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

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Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

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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.

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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.

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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.

(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

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Common

Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

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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

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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

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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 15^th century English Christmas carol.

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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.

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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.

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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 

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

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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

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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

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 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

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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.

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

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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

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PROCLAMATION OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

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The Procession to the Creche

O Come All Ye Faithful

Blessing of the Creche

Silent Night

Angels We Have Heard on High

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Common

Messe de Minuit, Marc-Antoine Charpentier

Organ, Violins, and Flutes

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Anthems

O Magnum Mysterium, Tomás Luis de Victoria

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Hymns

Of the Father’s Love Begotten

Joy to the World

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

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Common

Merbecke

____________________

Organ Prelude

Organ Postlude

In dulce iubilo

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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

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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.

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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.

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Creator of the stars of light is a translation by John Mason Neale (1818–1866) of the 9^th 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.

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.

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Common

Merbecke

____________________

Organ Prelude

Organ Postlude

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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

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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

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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)

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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.

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).

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

Christ the King, Nigeria

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Anglican Use

Madison Avenue and Eutaw Street

Baltimore, Maryland

The Feast of Christ the King

November 25, 2018

10 A.M. Sung Mass

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Common

Missa de S. Maria Magdalena, H. Willan

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Anthems

Henry Purcell (1659–1695)

O God, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son, Jesus Christ, with great triumph into heaven, we beseech thee leave us not comfortless, but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us to the same place where our Savior Jesus Christ is gone before us, Amen.

Here is the Choir of New College, Oxford.

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Eric Spengler

Sedebit Dominus Rex in aeternum.

Dominus virtutem populo suo dabit. Dominus benedicet populo suo in pace.

The Lord shall sit King for ever. The Lord will give strength to his people. The Lord will bless his people with peace.

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Hymns

All hail the power of Jesus’ name (DIADEM) is by Edward Perronet (172?–1792), a member of a Swiss Huguenot family who emigrated to England. He was an associate of the Wesleys. The hymn is one of the most popular in all Christian churches. It begins with a reference to Philippians 2:10: “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” In our version the hymn addresses Israel, the chosen people, and then the Gentiles, every nation and tribe, and calls them to join in celebrating the Kingship of Jesus. The song of celebration is “everlasting”: as we sing this hymn we join in the song of the angels and saints, a song that will go on forever.

Here is St. Paul’s Chamber Choir. Here is a version with brass and timpani, the First Plymouth Church of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Prepare the royal highway (MESSIAH) was written by the Swedish bishop Franz Michael Franzén (1772–1847). Its beginning is based on Isaiah 40:4 “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain,” which for English-speakers forever echoes the aria from Handel’s Messiah. But the hymn conflates all the comings of God: Jesus’ birth, His entry into the repentant soul, His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, His coming into the world to establish his kingdom of peace and love, and His final coming at the end of time.

Here is a home school choir. Here it is on the hammered dulcimer. And the piano. Here is Swedish soprano Sissel Kyrkjebø singing a modernized version of the original Swedish Bereden väg för Herran

The king shall come when morning dawns (MORNING SONG) is by the Scottish Free Church minister John Brownlie (1857–1925). He translated many Eastern hymns, and this hymn bears the impress of Eastern theology. Infused with the imagery of morning light typical of early Greek hymnody, hymn stirs hope in the hearts of all who look forward to the return of Christ. It is a confession of faith in the sure return of our Lord; his coming again will occur in a blaze of glory, which will far surpass his earthly death and resurrection. The text concludes with a paraphrase of the ancient prayer of the church-“Maranatha,” or “Lord, come quickly” (Rev. 22:20). We should not fear, but yearn for the coming of the One we love.

Here is a concert in the Gymnasial Kirche, Osnabrück.