the Daily Office, however we are planning a retreat this weekend where we hope to start and end each day with morning and evening prayer. We’ve printed your booklet and everyone has a bound copy. My question is this…it’s still a little unclear as the order of things while leading the prayers. When, in what sequence are things to be read? When does the scripture get read? At what point or in what order do certain prayers get read? I know, I know, you have worked your tail off to make this as simple and clear as possible yet I’m afraid I need it dumbed down even further…a numerical order would help…1st – 2nd – 3rd -… Please help…Kb
Hi Karlin! You pretty much just work your way sequentially through the booklet for each prayer service. Go here and scroll down to the “Now What? How do I use the Daily Office Booklet” section: http://anglicancompass.com/dailyofficebooklet/
Hi I’ve been doing fine with the daily office but this week it no longer gives specific readings, but advises to go to the “numbered proper.” I can’t find this anywhere and Google is no help either. What am I supposed to read this week?
Hi Josh,
Thank you for your comments. I’m actually trying to do some deep digging into WHY the Epistle and Gospel for Sundays in the Daily Office Lectionary of the BCP are different from Monday through Saturday?
Can you shed any light or point me in a direction?
Thank you!
Peace to you, adwoa
I wish the daily lectionary tradition was the same for all, and that the type–anti-type approach was the one used across the board. For us BCP users, how does prayer (using scripture) remain common when our readings are not the same, only common within each smaller lectionary tradition? Rhetorical question, of course. Do you have thoughts about the REC BCP? It follows the liturgical year, but, of course, has different readings than 1928, RCL, and the others. At least we are common about what Bible we use. Oops! No, not true. I think, for instance, the 1928 uses many more deutero-canonical passages than the REC, for instance. Probably reflects a bit less anglo-catholic approach, as I see it.
I’ve used a variety of lectionaries over the years, beginning with the 1979 American, the original 1928 (not the revised lectionary of 1943/45), the English 1922, and the original 1662 (not the 1871 revision).
What struck me with the 1979 lectionary all those years ago is how often it seemed to speak to what I was puzzling through. This past lent I used it again for the first time in over a decade, and I’ve noticed how strongly the themes of the daily office lectionary align with the CL/RCL for readings and collects at the Eucharist and that is something of an advantage IMHO. Plus one for liturgical renewal maybe? What I don’t like about it is that it has only three lessons for each day, though provision is made in the rubrics to provide an extra lesson from the next year. Maybe they were trying to make it easier for people in an increasingly busy world to at least pray one of the offices and get some solid, thematic exposure to Scripture with three short readings that can be used at one office. I’ve made up for the lack of a fourth reading with “Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church”.
The 1928 BCP and its original lectionary are more in keeping with Cranmer’s vision, and it is one of my favorite lectionaries, along with the English 1922. The original 1662–not the Victorian revision–is amazing: virtually all of the OT and most of the Apocrypha are read through once in the year, the Gospels and Epistles three times. Yes, it takes longer to read the offices but it really is worth it.
The way themes are presented vary but each have their advantages. I’ve used Lutheran daily office lectionaries as well that use similar principles for reform of the daily office (what was the name of that Spanish fellow who had ideas about reforming the Roman Divine Office before the Reformation? I can’t recall.)
Being consistent with one lectionary each year will prove most beneficial–follow through is my advice! Not to the point of feeling guilty if you can’t take the time for morning and/or evening prayer of course. I’ve used a variety of “office books” over the years and each had their strengths and weaknesses, exposure to Scripture included. The nice thing about lectionaries is that they provide a frame of study and meditation, and hopefully they do so in a broad manner that fits with the Church year to present the mystery of our redemption and keep us ever in mind of Christ our Saviour.
I have some questions. I am still trying to figure out how to use the Daily Office Lectionary.
I just downloaded the ACNA BCP 2019 PDF file, and the tables in it don’t match the table you published at
https://anglicancompass.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ACNA-DAILY-OFFICE-LECTIONARY-Civil-Calendar.pdf
Is it that THAT table (anglicancompass.com) is based on an older (and retracted) version of the Daily Office? So the version in the BCP2019.PDF is the most current being used in the published ACNA BCP?
I also don’t understand how I’m supposed to use the tables in the PDF. So, for example, the first table is labeled JANUARY (I). The next table is labeled JANUARY (II). The third is FEBRUARY (I), the fourth FEBRUARY (II). Etc. I’m GUESSING (and you Anglicans shouldn’t assume this is obvious to a non-Anglican, non-prayer-book user) that I should use the tables like this: JANUARY (I), FEBRUARY (1), MARCH (I), etc. OR JANUARY (II), FEBRUARY (II), MARCH (II), etc.
But then, in either case, the sequence of readings in those tables do not correspond to the sequence of readings in the table you published in 2018.
Am I getting this right?
Apologies! That “-Civil-Calendar.pdf” version is an OLD version of the ACNA lectionary. The most recent one is in the BCP 2019. It is also used in our daily office booklets and at https://www.dailyoffice2019.com/
As for the (I) and (II), you read the readings in the (I) table at Morning Prayer and in the (II) table at Evening Prayer if you’re using the lectionary in a one-year cycle. However, it can also be adapted for use as a two-year lectionary, in which case you read the (I) readings in odd-numbered years and the (II) readings in even-numbered years.
I hope that makes sense!
Yes! Thank you. That last little paragraph is all (and exactly) what I needed.
(And perhaps that little paragraph or something like it should be in the BCP 2019.)
I am looking for a one-year, daily lectionary that follows the Christian Year. Would you be able to suggest one for me? Thank you!
Hi Chris! Take a look at the “Revised Tables of Lessons, 1922” that appears in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/info/calendar.html
You should also take a look at the lectionaries in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1928/Lectionary_1928.pdf
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1928/Lectionary_1945.pdf
Thank you!!!
I have often wondered (and searched a bit but haven’t found a sufficient answer or resource) on why the office is organized the way it is. For example, what was in Cranmer’s mind such that we pray the Gloria Patri after the Psalm reading? Why do canticles follow the last (Scripture) reading of the office? Why do we confess the Creed and then pray the Lord’s Prayer?
I’ve read a few things that describe each element of the offices. (If you have other suggestions though, I’m all ears.) But my specific question is why are the elements arranged as they are?
Question of ignorance… Can you explain why some readings are repeated in the BCP Daily Office Lectionary?