Book of Common Prayer · Commination (1662)

Versions of the Commination

The base text is the 1662 Commination (plain text, source). Earlier and later rites are listed below, beginning with the medieval orders for purifying a woman (Chichele, Rathen, Sarum and York) (in English, AnglicanGuide translations unless credited; editions linked). Public-domain texts are given in full; copyrighted modern rites, and texts not separately transcribed, have a short note and a link. Use the Compare tab on the Churching page to read any of them beside 1662.

• Irish and Celtic books (700)
  No Irish or Welsh Ash Wednesday rite is known to survive. In Scotland Lent began "on the first Monday in Lent instead of on Ash Wednesday", a custom St Margaret's reform, after her marriage in 1069, is said to have abolished (Warren, p. 7). The Irish penitentials of Finnian, Columbanus and Cummean set penances but give no service. F. E. Warren, The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church (1881), p. 7 (Internet Archive).
• Pontifical of Egbert: Prayers over a Penitent on the Wednesday before Lent (English) (written in England in the 10th century, ascribed to Egbert, Archbishop of York (732–766)) · English translation · Latin · Source: W. Greenwell (ed.), The Pontifical of Egbert, Archbishop of York, Surtees Society 27 (1853), pp. 122–123 (Internet Archive)
• Durham Collectar (950)
  Not given: the Durham Collectar has Lenten chapters and collects and a short versicle for penitents, but no Ash Wednesday order or blessing of ashes. U. Lindelöf (ed.), Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis, Surtees Society 140 (1927) (Internet Archive).
• Ælfric: Homily for the Beginning of Lent (Old English) (Ælfric of Eynsham, Lives of Saints, c. 995) · English translation · Old English · Source: W. W. Skeat (ed. and tr.), Ælfric's Lives of Saints, vol. I, EETS 76 (1881), no. XII, "In Caput Ieiunii" (Internet Archive)
• Canterbury Benedictional: the Order for those doing Public Penance and the Blessing of the Ashes (English) (an 11th-century Canterbury benedictional (British Library, Harley MS 2892)) · English translation · Latin · Source: R. M. Woolley (ed.), The Canterbury Benedictional, HBS 51 (1917), pp. 14–18 (Internet Archive)
• Leofric Missal: the Order for those doing Public Penance, and the Blessing of the Ashes (English) (the Leofric Missal, given to Exeter by Bishop Leofric (1050–1072); the ashes blessing is in the later English part) · English translation · Latin · Source: F. E. Warren (ed.), The Leofric Missal (1883), pp. 73–74 and 204–205 (Internet Archive)
• Missal of Robert of Jumièges: the Blessing of the Ashes and Prayers over a Penitent (English) (written in England c. 1020; given to Jumièges by Robert, Archbishop of Canterbury (1051–1052)) · English translation · Latin · Source: H. A. Wilson (ed.), The Missal of Robert of Jumièges, HBS 11 (1896), pp. 61 and 270–271 (Internet Archive)
• Magdalen College Pontifical: the Order for Giving Penance and the Blessing of the Ashes (English) (an English pontifical of the 12th century (Magdalen College, Oxford, MS 226)) · English translation · Latin · Source: H. A. Wilson (ed.), The Pontifical of Magdalen College, HBS 39 (1910), pp. 152–154 (Internet Archive)
• Pontifical of Archbishop Chichele (1430)
  Not given: no printed edition of the Ash Wednesday section of Chichele's pontifical (Trinity College, Cambridge) has been found; Henderson prints only selected offices from it. W. G. Henderson (ed.), Manuale et Processionale ad usum Eboracensis, Surtees Society 63 (1875), appendix (Internet Archive).
• The Great Sentence of Excommunication (Middle English) (from John Mirk's Instructions for Parish Priests, c. 1400; the sentence from Bodleian MS Douce 103, 15th century) · English translation · Middle English · Source: E. Peacock (ed.), John Myrc, Instructions for Parish Priests, EETS 31 (1868), pp. 21–24 (Internet Archive)
• Arbuthnott Missal: the Mass of Ash Wednesday (Scottish) (written for the parish of Arbuthnott, Kincardineshire, 1491) · English translation · Latin · Source: A. P. Forbes (ed.), Liber Ecclesie Beati Terrenani de Arbuthnott (1864), pp. 57–59 (Internet Archive)
• Sarum Missal and Processional: Ash Wednesday (the Use of Salisbury, as printed c. 1500) · English translation · Latin · Source: F. E. Warren (tr.), The Sarum Missal in English, vol. I (1911), pp. 143–149 (Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/cu31924092460033); W. G. Henderson (ed.), Processionale ad usum Sarum (1882), pp. 26–31
• York Missal: Ash Wednesday (the Use of York, from manuscripts and the early printed editions) · English translation · Latin · Source: W. G. Henderson (ed.), Missale ad usum insignis Ecclesiae Eboracensis, vol. I, Surtees Society 59 (1874), pp. 44–48 (Internet Archive)
• Hereford Missal: Ash Wednesday (the Use of Hereford, as printed in 1502) · English translation · Latin · Source: W. G. Henderson (ed.), Missale ad usum Percelebris Ecclesiae Herefordensis (1874), pp. 39–41 (Internet Archive)
• Sarum Manual: the General Sentence (Middle English) (1530)
  Not given in full: the longer Sarum form, to be read "four sithe by year" (first Sunday of Advent, first Sunday of Lent, the Sunday after Whitsunday, the Sunday after the Assumption), survives only in printings of 1510–1530, after this page's 1500 limit. The earlier form is given above as the Great Sentence. W. Maskell (ed.), Monumenta Ritualia Ecclesiae Anglicanae, vol. III (1882), pp. 309–331 (Internet Archive).
• First Prayer Book of Edward VI: The First Day of Lent, commonly called Ash Wednesday (1549) · full text · Source: Charles Wohlers, the 1549 Book of Common Prayer (justus.anglican.org)
• Second Prayer Book of Edward VI: A Commination against Sinners (1552) · full text · Source: Charles Wohlers, the 1552 Book of Common Prayer (justus.anglican.org)
• Elizabethan Prayer Book: A Commination against Sinners (1559) · full text · Source: Charles Wohlers, the 1559 Book of Common Prayer (justus.anglican.org)
• Jacobean Prayer Book (1604)
  Not given separately: the 1604 book kept the 1559 Commination unchanged. Charles Wohlers, the 1604 Book of Common Prayer (justus.anglican.org).
• Scottish Prayer Book ("Laud's Liturgy"): A Commination against Sinners (1637) · full text · Source: Charles Wohlers, the 1637 Scottish Book of Common Prayer (justus.anglican.org)
• Episcopal Church (USA) Book of Common Prayer: Ash Wednesday (1789) · full text · Source: Charles Wohlers, the 1789 U.S. Book of Common Prayer, the Litany (justus.anglican.org)
• Church of England Proposed Prayer Book: A Commination (1928) · full text · Source: The Book of Common Prayer with the Additions and Deviations Proposed in 1928, pp. 445–454 (Internet Archive)
• Episcopal Church (USA) Book of Common Prayer: A Penitential Office for Ash Wednesday (1928) · full text · Source: Charles Wohlers, the 1928 U.S. Book of Common Prayer, the Litany and Penitential Office (justus.anglican.org)
• Episcopal Church (USA) Book of Common Prayer: Ash Wednesday (1979) · full text · Source: Charles Wohlers, the 1979 U.S. Book of Common Prayer, Proper Liturgies for Special Days, pp. 264–269 (justus.anglican.org)
• Church of England, Alternative Service Book and Common Worship (1980)
  Text under copyright and not reproduced. Common Worship: Times and Seasons (2006) provides an Ash Wednesday liturgy with the imposition of ashes; the Church of England's Lent resources page links the 1662 Commination alongside it. Church of England, Common Worship: Times and Seasons, Ash Wednesday (official text).
• Anglican Church in North America, Book of Common Prayer (2019)
  Text under copyright and not reproduced. The book provides an Ash Wednesday liturgy with the imposition of ashes; it is listed here as a note only. ACNA, The Book of Common Prayer (2019) (official site).