Queen Elizabeth’s 1562 PREFACE
Consider how necessary it is that the word of God should be preached to the people at all suitable times. It is the only food of the soul, and the excellent light we must walk by on this most dangerous pilgrimage. By it the people learn their duty toward God, toward their Prince, and toward their neighbours, according to the mind of the Holy Spirit expressed in the Scriptures; and by it they also avoid the many evils that false doctrine has until now let creep into the Church of God.
Consider too that not all who are appointed ministers have the gift of preaching well enough to instruct the people committed to their care. Great harm could arise from this, and ignorance still be maintained, if some honest remedy is not speedily found and provided.
Therefore the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, caring for the health of her loving subjects' souls and for the quieting of their consciences in the chief and principal points of the Christian religion, and wanting also, by the true setting forth and pure declaring of God's word (which is the chief guide and leader to all godliness and virtue), to drive away all corrupt, vicious, and ungodly living, together with the mistaken and poisoned doctrines that tend toward superstition and idolatry, has, on the advice of her most honourable counsellors, and to fulfil her responsibility in this matter, caused a Book of Homilies to be printed anew. This book was first issued by her most loving brother, a Prince of most worthy memory, Edward the Sixth. It contains certain wholesome and godly exhortations meant to move the people to honour and worship Almighty God, and to serve him diligently, each one according to his rank, station, and calling.
Her Majesty commands and strictly charges all Parsons, Vicars, Curates, and all others who have the cure of souls to read these Homilies to their parishioners, plainly and distinctly, every Sunday and Holy Day in the year. They are to do this at the ministering of the Holy Communion, or, if there is no Communion[1] that day, then after the Gospel and Creed, in the order and place appointed in the Book of Common Prayer, reading one of the Homilies in the order in which they stand in the book. The only exception is when a Sermon is preached, as required in the book of her Highness's Injunctions; in that case, and for no other reason, the reading of the Homily is to be deferred to the next Sunday or Holy Day following.
And when the Book of Homilies has been read all the way through, it is Her Majesty's pleasure that it be repeated and read again, in the same manner as prescribed before.
Furthermore, Her Highness commands that, despite this order, these ecclesiastical persons shall also read Her Majesty's Injunctions at the times and in the order appointed in the book of them; and that the Lord's Prayer, the Articles of the Faith, and the Ten Commandments be read openly to the people, as those Injunctions specify. In this way all her people, of whatever rank or condition they may be, may learn how to invoke and call upon the Name of God, and may know what duty they owe both to God and to man; so that they may pray, believe, and work according to knowledge while they live here, and after this life be with him who bought us all with his blood. To him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory for ever. Amen.
KING EDWARD'S 1547 PREFACE
The King's Most Excellent Majesty, by the prudent advice of his most dearly beloved uncle Edward Duke of Somerset (Governor of His Majesty's person and Protector of all His Highness's realms, dominions, and subjects), together with the rest of his most honourable council, has graciously considered the many evils that have until now crept into His Grace's realm through the false, usurped power of the Bishop of Rome and the ungodly doctrine of his followers. These evils have brought not only the great decay of the Christian religion, but also (had God's mercy not prevented it) the utter destruction of countless souls; for through hypocrisy and harmful doctrine those souls were seduced and led away: from honouring the only true, living, and eternal God to the worship of creatures, yes, of stocks and stones; from doing the commandments of God to voluntary works[2] and fantasies invented by men; from true religion to popish superstition.
He has considered also the earnest and fervent desire of his dearly beloved subjects to be delivered from all errors and superstitions, and to be truly and faithfully instructed in the very word of God, that living food of man's soul; so that, faithfully and sincerely,[3] and according to the mind of the Holy Spirit expressed in the Scriptures, they may honour God, serve their King with all humility and submission, and behave toward all men in a godly and honest way.
He has called to mind, again, that the best and readiest way to drive out and avoid all corrupt, vicious, and ungodly living, along with mistaken doctrine that tends toward superstition and idolatry, and to put away clearly all the contention that has until now arisen through varied preaching, is the true setting forth and pure declaring of God's word, which is the chief guide and leader to all godliness and virtue.
And finally he intends that all Curates, whatever their learning, may have some godly and fruitful lessons ready at hand to read and declare to their parishioners for their edification, instruction, and encouragement. For all these reasons he has caused a Book of Homilies to be made and set forth, containing certain wholesome and godly exhortations to move the people to honour and worship Almighty God, and to serve him diligently, each one according to his rank, station, and calling.
His Majesty commands and strictly charges all Parsons, Vicars, Curates, and all others who have the cure of souls to read these Homilies to their parishioners, plainly and distinctly, every Sunday in the year, at the Communion, when the people are most gathered together, in the order in which they stand in the book. The only exception is when a Sermon is preached; in that case, and for no other reason, the reading of the Homily is to be deferred to the next Sunday following. And when the Book of Homilies has been read all the way through, it is the King's Majesty's pleasure that it be repeated and read again, in the same manner as prescribed before, until His Grace's pleasure in this matter is further known.
His Majesty also commands that these ecclesiastical persons, on the first Holy Day that falls on a weekday in each quarter of the year, shall read his Injunctions to the people openly and distinctly, in the manner and form set out in them. And on every other Holy and Festival Day throughout the year that likewise falls on a weekday, they shall recite the Lord's Prayer, the Articles of our Faith, and the Ten Commandments in English, openly before all the people, as those Injunctions specify; so that all ranks and all ages may learn to know God and to serve him according to his holy word. Amen.
Source reading uncertain here; the word after "no" is a cleanup reconstruction ("Communion").↩︎
Original "voluntary works": religious works freely chosen rather than commanded by God, a standard target of Reformation polemic, not modern "volunteer work."↩︎
Source reading uncertain here; "faithfully" is a cleanup reconstruction, and a verb may be missing in the original.↩︎