Mining the Sources for Treasure: At Communion

1549 Book of Common Prayer

Then shall the Prieste firste receive the Communion in both kindes himselfe, and next deliver it to other Ministers, if any be there present, (that they may bee ready to helpe the chiefe Minister,) and after to the people.

And when he delivereth the Sacramente of the body of Christe, he shall say to every one these woordes.

The body of our Lorde Jesus Christe whiche was geven for thee, preserve thy bodye and soule unto everlasting lyfe.

And the Minister delivering the Sacrament of the bloud, and geving every one to drinke once and no more, shall say,

The bloud of our Lorde Jesus Christe which was shed for thee, preserve thy bodye and soule unto everlastyng lyfe.

= = =

The words of administration in the 1549 rite were deliberately ambiguous; they could be understood as identifying the bread with the Body of Christ (i.e., the unchanging Catholic teaching) or (following Cranmer's theology) as a prayer that the communicant might spiritually receive the body of Christ by faith.

Jeanes, Gordon (2006). Cranmer and Common Prayer. In Hefling, Charles; Shattuck, Cynthia (eds.). The Oxford Guide to The Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey. Oxford University Press. p. 32.

1662 Book of Common Prayer

Then ſhall the Miniſter firſt receive the Communion in both kinds himſelf, and then proceed to deliver the ſame to the Biſhops, Prieſts, and Deacons in like manner, (if any be preſent;) and, after that to the People alſo in order, into their hands, all meekly kneeling. And, when he delivereth the Bread to any one, he ſhall ſay,

THE Body of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, which was given for thee, preſerve thy body and ſoul unto everlaſting life: Take and eat this in remembrance that Chriſt died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving. 

And the Miniſter that delivereth the Cup ſhall ſay,

THE blood of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, which was ſhed for thee, preſerve thy body and ſoul unto everlaſting life: Drink this in remembrance that Chriſt’s blood was ſhed for thee, and be thankful.

= = =

At the administration of the Holy Communion, the words from the 1549 book, "the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ" etc. were combined with the words of Edward's second book of 1552, "Take eat in remembrance" "suggesting on the one hand a real presence to those who wished to find it, and on the other, the communion as memorial only", i.e. an objective presence and subjective reception.

MacCulloch, Diarmaid (1990), The Later Reformation in England, 1547-1603. p. 27

= = =

2015 Divine Worship: the Missal

And he (the Celebrant) reverently consumes the Blood of Christ. Then the Communion Antiphon may be sung or said. Then he distributes Holy Communion to the Ministers and to the People with these words:

The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.

The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.

= = =

In the Ordinariate Missal, the 1549 BCP text is liberated from any ambiguity by its immersion into the Catholic context, and thus bears the weight of the objective reality - and the enduring Catholic understanding - that the bread and wine really and substantially become the Body and Blood of Christ. In the Catholic context, which is to say the context of the Apostolic patrimony established by Jesus Himself, the text is understood without any ambiguity to refer to the fact that in the Mass, by Jesus' word and the power of the Holy Ghost, the bread becomes the real flesh of Jesus Christ and the wine becomes the real blood of Jesus Christ.

This single Church of Christ, which we profess in the Creed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic “subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside her visible confines. Since these are gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, they are forces impelling towards Catholic unity.”

Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, 8. 

The Ordinariate, i.e., Anglicanism in communion with the Holy See, because it is Catholic to its core, avoids the heterodox Receptionism and Virtualism of Calvin into which Archbishop Cranmer and subsequent editions of the Book of Common Prayer drifted. Rather than settling on an ambiguous doctrine on the Eucharist (1549 BCP), and the heterodox doctrine prescribed in later versions (e.g., 1662), the Ordinariate preserves the pre-Reformation orthodox doctrine of transubstantiation. The Ordinariate affirms that aspect - i.e., the Real Presence - of the English orthodox theological patrimony preserved in the margins of Anglicanism for centuries. In the Ordinariate, those margins, i.e., those folk bearing the True Faith preserved but marginalized in Anglicanism, have been liberated by their realignment to Rome.

= = = An excerpt from:

https://ordinariate.net/divine-worship-missal

What is the significance of this new missal to the Ordinariates and the Catholic Church?

Msgr. Steenson: This is historic. This is the first time in the history of the Catholic Church that the liturgical texts of a separated Christian community have been brought back into the life of the Church of Rome. This (Divine Worship) missal is now recognized by the Church as standing side by side with the Roman Missal. 

Dr. Brand: This missal is the fruit of receptive and realized ecumenism. Ecumenism isn’t just talk anymore — it is a real movement. People who come into the Ordinariate are completely and fully Catholic, yet bring with them the gifts of their Anglican heritage and lay them at the feet of Peter. Peter has now given the gifts back to us and said, ‘Use this to make more Catholics.’