Leon J. Podles :: DIALOGUE
A Discussion of Faith, Family, and Culture
RSS
  • Home
  • Archives
  • About
  • Podles.org

Mount Calvary Music February 10 2019

February 3, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Jesus preaching from the boat, Jacques Callot 1635

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

February 10, 2019

Epiphany IV

_________________

Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

____________________

Anthems

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)

Il faut que de tous mes esprits Ton los et prix J’exalte et prise: Devant les grands me presenter, Pour te chanter, J’ay faict emprise. En ton sainct temple adoreray, Celebreray ta renommee, Pour l’amour de ta grand’bonté, Et feauté tant estimee.

 I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: even before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy Name, because of thy loving-kindness and truth: for thou hast magnified thy Name and thy word above all things.

Here is the Ensemble Sweelinck de Genève.

__________

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958), text by George Herbert (1593 – 1632)

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life: Such a Way, as gives us breath: Such a Truth, as ends all strife: Such a Life, as killeth death. Come, My Light, my Feast, my Strength: Such a Light, as shows a feast: Such a Feast, as mends in length: Such a Strength, as makes his guest. Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart: Such a Joy, as none can move: Such a Love, as none can part: Such a Heart, as joys in love.

Here is baritone David John Pike, and treble Philip Martin.

____________________

Hymns

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty  (NICAEA)is by the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta, Reginald Heber (1783—1826). It is a reverent and faithful paraphrase of Revelation 4:8-11 and John’s vision of the unceasing worship in heaven: as such, it is a fine example of Heber’s care to avoid the charge of excessive subjectivity or cheap emotionalism in his hymns, and so to win support for the use of hymns in worship within the Anglican Church. Beginning with the thrice repeated ‘Holy’, it proceeds to find images for the Holy Trinity that attempt to capture its elusive magnificence. Particularly notable is ‘though the darkness hide Thee’, which expresses the awareness of God in mystical terms through the via negativa.

O God unseen yet ever near (ST. FLAVIAN) is a Communion hymn by Edward Osler (1798–1863), a surgeon in the British Navy. The hymn refers “the manna from above,” a type of the Body of Christ, and the ‘streams that through the desert flow,” a type of His Blood.

Rise up, O men of God (FESTAL SONG) (1911) was written by the Presbyterian minister William Pierson Merrill (1867–1954) as part of the Men and Religion Forward Movement of the early 20th century. Protestant leaders noticed the chronic lack of men in congregations (then and now!) and sought to inspire men in particular to energize the church to both fulfill the Great Commission and to combat social evils. The Episcopal Church had the most success of all churches in increasing the proportion of male communicants.

FESTAL SONG written in 1894 by American composer and organist, William Henry Walter (1825-1893).

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music: February 3, 2019

January 29, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Mount Calvary

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

10:00 AM Sung Mass

February 3, 2019

Epiphany IV

_________________

Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

_________________

Anthems

Jubilate Deo, Laslo Halmos (1909—1997)

Jubilate Deo universa terra, psalmum dicite nomini eius. Venite et audite, et narrabo vobis omnis qui timetis Deum quanta fecit Dominus animae meae. Alleluia.

O be joyful in God, all ye lands: sing praises unto the honour of his Name. O come hither, and hearken, all ye that fear God: and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul. Alleluia.

Here are the San Jose State University Chamber Singers.

__________

Love is little, arr. Kevin Siegfried

Love is little, love is low, love will make our spirits grow, grow in peace, grow in light, love will do the thing’s that right.

Here are the University Singers of the University of Missouri.

(Notice the voice of the small child at the beginning, saying, mommy, mommy. Somehow a grace note.)

____________________

Hymns

O for a thousand tongues to sing (AZMON) was written by Charles Wesley (17007—1788) on the first anniversary of his conversion. Because of the benefactions that God has made us in creating, redeeming, and sanctifying us, our overwhelming desire should be to praise God in word and deed in gratitude for what He has done to the end that all may know of His great deeds. And yet, we also sing in the knowledge that the Kingdom of God is not yet fully realized. We proclaim Christ’s victory as a declaration of hope that we will see Christ reign over all. We stand with the voiceless, the lame, the prisoner, and the sorrowing, and lift our song of expectation.

__________

Come down , O Love divine (DOWN AMPNEY) was written by Bianco of Siena (c. 1345-c. 1412). The incipit (first line) invokes the Holy Spirit to “seek thou this soul of mine and visit it with thine own ardor glowing.” Classic images of Pentecost appear throughout the hymn, especially those that relate to fire. Stanza one mentions “ardor glowing” and “kindle . . . thy holy flame.” Stanza two continues the flame images with “freely burn,” “dust and ashes in its heat consuming.” The final stanza is a powerful statement of total commitment to love, to “create a place/wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling.”

__________

Jesus shall reign (DUKE STREET) is by Isaac Watts (1674–1758), who interprets Psalm 72 using a Christological lens. The king referenced in the psalm is Christ, and could be no one else. For Watts, as for the Fathers of the Church, the Old Testament makes sense in light of the New, and vice versa.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music: Candlemas 2019

January 28, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Mount Calvary Church

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Anglican Use

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

The Vigil of Candlemas

The Presentation of the Lord in the Temple

Friday, February 1

7 :00 PM

Sung Mass

Blessing of Candles

Procession

Blessing of Throats

Reception

_________________

Common

Missa quarti toni, Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)

___________________

Anthems

William Byrd (1538-1623)

Diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis: propterea benedixit te Deus in aeternum. Propter veritatem et mansuetudinem et justitiam: et deducet te mirabiliter dextera tua. Audi filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam: quia concupivit Rex speciem tuam.

Grace is poured abroad in thy lips: therefore hath God blessed thee for ever. Because of truth, and mildness, and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee marvelously. Hear, daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, for the king hath coveted thy beauty.

Here are the Tallis Scholars.

__________

Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)

Senex puerum portabat, puer autem senem regebat, quem virgo peperit, et post partum virgo permansit: ipsum quem genuit, adoravit.

The old man carried the child, but the child ruled the old man; Him whom the Virgin brought forth, and after childbirth remained a virgin, Him whom she bore, she adored.

Here is the King’s College Choir.

___________________

Hymns

Hail to the Lord who comes was written by the Anglican clergyman John Ellerton (1826–1893)  The first verse contains a series of negatives: this is not the eschatological Christ in glory, nor the one entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. But in the second verse the secret is disclosed: the Lord is an infant. Here Ellerton imaginatively reinterprets Luke’s story. Mary’s breast is Christ’s earthly throne and the infant Saviour is now a guest, albeit a heavenly guest, in his Father’s earthly house. The third verse is not unlike an Italian Renaissance painting rendered into words, but towards the end of the verse the mention of Simeon recalls the ‘Nunc dimittis’

Of the father’s love begotten is a translation of corde natus ex parentis by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (ca. 348-ca. 413), The translation is by Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877) based on one by John Mason Neale (1818-1866).

O gladsome light is a translation by Robert Bridges (1844-1930) of the Phos hilaron,  an ancient hymn originating in the early church and sung daily at Vespers (hesperinos) in the Byzantine liturgy of the hours.  St. Basil the Great (d. 379) described it as ancient, in fact so old that he did not know who wrote it, and he equated it with thanksgiving for the light.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music: January 27, 2019

January 22, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Christ preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth (c. 1350)

Mount Calvary

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

10:00 AM Sung Mass

Epiphany III

_________________

Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

_________________

Anthems

William Byrd (1540–1623)

Surge, illuminare Jerusalem: quia venit lumen tuum, et gloria Domini super te orta est. Alleluia.

Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

Here sung in concert by the Chorus Angelorum.

__________

Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625)

Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy right hand to help and defend us, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Here is the Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford.

__________________

Hymns

Hark! The glad sound, the Saviour comes (BRISTOL) is by the Scots Dissenter Philip Doddridge (1702—1751). The hymn follows closely the scriptural account of Jesus’ preaching in the synagogue, especially in verse 3 of the usual text: “he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Doddridge composed all his hymns to repeat and reinforce the text on which he was preaching.

__________

Wherefore, O Father, we thy humble servants, by the Anglican clergyman William Henry Hammond Jervois (1852–1905), is a short hymn for Holy Communion, based on part of the first prayer after Communion in the Book of Common Prayer: ‘O Lord and heavenly Father, we thy humble servants entirely desire thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving;…’ The hymn emphasizes that the sacrifice we offer is Christ Himself, and in Him we pray for the living and the dead.

The tune LOBET DEN HERRN is by Johann Crüger (1598–1662).

__________

Hail to the Lord’s Anointed (WOODBIRD) is by James Montgomery, (1771–1854) for a Moravian occasion. It is a free paraphrase of Psalm 72, a psalm of righteousness and justice. It combines the recognition of the coming of Christ to the Gentiles with Montgomery’s great interest in missionary work. Indeed, shortly after its composition a copy of the hymn was sent in January 1822 to his friend George Bennet, who was on a long journey in the Far East and the Pacific Islands to visit the mission stations there.

WOODBIRD is ES FLOG EIN KLEINS WALDVOGELEIN, a German folk tune, first published in an early-seventeenth-century manuscript collection from Memmingen, Germany. Its bar-form structure is (AABA’).

Leave a Comment

Andrew Sullivan and Gays in the Priesthood

January 22, 2019 in Catholic Church, Celibacy, clergy sex abuse scandal No Comments Tags: Andrew Sullivan, gay priests

Andrew Sullivan has a long article in New York, “The Gay Church.” For Sullivan, it is a temperate and reasonable article.

He points out the contradiction between a church which supposedly excludes gays from the priesthood but has a clergy, including bishops and cardinals, taht is substantially gay — estimates range from 15% to 60%, with the best estimates about 30-40% in diocesan clergy and mush higher in religious orders.

Sullivan defends gay priests from attack, but he admits there are problems,.

“to decouple the sexual-abuse crisis entirely from the question of gay priests is a willful avoidance of an ugly truth. Pedophilia is a separate category outside the question of sexual orientation. But some abuse of male teens and young adults, as well as abuse of other priests, is clearly related to homosexuality gone horribly astray — and around a quarter of the reported cases involve 15- to 17-year-old victims.”

Sullivan knows that gay priests, like straight priests, sometimes fail and violate celibacy in non-abusive relationships. That is a sin that can be repented of and forgiven, but it creates a further problem:

“a poisonous kind of omertà took hold, the priesthood acting as a forum of mutually assured destruction. Since many fellow priests know about each other’s sexuality and/or lapses, they all have the ability to blackmail one another. Mundane failings — like a brief affair — can become easily blurred with profound evils like child abuse. If you expose a child molester to his superior, for example, he might expose your own homosexuality and destroy your career.

This dynamic has made the clerical closet — not the fact of gay priests but the way that fact has been hidden — a core mechanism for tolerating and enabling abuse. On top of all this, the vow of obedience to superiors gives gay bishops and cardinals huge sway over their priestly flock. Some, of course, realized this power could be leveraged for sex and abused it.

Sullivan’s solution is that gay priests should be honest and publicly admit their gayness and either leave the priesthood or reaffirm their intention to be chaste and celibate.

“A third option would simply encourage an end to the clerical closet, which is to say, ask all priests to obey one of the Ten Commandments: not to lie about themselves. It would require gay priests to identify as such to their superiors and parishioners and, in clearing the air, make a renewed public vow of celibacy. (Whether celibacy is healthy for the church is its own question, one oddly distinct from the current crisis; a relaxation of the rules wouldn’t in itself resolve the church’s position on homosexuality, and an embrace of homosexuality is compatible with a celibate priesthood.) Encouraging an end to the closet would underline the distinction the church formally makes between homosexual identity and homosexual acts. It would deter disturbed closet cases from entering the priesthood and provide priestly role models for gay Catholics who find themselves called to celibacy. Those gay priests who refused to be fully transparent could leave. Cardinals and bishops and directors of seminaries could insist on frank discourse on the matter. Double lives would become far less common. If a priest is committed to celibacy and doing a good job, why is his public gayness a problem?”

A good question. What would be the effect if it were publicly acknowledged that a third of Catholic priests were gay, but they were leading chaste lives? One problem is the identification of gayness with lack of masculinity. This is not true; but the type of gays who tend to become priests are not the biker or rugby types. Straight men who are not very masculine are also a problem. The Western churches have long repelled men who desire to be masculine, and a further identification of the clergy as non-masculine would not help.

I respect gay priests who are sincere in their intention to be celibate. But the corruption in the Church creates an environment which is dangerous to such priests. Seminarians are subjected to an environment like that of classical pederasty, in which older priests become mentors and predators of young men. Once compromised, a seminarian or a priest is vulnerable to pressure to have sex and is reluctant to reveal abuse for fear his own failures will become public.

How to deal with this? the key figures are seminary authorities and bishops. If they are compromised, they must be removed, and uncompromised men of integrity put into authority. They will have the wisdom to deal with the problems that both straight and gay priests encounter. However, Francis’ reluctance to examine and deal with the corrupt atmosphere that tolerated, enabled, and promoted McCarrick shows that he is unwilling or unable to deal with the problem. And Francis won’t resign.

Al we can hope for is that the next pope will either deal with the problem, or at least let bishops’ conferences and laity deal with the problem, and not block them, as Francis has done.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music January 20 2019

January 17, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Mount Calvary Church

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

January 20, 2019

10 A.M. Sung Mass

Epiphany II

___________________

Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

___________________

Anthems

William Byrd (1538-1623)

O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus sumitur;

recolitur memoria passionis ejus;

mens impletur gratia;

et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. Alleluia.

 

O sacred banquet, wherein Christ is received;

the memorial of his passion is renewed;

the soul is filled with grace;

and a pledge of future glory is given to us. Alleluia.

Sung by Alamire.

_________

Words, George Herbert (1593-1633); Music, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Love bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning

If I lack’d anything.

‘A guest,’ I answer’d, ‘worthy to be here:’

Love said, ‘You shall be he.’

‘I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,

I cannot look on Thee.’

Love took my hand and smiling did reply,

‘Who made the eyes but I?’

‘Truth, Lord; but I have marr’d them: let my shame

Go where it doth deserve.’

‘And know you not,’ says Love, ‘Who bore the blame?’

‘My dear, then I will serve.’

‘You must sit down,’ says Love, ‘and taste my meat.’

So I did sit and eat.

Sung by baritone Jamie H. Hall.

_________________

Hymns

All praise to Thee, O Lord is by the Anglican clergyman Hyde Wyndham Beadon (1812–1891). The hymn reflects upon the miracle of Cana. Jesus’ word is creative: it alone changes water into wine. This miracle is a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb, which we both anticipate and participate in when we receive the Eucharist: For by Thy loving hand/   Thy people still are fed;/ Thou art the cup of blessing, Lord,/   And Thou the heavenly bread.

The tune ST. THOMAS is by William Williams (1717–1791), a Calvinist Methodist and prolific composer of Welsh hymns.

How welcome was the call is by Henry Williams Baker (1821–1877), an Anglican clergyman who also composed the paraphrase of Psalm 23, The King of love my shepherd is.

The tune ST. MICHAEL is by Loys “Louis” Bourgeois (c. 1510 – 1559), a French composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He is most famous as one of the main compilers of Calvinist hymn tunes in the middle of the 16th century. Calvinists’ important contributions to church music, such as the exquisite three-part settings of all 150 psalms (for domestic use!) by the Huguenot Claude Goudimel, are often forgotten.

Songs of thankfulness and praise (SALZBURG) is by Christopher Wordsworth (1807—1885), Anglican bishop of Lincoln and nephew of teh poet. The hymn recapitulates  the successive manifestations of Christ presented in the preceding weeks and in the original version looks forward to the ultimate epiphany of His second coming. The hymn is typical of Wordsworth’s didactic method, in which each event is marked out (almost as if by a bullet point) by the repeated word manifest and the message is further brought home by the refrain God in man made manifest.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music, January 13, 2019

January 10, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music 1 Comment

(see commentary below for explanation of imagery)

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

of the Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Anglican Use

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

January 13, 2019

The Baptism of the Lord

10 A.M. Sung Mass

___________________
Common

Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

___________________

Anthems

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day, arranged David Willcocks (1919–2015)

Tomorrow shall be my dancing day:

I would my true love did so chance

 To see the legend of my play,

To call my true love to my dance:

Sing O my love,

 This have I done for my true love.

Then was I born of a virgin pure,

 Of her I took fleshly substance;

Thus was I knit to man’s nature,

To call my true love to my dance.

 Then afterwards baptized I was;

The Holy Ghost on me did glance,

My Father’s voice heard from above,

 To call my true love to my dance.

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge

 __________

Asperges me, Domine, Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611)

Asperges me Domine hyssopo et mundabor: lavabis me et super nivem dealbabor. Miserere mei Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

URegina Choirs

___________________

Hymns

“I come,” the great Redeemer cries is by Thomas Gibbons, 1720—1785, a Dissenting minister in London and a defender of Calvinism. In 1760 the College at New Jersey (now Princeton), gave him the degree of M.A. He modeled his hymns after those of Watts.

In Psalm 29:3 David sings: The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The Fathers of the Church saw in the voice of the Father at Jesus’ baptism a fulfillment, a sealing, of this prophetic word.

The tune THIS ENDRIS NIGHT is from a 15th century English Christmas carol.

__________

Comfort, comfort ye my people (Tröstet, tröstet meine Lieben) was written by Johann Olearius (1611–1684), a Lutheran pastor at Halle and translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). The hymn is a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:1-5, in which the prophet looks forward to the coming of Christ. More specifically, the coming of the forerunner of Christ – John the Baptist – is foretold. Though Isaiah’s voice crying in the desert is anonymous, the third stanza ties this prophecy and one from Malachi (Malachi 4:5) to a New Testament fulfillment. “For Elijah’s voice is crying In the desert far and near” brings to mind Jesus’ statement, “’But I tell you that Elijah has already come.’ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.”

The tune GENEVAN 42 is an adaptation by Louis Bourgeois (1510–1559) of a tune by Claude Goudimel (1501–1572), a French Calvinist who was killed in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

Goudimel’s Psalm 42 in French

An arrangement of the tune for viols and lutes.

__________

When Jesus went to Jordan’s stream is a translation of Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam by Martin Luther, who also wrote the tune for the hymn. It was translated by F. Bland Tucker (1895–1985), an Episcopal priest who worked on both the 1940 and 1982 Hymnals. The hymn is a straightforward baptismal catechesis of the role of baptism in salvation: we are healed and saved by the death of the Saviour, and that salvation is applied to us by water and blood, by baptism and the Eucharist.

_________________________

Commentary on the Icon of the Baptism of the Lord

Fr. Stephen Freeman

For an Orthodox priest, the services of the Church involve many “comings and goings.” Part of any service takes place within the altar area, which is usually enclosed by an iconostasis, a wall on which icons are hung. The wall does not truly separate one area of the Church from another so much as it marks one area off from another – the space of the Church is itself an icon. But within these spaces, the priest (and deacon) move back and forth. Going out from the altar and entering back in to the altar. Each exit and entrance has its own meaning within the context of the service. I often think of the Psalm verse, “May the Lord bless your going and your coming in…” With this action, for me, has come an increased awareness of doors and entrances within Scripture. For the doors of the altar bear a relationship with the various “doors” in Scripture.

I have often thought about the meditation attached to the closed doors of the altar early in the service of Vespers. The priest stands before them, head bowed, and prays. I have been told that the closed doors represent the closed doors of paradise, with the priest standing outside them, like Adam, weeping for his sins. It is always a poignant thought.

The gates of paradise always have a strange double quality to them. When they are open the world becomes heaven. When they are closed all becomes Hades. It is the gates of Hades that Christ promises will not prevail against the Church.

I have also noted over the years that most people seem to concern themselves with the “larger” gates of Hades. They want to know who goes there, who stays there and why, and how they can avoid the entire thing. Some people seem to be experts on Hades and Hell.

There is a far more intimate and immediate question concerning Hades’ gates. This is the question of its gates within the heart. For the human heart is like a microcosm of all things. There we can find both the gate of paradise and the gate of Hades. I’m convinced that if we do not first find paradise within our heart then we will never know it otherwise. Salvation may be eternal, but it is also immediate.

To stand before the closed gates of paradise within the heart and weep is to begin to pray.

Tonight I served the Vigil for the Feast of Theophany (Christ’s Baptism). The richness of the feast is beyond description. The texts that are sung are among the most theologically profound that I know. It is difficult to serve the feast and not insist that the service stop at points – that we might stand in silent wonder.

Christ at the Jordan is Christ before the gates of paradise (and Hades). In many icons of Christ’s Baptism, the gates of Hades lie beneath His feet (it almost looks like He is surfing), with snakes sticking their heads out from beneath. These snakes are the “dragons who lurked there,” mentioned in Psalm 74.

The Lord refashions broken Adam in the streams of the Jordan.
And He smashes the heads of dragons lurking there.
The Lord does this, the King of the ages;
for He has been glorified.
From the St. Cosmas’ Canon of Matins for the feast 

 

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music: January 6, 2019

January 3, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Mount Calvary Church

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

A Roman Catholic Parish

Anglican Use

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

January 6, 2019

The Epiphany of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

10:00 AM

Sung Mass

____________________

The Proclamation of the Date of Easter and of the Moveable Feasts

In keeping with the ancient practice of the Church, at this time is announced:

Know, dear brethren, that, as we have rejoiced at the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, so by leave of God’s mercy we announce to you also the joy of his Resurrection, who is our Savior.

On the sixth day of March will fall Ash Wednesday,

and the beginning of the fast of the most sacred Lenten season.

On the twenty-first day of April you will celebrate with joy Easter Day, the Paschal feast of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the thirtieth day of May will be the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the ninth day of June, the feast of Pentecost.

On the sixteenth day of June, the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

One the first day of December, the First Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Common

Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

____________________

Anthems

 William Byrd (1540-1623)
Reges Tharsis et insulae munera offerent,
reges Arabum et Saba dona adducent.
Et adorabunt eum omnes reges terrae,
omnes gentes servient ei.

The kings of Tharsis and the isles offer their gifts,
the kings of Arabia and Sheba bring gifts.
And all the kings of the earth worship him,
all peoples bow before him.

CAPELLA THERESIANA

__________

 Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) / Harold Darke (1888-1976)

In the bleak midwinter,
frosty wind made moan.
Earth stood hard as iron,
water like a stone.
Snow had fallen,
snow on snow,
snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter
long ago.

Our God,
heaven cannot hold Him,
nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth
shall flee away
when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter,
a stable place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him,
whom cherubim
worship night and day,
a breast full of milk
and a manger full of hay.
Enough for him,
whom angels
fall down before,
the ox and ass and camel
which adore.

What can I give Him,
poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb.
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part.
Yet what I can I give Him,
give my heart.

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge

__________________

Hymns

As with gladness men of old (DIX) is by William Catterton Dix (1837–1898). The particular strength of the hymn is the way in which in each of the first three verses the narrative of the visit of the wise men is related to the present day in the final couplet, opening with the word ‘So’. The themes of travel and of light are continued in the last two verses, which deal with the journey through life towards the heavenly kingdom.

What star is this (PUER NOBIS) is a translation by John Chandler (1806–1876) of the hymn by Charles Coffin, Quae stella sole pulchrior, from the Paris Breviary (1736). The hymn is a prayer for God’s presence in our lives as we draw closer to Him. The Magi showed faith in God and eagerness, as well as sacrifice, in their journey to see the Christ-child. So may we live as though we really believe and eagerly look forward to the day when we shall one day see Him. In the third stanza, the gifts of the Magi are not even named. The Magi took the trouble to bring “gifts most rare” on a long journey. So may we “All our costliest treasures bring, Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.” This pilgrimage is not easy, so we sing, “Holy Jesus, every day keep us in the narrow way,” remembering that Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14).

Songs of thankfulness and praise (SALZBURG) was written by Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885), who described it as “recapitulation of the successive manifestations of Christ…and anticipation of that future great and glorious Epiphany, at which Christ will be manifest to all, when He will appear again to judge the world.” The stanza “Sun and moon shall darkened be” is omitted in the 1940 Hymnal. In many of the hymns of Advent and Christmas, references to the Second Coming, with its wonders and terrors, are usually toned down or omitted, but we do not so much look to the past as to the future, awaiting the Final Coming of our King, the desire of all nations and the fulfillment of all wisdom.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary: Christmas Midnight Mass: Music

December 21, 2018 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

James Janknegt

Mount Calvary

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choir Director

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

The Nativity of the Lord

December 24, 2018

Sung Mass and Procession

10:00 P.M. Carols

10:30 P.M. Sung Mass

__________________

Carols Before Mass

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Hodie Christus natus est, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Dormi Jesu, Matt Nielson

Good Christian Men Rejoice

A Rose There Is A-springing, Michael Praetorius, arr. Donald Cashmore

__________________

PROCLAMATION OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

____________________

The Procession to the Creche

O Come All Ye Faithful

Blessing of the Creche

Silent Night

Angels We Have Heard on High

____________________

Common

Messe de Minuit, Marc-Antoine Charpentier

Organ, Violins, and Flutes

____________________

Anthems

O Magnum Mysterium, Tomás Luis de Victoria

____________________

Hymns

Of the Father’s Love Begotten

Joy to the World

Leave a Comment

December 20, 2018 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

The Visitation

Mount Calvary Church

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

December 23, 2018

Advent IV

10 AM Sung Mass

____________________

Common

Merbecke

____________________

Organ Prelude

Organ Postlude

In dulce iubilo

___________________

Anthems

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Богородице Дево, радуйся,

благодатная Марие, Господь с тобою.

Благословена ты в женах,

и благословен плод чрева твоего,

яко Спаса родила еси душ наших.

Rejoice, O virgin mother of God,

Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee:

blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,

for thou hast borne the Savior of our souls.

Academic Choir of Kharkiv Philharmonic

__________

Darren Schmidt

Alma Redemptoris Mater,

quae pervia coeli porta manes, et stella maris,

succurre cadenti,

surgere qui curat, populo:

tu quae genuisti, natura mirante,

tuum sanctum Genitorem:

Virgo prius ac posterius,

Gabrielis ab ore sumens illud Ave,

peccatorum miserere.

Loving mother of the Redeemer,

gate of heaven, star of the sea,

assist your people who have fallen

yet strive to rise again;

to the wonderment of nature

you bore your Creator,

yet remained a virgin after as before;

You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting,

have pity on us poor sinners.

____________________

Hymns 

O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a translation of the Latin hymn Veni veni Emmanuel, which in turn is based on the seven O Antiphons, which are sung in the monastic office at the Magnificat on the days preceding Christmas. These antiphons are of ancient origin, dating back to at least the ninth century. The hymn itself, though, is much more recent. Its first appeared in the 18th century. It is interesting to note that the initial words of the actual antiphons in reverse order form an acrostic: O Emmanuel, O Rex, O Oriens, O Clavis, O Radix (“virgula” in the hymn), O Adonai, O Sapientia. ERO CRAS can be loosely translated as “I will be there tomorrow”. That is a fitting message indeed since Christ’s birth falls on the following day.

__________

Creator of the stars of light is a translation by John Mason Neale (1818–1866) of the 9th century Creator alme siderum. The translation captures the essence of the original Latin. Contrasting “everlasting light” with the “stars of night” in the first stanza is a common theological theme of Latin hymns. Stanza two refers to the great New Testament hymn found in Philippians 2:10-11.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music: December 16, 2018: Gaudete Sunday

December 11, 2018 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

John the Baptist Preaching

Pier Francesco Mola

Mount Calvary Church

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

December 16, 2018

Advent III

Gaudete Sunday

Sung Mass

10 A.M.

____________________

Common

Merbecke

____________________

Organ Prelude

Organ Postlude

____________________

Anthems

Anon. (Previously attributed to Henry Purcell)

Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice! Let your softness be known unto all men; the Lord is even at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in all prayer and supplication, let your petitions be manifest unto God, with giving of thanks. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesu, Amen.

The Choir of Westminster Abbey

__________

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)

Fuit homo missus a Deo, cui nomen erat Joannes. Hic venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, et pararet Domino plebem perfectam.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came as a witness, to give testimony about the light, and to prepare for the Lord a perfect people.

St. John’s College, Cambridge

____________________

Hymns

The advent of our King (ST THOMAS-WILLIAMS) is by Charles Coffin (1676-1749), translated by John Chandler (1806-1876). This Latin hymn, Instantis adventum Dei, was sung at the Nocturn in Advent. Coffin was the rector of the University of Pars and as a Jansenist opposed the papal bull Unigenitus, which was viewed as an attack of the prerogatives of the French church. Chandler was an Anglican cleric and a prolific translator of Latin hymns.

The hymn evokes the coming of Jesus at his birth, but also his coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and his coming in judgement and glory at the end of time. We are reminded to be the faithful Zion, unlike the one that turned on Jesus and crucified him. By repentance we put away the old man and put on the new man in the image of our crucified and risen Savior.

__________

Comfort, comfort ye my people (Tröstet, tröstet meine Lieben) was written by Johann Olearius (1611–1684), a Lutheran pastor at Halle and translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878). The hymn is a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:1-5, in which the prophet looks forward to the coming of Christ. More specifically, the coming of the forerunner of Christ – John the Baptist – is foretold. Though Isaiah’s voice crying in the desert is anonymous, the third stanza ties this prophecy and one from Malachi (Malachi 4:5) to a New Testament fulfillment. “For Elijah’s voice is crying In the desert far and near” brings to mind Jesus’ statement, “’But I tell you that Elijah has already come.’ Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.”

The tune GENEVAN 42 is an adaptation by Louis Bourgeois (1510–1559) of a tune by Claude Goudimel (1501–1572), a French Calvinist who was killed in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

__________

Hark, a thrilling voice is sounding is a translation by Edward Caswell (1814–1878) of the Latin hymn, Vox clara ecce intonat. It is based on Romans 13: 11-1. We hear that “Christ is near”; in response, we “cast away the works of darkness.” Advent is not a passive season but demands something from us. We sing of “The Lamb, so long expected, comes with pardon down from heaven. Let us haste, with tears of sorrow, one and all, to be forgiven.” Advent, like Lent, is a season of repentance, and repentance involves action. Just as Christ came 2,000 years ago, we know he can come again even tomorrow as the next stanza reminds us, “So when next He comes in glory and the world is wrapped in fear, He will shield us with His mercy and with words of love draw near.” By confession and repentance, we prepare to meet the Lord.

Leave a Comment

The Night Will Soon Be Ending: A Christian Poet in the Darkness of the Nazi State

December 10, 2018 in Anti-Semitism, Music, Nazis No Comments Tags: Advent, Anti-Semitism, hymns, Jochen Klepper, Nazis, suicide

In researching Advent hymns, I came across this one. It was written in 1937 by Jochen Klepper, a Christian writer who had married a Jewish widow, and saw the Nazi state closing in around them. In the deepest darkness, he looked to the rising of the Sun of Righteousness.

JOCHEN KLEPPER March 22, 1903 – December 11, 1942

Klepper was born in Beuthen an der Oder, Silesia, the son of a Lutheran minister. He originally studied theology at the University of Breslau, but dropped out to become a radio journalist in Berlin before being ostracized by the Nazi Party for his 1931 marriage to Johanna Stein, a Jewish widow with two daughters. He was fired from his work with Berliner Funk in June 1933, and was later fired from Ullstein Publishing House in September 1935. He had written favorably about a Prussian king and the stark contrast to the current German government. The book became very popular and by March 1937, he had lost his license to publish his largely Christian works from the state literary office.


The persecution of the Jews threatened his wife and two stepdaughters. The older girl, Brigitte, managed to leave for England in 1939. Klepper became a soldier that same year, until he was dismissed from the Wehrmacht in 1942 because of his “mixed marriage.” He even negotiated with Adolf Eichmann, the head of the Jewish Evacuation Department in the Reich Security Main Office.

On December 11, 1942, after Eichmann refused a visa for the couple’s second daughter, the three of them committed suicide by turning on a gas valve – Jochen writing in his journal just before they died: Tonight we die together. Over us stands in the last moments the image of the blessed Christ who surrounds us. With this view we end our lives. After their death, the diary was given by Jochen’s sister Hildegard, to the Allied trial against Adolf Eichmann where it was used as evidence against him (Session 51).

God is greater than our heart

As victims of racial hatred

the poet Jochen Klepper and his family went together into death

Forgive us our debts

Here is a performance of Die Nacht is vorgedrungen. Here for women’s voices.

1 Die Nacht ist vorgedrungen,
der Tag ist nicht mehr fern!
So sei nun Lob gesungen
dem hellen Morgenstern!
Auch wer zur Nacht geweinet,
der stimme froh mit ein.
Der Morgenstern bescheinet
auch deine Angst und Pein.

2) Dem alle Engel dienen,
wird nun ein Kind und Knecht.
Gott selber ist erschienen
zur Sühne für sein Recht.
Wer schuldig ist auf Erden,
verhüll nicht mehr sein Haupt.
Er soll errettet werden,
wenn er dem Kinde glaubt.

3) Die Nacht ist schon im Schwinden,
macht euch zum Stalle auf!
Ihr sollt das Heil dort finden,
das aller Zeiten Lauf
von Anfang an verkündet,
seit eure Schuld geschah.
Nun hat sich euch verbündet,
den Gott selbst ausersah.

4) Noch manche Nacht wird fallen
auf Menschenleid und -schuld.
Doch wandert nun mit allen
der Stern der Gotteshuld.
Beglänzt von seinem Lichte,
hält euch kein Dunkel mehr,
von Gottes Angesichte
kam euch die Rettung her.

5) Gott will im Dunkel wohnen
und hat es doch erhellt.
Als wollte er belohnen,
so richtet er die Welt.
Der sich den Erdkreis baute,
der lässt den Sünder nicht.
Wer hier dem Sohn vertraute,
kommt dort aus dem Gericht.

1 The night will soon be ending;
The dawn cannot be far.
Let songs of praise ascending
Now greet the Morning Star!
All you whom darkness frightens
With guilt or grief or pain,
God’s radiant Star now brightens
And bids you sing again.

2 By heaven’s hosts surrounded
A servant he became
His age-old law expounded
For our atonement’s gain
Offenders of all nations
Shall taste of mercies mild
They shall receive oblation
Believing his own child

3 The night will soon be fading
Where Beth’lem’s manger stands
For your release is waiting
Bring incense, ewe and ram
And hear ye all his preaching
Planned from the dawn of time
He beckons, over-reaching
With mercy’s tender chime

4 Yet nights will bring their sadness
And rob our hearts of peace,
And sin in all its madness
Around us may increase.
But now one Star is beaming
Whose rays have pierced the night:
God comes for our redeeming
From sin’s oppressive might.

5 God dwells with us in darkness
And makes the night as day;
Yet we resist the brightness
And turn from God away.
But grace does not forsake us,
However far we run.
God claims us still as children
Through Mary’s infant Son.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music December 9, 2018

December 4, 2018 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Prepare ye the way of the LORD

Mount Calvary Church

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

A Roman Catholic Parish

Anglican Use

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

10 A.M.

December 9, 2018

Advent II

___________________

Common

Merbecke

____________________

Organ Prelude

Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, Dietrich Buxtehude BuxWV 211

Organ Postlude

Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, J.S. Bach, BWV 599

____________________

Anthems

Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599)

Veni Domine, et noli tardare. Veni ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster. Et ostende faciem tuam, et salvi erimus. Sicut mater consolatur filios, consolaberis nos. Veni Domine, et noli tardare. Et gaudebit cor nostrum corde perfecto.

Come, Lord, and do not delay. Come and save us, O Lord our God. And show Thy face and make us safe. As a mother consoles her children, so shall you console us. Come, Lord, and do not delay. And our heart shall rejoice in Thy perfect heart

The Apollo 5

__________

Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry announces that the Lord is nigh. Awake and harken, for he brings glad tidings of the King of kings! Then cleansed be every heart from sin: make straight the way for God within, and let each heart prepare a home where such a mighty guest may come. All praise the Son eternally whose advent sets his people free, whom with the Father we adore, and Spirit blest for evermore.

As edited by Edward Klammer (note dissonances)

__________________

Hymns

O Come, Divine Messiah (VENEZ DIVINE MESSIE) is by M. l’abbé (Simon-Joseph) Pellegrin (1663-1745), French abbé and well-known librettist. It was translated by Sister Mary of St. Philip, the name in religion of Mary Frances Lescher (1825-1904). She was one of the first English members of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur when they established their training college at Mount Pleasant in Liverpool, England, in about 1850. She and at least one other SND sister wrote both translations and original hymns and songs over the course of their long professional lives.

Of the Father’s love begotten   (also here) is  by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (ca. 348-ca. 413), translated by Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877) based on John Mason Neale (1818-1866). The tune DIVINUM MYSTERIUM, was a “Sanctus trope” – an ancient plainchant melody which over the years had been musically embellished. The tune first appears in print in 1582 in the Finnish song book Piae Cantiones.

Lo, He comes with clouds descending is by Charles Wesley (1707–1788). The hymn is full of allusions to Revelation: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”   At first glance it might seems strange to celebrate the second coming of Christ in conjunction with His first coming, however, the practice of so doing provides the balance needed to keep the Advent (and Christmas) themes of Divine love and light from devolving into mere sentimentality.  Remembering the first coming of Christ in light of the end of all things ought to remind us how desperately we need a savior—and how immense and earth-shattering is the good news that God is just and merciful.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music December 7, 2018

December 4, 2018 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Panagia Theotokos

The All Holy Mother of God

Mount Calvary Church

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

A Roman Catholic Parish

Anglican Use

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

7:00 P.M

Friday

December 7, 2018

The Vigil Mass of the Immaculate Conception

Common

Merbecke

Organ Prelude

Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, J. S.  Bach, BWV 599

Organ Postlude

Es ist gewisslich an der Zeit, J. L. Krebs

Hymns

Virgin, full of grace is a translation of the Latin hymn O Sanctissima. The earliest known publication was London 1785, when it was described as a traditional song from Sicily; but no original source or date has been confirmed for the simple melody or the poetic text. The tune is often called “Sicilian Mariners Hymn” or similar titles, referring to the seafarers’ nightly invocation of Mary as their maternal protector, Our Lady, Star of the Sea. The tune has been notably reused for the German Christmas carol “O du fröhliche” (O, how joyful) and the first half of the American civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome”.

Immaculate Mary, or the Lourdes Hymn. The earliest version of the hymn was written in 1873 by French priest and seminary director Jean Gaignet, for pilgrims to the site of the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes. It was set to a traditional French tune.

Sing of Mary is by Roland F. Palmer (1892–1985, an Anglo-Catholic priest, who entered the Society of St. John the Evangelist (“Cowley Fathers”) at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The tune PLEADING SAVIOR was composed by American Congregational minister Joshua Leavitt (1794–1873).

 

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music: December 2, 2018

November 27, 2018 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

 

Tree of Jesse, Lambeth Psalter, Canterbury c. 1150

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

Anglican Use

The Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

December 2, 2018

Advent I

10 A.M. Sung Mass

____________________

Common

Merbecke

___________________

Anthems

William Byrd (1540–1623)

Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum: aperiatur terra, et germinet salvatorem. Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum, amen.

Drop down ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: Let the earth open and bring forth a Saviour. Lord, thou hast blessed thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen.

Here is the Hereford Cathedral Choir.

__________

William Byrd (1540–1623)

Laetentur coeli, et exultet terra. Jubilate montes laudem, quia Dominus noster veniet, et pauperum suorum miserebitur. Orietur in diebus tuis justitia et abundantia pacis.

Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice. Let the mountains be joyful with praise, because our Lord will come, and will show mercy to his poor. In your days, justice and abundance of peace shall arise.

Here is the choir of Canterbury Cathedral.

____________________

Hymns

Wake, awake, for night is flying (WACHET AUF) is by Philipp Nicolai (1556-1608), translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878). It is partly based on Matthew 25: 1-13, the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Nicolai was a pastor in Westphalia during a terrible pestilence, which claimed some thirteen hundred lives in his parish alone. Nicolai turned from the constant tragedies and frequent funerals (at times he buried thirty people in one day) to meditate on “the noble, sublime doctrine of eternal life obtained through the blood of Christ.” We look forward to the glorious coming of Jesus when He will deliver us from death and bring us into the kingdom of His Father. Christ’s light shining in the darkness of death to deliver us is a profound theme of Advent.

Hetre is, a capella, the Congregational Church of Batavia. Here, with organ, is St. John’s, Detroit. Here is Wachet auf, the children’s choir of Fulda.

Come, Lord, and tarry not (ST. BRIDE) is by Horatius Bonar (1808–1889).  He came from a long line of ministers who served a total of 364 years in the Church of Scotland. the hymn conveys our longing for the coming of Jesus, quoting the last verses of Revelation. It reminds us that Jesus will restore the whole creation, making all things new, abolishing death forever.

Here is the tune.

O Saviour, rend the heaven’s wide (O HEILAND REIß) is Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld (1591-1635). He was a German Jesuit priest, professor, and poet, most noted as an opponent of trials for witchcraft. Spee was the first person in his time to present strong written and spoken arguments against torture, especially with regards to its unreliability in obtaining “truth” from someone undergoing painful questioning. His hymn is based on Isaiah 64: 1 (‘Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down’) and the ‘Rorate coeli desuper’ of Isaiah 45: 8 (‘Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness’). It is one of the best known and most loved of German Advent hymns: it uses the traditional images of bringing light out of darkness and bringing new life. It conveys the overwhelming power of the Advent of Christ at the end of time, when He will break down the doors of the grave and abolish sin and death forever.

Here is O Heiland, reiss, in Nürnberg at the Friedenskirche. Here is a haunting rendition by the Knabenchor in Dortmund.

Here it is on hammered dulcimer.

Leave a Comment
«< 9 10 11 12 13 >»

Subscribe


 

Categories

RECENT ENTRIES

  • The Hands That Restored Notre Dame
  • Misinformation c. 1900
  • The Spirits Among Us
  • (no title)
  • Jewish Safety in Europe, East and West
  • Unamuno and the Eternal Journey into God
  • Unamuno and Universal Salvation
  • Recovery
  • Elizabeth Lawrence Gilman
  • James H. Rutter

Blogroll

  • A Twitch Upon the Thread
  • Abuse Tracker
  • All Things Catholic
  • American Papist
  • Ampersand
  • Catholic and Enjoying It
  • Catholic Culture
  • Catholic Edition
  • Catholic Online
  • Christianity Today
  • Disputations
  • DotCommonweal
  • First Principles
  • First Things – On The Square
  • Front Porch Republic
  • GetReligion
  • InsideCatholic
  • Kath.net
  • Mere Comments
  • National Catholic Register
  • National Catholic Reporter
  • New Oxford Review
  • NovAntiqua
  • Patrick Madrid
  • Pontifications
  • Reditus a Chronicle of Aesthetic Christianity
  • Rod Dreher Crunchy Con
  • Ross Douthat
  • Stephenscom
  • The Catholic Thing
  • The Crossland Foundation
  • The Curious Gaze
  • Via Media
  • Whispers in the Loggia

Reviews and Comments of Podles' new book: SACRILEGE

  • Julia Duin, of The Washington Times, on Lee Podles’ Sacrilege
Leon J. Podles :: DIALOGUE
© Leon J. Podles :: DIALOGUE 2025
Powered by WordPress • Themify WordPress Themes

↑ Back to top