Morning Prayer once was the chief Sunday service in most Anglican churches on three out of four Sundays, the First Sunday usually being a celebration of Holy Communion. This practice became less common because the eucharist has been recognized as the “principal act of Christian worship on the Lord’s Day” in most parishes (see BCP, p. 13), However, Morning Prayer is clearly designated as a daily service for the worship of the church. This usage reflects the ancient tradition of the Daily Office. As we see a shortage of clergy in the national church, many congregations are returning to this tradition of morning prayer to gather in worship when a Rector is not available to lead the Eucharist.
In many times and places, daybreak has been a time of prayer. Jews prayed in their synagogues at sunrise as well as at other times each day. This Jewish pattern of prayer formed the basis of the Christian monastic Daily Office, with its prayers or “hours” at seven times in each day.
Many elements of Morning Prayer come from the monastic hours of matins (e.g., Venite and Te Deum), lauds (e.g., Benedicte, omnia opera Domini, a “chapter” of scripture, Benedictus Dominus Deus, collect of the day), and Prime (e.g., a second “chapter” of scripture and the Apostles’ Creed). In subsequent Prayer Book revisions, psalms have come to be used more selectively, although a monthly cycle of psalms read “in course” is still provided as an option. In the 1979 BCP, only one lesson must be read, and the appointed lessons are not so long.