The Apocrypha

The Apocrypha are Hebrew writings that date from the intertestamental period of approximately 400 to 200 BC.  They are considered canonical in many parts of the Church, but not considered so within Protestantism.  Protestants have recognized these apocryphal books to be edifying for Christian living, even though they do not meet the criteria that would lead Protestant Churches to consider them to be the Authoritative Word of God. 

St. Jerome in his Latin Vulgate translation in 406 AD made such a distinction between canonical and non-canonical, as did Martin Luther in his Biblical translation during the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century.  The King James Version of the Bible was written with an intertestamental section (those books written the Old and New Testaments) for the Apocryphal books to make this distinction.  

Because they are edifying, we Anglicans have included the Apocrypha in our lectionaries. The current edition of our Eucharistic Lectionary [Book of Common Prayer 2019] has only a few readings from the Biblical Apocrypha.  At times the Lectionary offers an alternate reading from the Old Testament canonical books of the Bible.  In the Daily Office Lectionary [used at daily morning and evening prayers], the Apocrypha is more prevalent, particularly during the long season of Pentecost.

The Anglican Protestant Reformers in the 39 Articles of Religion (1571 AD) clarified this distinction between canonical and non-canonical:

Article 6:  "In the name of Holy Scripture, we do understand those Canonical books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.  The names and number of the Canonical Books:

Genesis	Judges	1 Chronicles	The Psalms
Exodus	Ruth	2 Chronicles	The Proverbs
Leviticus	1 Samuel	1 Esdras	Ecclesiastes,
Numbers	2 Samuel	2 Esdras	Songs of Solomon
Deuteronomy	1 Kings	The Book of Esther	4 Great Prophets
Joshua	2 Kings	The Book of Job	12 Lesser Prophets

All the books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive, and account them canonical.

And the other books (as Jerome said) the Church reads for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet it does not apply them to establish any doctrine. Such are these following:

3 Esdras	The Book of Wisdom.	Of Bel and the Dragon
4 Esdras	Jesus the Son of Sirach	The Prayer of Manasses
The Book of Tobias	Baruch the Prophet	1st Book of Maccabees
The Book of Judith	Song of the 3 Children	2nd Book of Maccabees.
The rest of Esther	The Story of Susanna"