Prayer of Humble Access
The Prayer of Humble Access is the name traditionally given to a prayer contained in many Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and other Christian Eucharistic liturgies. Its origins lie in the healing the centurion's servant as recounted in two of the Gospels. It is comparable to the "Domine, non sum dignus" long used in the Catholic Mass; it is used by the Personal Ordinariates established for former Anglican groups reconciled to the Catholic Church. Origins. The prayer was an integral part of the early "Books of Common Prayer" of the Church of England and has continued to  be used throughout much of the Anglican Communion. Its name is derived from the heading above the prayer in the "Scottish Book of Common Prayer" of 1637. This book was a moderate revision of the English "Book of Common Prayer" of that time, with influences and changes to concede to the Scottish Presbyterians. One change was the inclusion of the Prayer of Humble Access. The prayer finds its roots in a prayer of "worthy reception" which appeared in the Order for Communion in 1548 and was retained in the 1549 "Book of Common Prayer" published during Edward VI's reign . The prayer was not apparently a translation of a pre-existing prayer found in the Sarum liturgy - but was a unique combination of several sources, including phrases or concepts from Mark 7:28, the Liturgy of St Basil, a Gregorian collect, John 6:56, and the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. In its earliest appearance the prayer followed the confession and absolution and "comfortable words" which were inserted after the Roman Canon of the Mass. It remained there with the coming of the prayer book the next year. In the 1552 Prayer Book, the prayer appears immediately after the proper preface and  Sanctus of the Eucharistic Prayer. It retains this position in the 1662 prayer book. In subsequent revisions by various national churches, and in the proposed 1928 English BCP revision, the prayer was moved to after the Lord's Prayer and before the Agnus Dei, after which the consecrated elements are administered. Versions. The Prayer of Humble Access is based on two passages from the New Testament. One is St Matthew 8:8: "The centurion replied, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed." The other is  found in St Mark 7:28. It is a reply from a woman in speaking to Jesus regarding her unworthiness, who said, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." The version of 1548 and 1549 appear below with modernised spelling: In later versions, the bracketed words were deleted, and the last two clauses are rearranged. The 1552 revision (in the modernised spelling of the 1662 prayer book) reads as follows: We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We  are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen. The 1928 prayer book of the American Episcopal church retains the 1662 wording, and this same wording is also  used in , promulgated in 2015 for Catholics in the Personal Ordinariates. Many contemporary Anglican liturgies, however, have revised it to varying degrees. The American 1979 prayer book and English ASB 1980 versions omit the phrase "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood", due to the cultural and theological emphases in the 1970s. The phrase has been restored in the Common Worship version. Some Anglican eucharistic liturgies omit the prayer entirely. In the 1979 Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the Prayer  of Humble Access is an option after the fraction anthem in the Rite I (traditional language) eucharistic rite but not in the (contemporary-language) Rite II service. The version of the prayer used in "The Book of Common Worship of 1993" of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) uses contemporary English: We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own goodness, but in your all-embracing love and mercy. We are not worthy even to gather up the crumbs under your table, but it is your nature always to have mercy. So feed us with the  body and blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, that we may forever live in him and he in us. Amen. The version of the prayer used in the Eucharistic liturgy of the Free Methodist Church is as follows: We do not come to this Your table, O merciful Lord, with self-confidence and pride, trusting in our own righteousness, but we trust in Your great and many mercies. We are not worthy to gather the crumbs from under Your table. But You, O Lord, are unchanging in Your mercy and Your nature is love; grant us, therefore, God of mercy , God of grace, so to eat at this Your table that we may receive in spirit and in truth the body of Your dear Son, Jesus Christ, and the merits of His shed blood, so that we may live and grow in His likeness and, being washed and cleansed through His most precious blood, we may evermore live in Him and He in us. Amen. Section::::"Domine, non sum dignus". There is some similarity with the prayer said immediately prior to communion in the Roman Rite Mass: which is translated: "“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my  roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." Prior to the revisions made by the Second Vatican Council in the mid-1960s, the prayer was recited three times in Latin. The 1662/1928 version of the prayer is used in "", the version of the Roman Rite Mass authorized for use by Roman Catholics in the Personal Ordinariates established under Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Constitution "Anglicanorum Cœtibus". Either the Prayer of Humble Access or the "Domine, non sum dignus" is recited prior to the Communion of the Faithful. William Byrd composed a six-voice motet for "Domine, non  sum dignus".