On the Second Day of Christmas – Book 2

On the second day of Christmas On the Tudor Trail gave to me… the chance to win a copy of Cranmer in a Nutshell by Beth von Staats and a Cape Cod themed gift.

To be in the running to win this prize, leave a comment after this post.

Conditions of Entry

For your chance to win a copy of Cranmer in a Nutshell, you must be subscribed to On the Tudor Trail’s newsletter (if you are not already, sign up on our homepage where it says ‘Free Enewsletter Subscription’).

Then simply leave a comment after this post between now and 31 December 2017. Don’t forget to leave your name and a contact email. Please note that I have comment moderation activated and need to ‘approve’ comments before they appear. There is no need to submit your comment twice.

This giveaway is open internationally.

One winner will be randomly selected and contacted by email shortly after the competition closes. Please ensure you’ve added natalie@onthetudortrail.com to your address book to avoid missing my email.

Good luck!

Thomas Cranmer’s Collects

A guest post by Beth von Staats

Blessed Lord, which hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; grant us that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of thy holy word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our savior Jesus Christ.

Thomas Cranmer, 1549 Book of Common Prayer

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Advent, the first season of the Christian church year, a season of expectant anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ. Traditions often associated with Advent include lighting of an Advent wreath, Advent calendars, daily devotionals, lighting a Christingle (Christ Light) – and for Anglicans and Episcopalians, the embracing and prayer of the exquisitely composed Advent Collects of the Book of Common Prayer.

 Thomas Cranmer’s steadfast and primary goal in his religious reformation of England and Wales was to ensure every person, whether educated or illiterate, could understand God’s word. Thus, Cranmer’s Prayer Book Collects were composed to be read aloud.  Typically, he didn’t trifle with originality in composing his liturgy for the Church of England, but instead celebrated the richness of English religious traditions then only understandable to Latin scholars and translated them with the gifted hand of literary genius.

This acknowledged, his Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent, writing of Cranmer’s original composition, is one of the Prayer Book’s most eloquently written and profoundly beautiful Collects, notable for its grace, simplistic grandeur, imagery, poetic prose and lyric poetic cadence. It is no wonder then that Cranmer’s plea that we “hear…, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest…” God’s word has become one of Christendom’s most beloved and well-known prayers.

If we are to believe the teachings of Christianity, we light the second purple candle on the Second Sunday of Advent to represent the hope of Jesus Christ coming to the world. It was with this hope of Christ’s impending birth that Thomas Cranmer, the Church of England’s first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, authored The Book of Common Prayer’s beautiful Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent. Through the imagery laden in Cranmer’s simple but exquisite writing style, in this lovely Collect, His Grace invites us to love the Bible and learn the truth of the Scriptures.

Addressing the “Blessed Lord” (God) directly, His Grace prays that we not only hear the Scriptures, but that we digest them within our whole being so that God’s Word can comfort and strengthen us. By providing a compass towards wisdom and focus, Thomas Cranmer’s Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent, leads believers to not only the hope of Christ’s birth, but also the hope of life everlasting.

Beth von Staats is the owner and administrator of Queen Anne Boleyn Historical Writers website, QueenAnneBoleyn.com.

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Comments

  1. stephanie patterson says:

    Yes please!

  2. Angie Hamilton says:

    Brilliant! Your page is very informative and extremely interesting, love this competition also

  3. Nicola Dunn says:

    Looks like a fascinating read. Would love to win this too.

  4. heidi wolff says:

    Another “must have” book.

  5. Nicole Caile says:

    A fascinating man. The BCP is a work of art.

  6. barbara s says:

    My 90 year old mum loves this type of book

  7. Monique Hewitt says:

    Thomas Cranmer is such a fascinating historical figure

  8. Lynsey Buchanan says:

    Looks like an interesting read

  9. Emily Clark says:

    Looks a very interesting book.

  10. Tom Baines says:

    wow looks interesting

  11. Gill Colling says:

    How lovely! Would love to read this!

  12. Lynne Manton says:

    Definitely worth reading!

  13. margaret ward says:

    oh i can’t wait this looks interesting to say the least i so hope to win i love english history the most

  14. margaret ward says:

    oh i can’t wait this looks interesting to say the least i love english history the most

  15. Sally Hill says:

    This looks like a really interesting read! Thanks for the chance to win it! 🙂

  16. Valerie Marotta says:

    Fingers crossed to win

  17. Shaun Heathcote says:

    is this where you enter competitions, very confusing

  18. Lorraine Stone says:

    Love to read about History. Glad to have found this site! Looks a wonderful read.

  19. Georgina Saunt says:

    Sounds like it would be worth a read!

  20. FionaLynne Edwards says:

    I’d love to read this

  21. I’m very interested to the tudor story!

  22. I don’t know much about THomas Cranmer and I really should do so this would bridge the gap in my knowledge.

  23. I would love to read this!

  24. Cristina McDowall says:

    Fascinating!

  25. Looks like an excellent addition to a Tudor history buff’s library.

  26. Some fascinating facts about Advent there, It’d be great to read more.

  27. Rebecca Howells says:

    Looks a good book

  28. Margaret Mallows says:

    I’m loving these books, very interesting

  29. Rie Tetley says:

    Thanks for the opportunity to win.

  30. This book looks absolutely fantastic- good luck everyone!

  31. Rich Tyler says:

    Yes Please 🙂

  32. Stephanie Olson says:

    Sounds wonderful!

  33. Thank you

  34. Michae Griffin says:

    An interesting book

  35. Like to win

  36. Helen Thurston says:

    Sounds an interesting read – thank you.

  37. Rebecca Brown says:

    Sounds fascinating, count me in please 🙂

  38. lovely prize

  39. Rich Barker says:

    Awesome!

  40. Clive Howe says:

    A fascinating man. I would love to learn more about him

  41. Very interesting, thank you.
    I also wanted to thank you for this opportunity!
    Wishing you and yours a very Merry upcoming holidays.

  42. Sounds like a fabulous read.

  43. Would like to take a look at this.

  44. Sydney Klevesath Cabrera says:

    I haven’t any book about Thomas Cranmer and that’s a shame. It’s time to change that. Thank you for this unique opportunity!! ?

  45. Thanks for remembering Cranmer!

  46. Laura Ballard says:

    Would love to read this!

  47. Mitzi Koch says:

    This looks to be an excellent read !

  48. I must have this book! In a nutshell !

  49. This would be a fascinating book to read about a noticeable man of great importance during the Tudor reign from a different perspective, I would love to know more.

  50. Danielle Jackson says:

    Sounds interesting.