Cranmer's Godly Order

Cranmer's Godly Order is a classic work that Michael Davies revised and expanded in his final years. Using both Catholic and Protestant sources, Davies explores how the traditional Catholic Mass was transformed into the Lord's Supper within the Church of England—a series of deliberate changes with deep impacts on faith and worship. Both Henry VIII and Thomas Cranmer recognized that changing prayer practices would change beliefs, and Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer (1549) marked the beginning of this shift from Catholic to Anglican worship.

Davies highlights striking parallels between Cranmer’s liturgical changes and the “reforms” of the 1960s New Mass, showing that both aimed to reshape religious beliefs through new forms of worship.