Fr, you mentioned your blog post, where is that located at? And do you have any recommendations on books about the BCP from an Anglican Catholic perspective?
The link is warwickensis.blogspot.com/2024/08/pre-reformation-anglicanism.html?m=0 As for books, I might suggest Archbishop Haverland's Anglican Catholic Faith and Practice but there isn't a text solely devoted to the BCP.
Oddly enough as an RC who profoundly believes in transubstantiation, I find the "cobbled" together statement of both the Catholic and Calvinist and admonitions by the priest in the BCP not to be offensive in the sense that If I truly believe the Eucharist to objectively be the Body and Blood of our Lord but stop there and do not feed upon Him with faith and thanksgiving in my heart then I frustrate the graces that accompany my reception of the Eucharist at the rail. Another observation is that the 1662 with its desire to be acceptable to all is in many ways exhibits the same weakness I find in the post VII Novus Ordo. While valid and perhaps not a vague as the 1662, the NO does leave a lot out for the very same "ecumenical/political reasons". This was one of the clearly stated goals of Annibale Bugnini who infamously gave us his committee creation that was imposed upon the RC church after the Council., replacing an historic liturgy whose organic roots go back to the early Church with a new rite. When all is said and done, Paul VI behaved no differently than Crammer, Luther or Zwingli in his support of liturgical reform. For many Catholics it is quite clear that what the Council wanted and what Paul imposed are not quite the same thing. Whether it be the 1662 or the NO the old saying that a camel is the outcome of an airplane designed by an appointed committee rings so true. Your reasons for using the 1549 are similar to the reasons many Catholics adhere to the TLM, much to the consternation of the present regime in Rome.
The Anglican Office Book has received official endorsements from Bishop Ray Sutton of the Reformed Episcopal Church, Archbishop Mark Haverland of the Anglican Catholic Church, and Bishop Keith Ackerman of the Anglican Church in North America. Your Archbishop seemed to like it
The history of the Book of Common Prayer goes hand in hand with the complexity of the Reformations in England. It's worth familiarising yourself with several histories. I would recommend reading Eamonn Duffy, Diarmaid Macullough and Peter Marshall to get a reasonably decent overview.
Given that Gardiner was more faithful in keeping the Catholic Faith, I would trust him more but, personally, I like to go ad fontes in terms of authority.
