Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

February 24, 2019

The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

The Patronal Feast of the North American Ordinariate

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Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

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Anthems

Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941)

God be in my head, and in my understanding; God be in mine eyes, and in my looking; God be in my mouth, and in my speaking; God be in my heart, and in my thinking; God be at mine end, and at my departing.

Here is the Clare College Chapel Choir.

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Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611)

Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. Et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum.

Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give Thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Here is The Cardinal’s Music.

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Hymns

Firmly I believe and truly (NASHOTAH) is adapted from John Henry Newman’s 1865 poem The Dream of Gerontius about the progress of a soul from death to salvation. As an Evangelical, Newman (1801—1890) rejected the doctrines of purgatory and the intercession of saints, but as part of his conversion (1845), he came to a realization of the fullness of the communion of saints: those striving on earth, those being purified by the divine fire, and those in heaven moved by love to pray for those on earth and in purgatory. The poem (Greek Geron: old man), relates the journey of a pious man’s soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory. As the priests and assistants pray the prayers for the dying, Gerontius recites this creed and prays for mercy. Sanctus Fortis, Sanctus Deus is from the Good Friday liturgy and is alluded to in the line “him the holy, him the strong.”

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#393 Faith of our fathers (ST CATHERINE) by Frederick William Faber (1814–1863), in its original form, spoke to Catholics of their history, and conflicts (‘living still/in spite of dungeon, fire and sword’; ‘Our Fathers, chained in prisons dark,/Were still in heart and conscience free’), as well as their aspirations. Faber wrote the hymn at a critical time for Roman Catholics in the British Isles: in England: Catholic Emancipation and the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy were key issues; meanwhile Ireland was still suffering from the devastation caused by the Great Famine, and was wrestling with the inequities occasioned by British rule.

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From all Thy saints in warfare (KING’S LYNN) is by Horatio Nelson (1823—1913), nephew of Admiral Horatio Nelson. He became 3rd Earl Nelson in 1835. In 1857 he and John Keble, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, compiled the Sarum Hymnal. This hymn was published in 1864. It honors the saints while carefully avoiding mention of any intercessory role.

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The Chair of St. Peter in Antioch

Philip Kosloski

While St. Peter is widely known as the first bishop of Rome, the “prince of the apostles” started out his ministry in the “Rome of the East,” the ancient city of Antioch.

The Roman Empire at the time of Christ hailed Antioch as the new capital of the East over that of Alexandria. It became a pivotal city, one favored by the emperors of Rome and a vital part of the Empire.

It also became an important city for Christians in the first few decades after Jesus’s death. Antioch became the home to many Jewish Christians who fled Jerusalem after St. Stephen was stoned to death. For this and other reasons it made perfect sense for Peter to minister to the spiritual needs of these early Christians.

According to the Golden Legend, Peter arrived in Antioch to preach the good news of Christ. However, Theophilus, governor of the city, did not want him there and said, “Peter, why are you corrupting my people?” Peter tried to convert Theophilus, who immediately had Peter imprisoned.

St. Paul heard about Peter’s imprisonment and visited Theophilus in order to gain his trust. While there St. Paul was able to visit Peter and then urged Theophilus to release him. Theophilus refused, but was curious about St. Paul’s claim that Peter could raise the dead. He said that if Peter could raise his son that he would release him. Miraculously, the governor’s son was raised from the dead through Peter’s intercession and he was given freedom in Antioch to preach the gospel. Theophilus would later receive an account of Jesus’ life through the hands of St. Luke.

Whatever the veracity of this story is, the people of Antioch welcomed Peter’s preaching and built a chair for him to be placed above everyone else while he taught them about Jesus. It is believed that Peter stayed in Antioch for seven years before going to Rome to become the first bishop there.

In the centuries after Peter’s death, it was the custom for bishops to celebrate the anniversary of their initial consecration. The Church appointed February 22 as the anniversary of Peter’s elevation to a bishop in Antioch. This was called the “Chair of St. Peter in Antioch,” referencing the chair that Peter sat in to teach the people.

Over time this feast was merged with the feast commemorating the “Chair of St. Peter in Rome,” and became a single feast on February 22.

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A Digression on the Popular Use of Hymns

Faber wrote an Irish version of Faith of our Fathers. This version, entitled ‘the same Hymn for Ireland’ featured seven stanzas. In it ‘Mary’s prayers/ Shall keep our country fast to thee’. The most important alterations/additions were as follows (the last two lines remain the same in all versions):

1. Faith of our Fathers! living still,
        In spite of dungeon, fire and sword: 
    Oh! Ireland's hearts beat high with joy
        Whene'er they hear that glorious word,
     Faith of our Fathers, &c.
5. Faith of our fathers! guile and force
        To do thee bitter wrong unite;
    But Erin's Saints shall fight for us,
        And keep undimmed thy blessed light. 

6. Faith of our Fathers! distant shores
        Their happy faith to Ireland owe; 
    Then in our home, oh, shall we not
        Break the dark plots against thee now?

7. Faith of our Fathers! Days of old
        Within our hearts speak gallantly;
    For ages thou hast stood by us,
        Dear Faith! And we will stand by thee.

Though ‘Faith of our fathers’ was intended by Faber for use in church and in private devotions (it became one of the most popular Catholic hymns of the 19th century), it acquired a more secular purpose, though still with religious associations: it is sung at the All-Ireland Gaelic football final, though now as part of the half-time show, rather than before the start of the match. The sport has important connections with the Catholic Church: parish priests were often chairmen or presidents of local clubs, and bishops were patrons of provincial Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) councils. Indeed Thomas Croke (1824-1902), Archbishop of Cashel and an ardent Irish nationalist, was instrumental in founding the GAA. While traditions such as the bishop’s throwing out the first ball at the All-Ireland final have passed into history, the singing of ‘Faith of our fathers’ still survives as an expression of communal feeling, and also of pride in Irish national identity, with which Gaelic sports are particularly associated.

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

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Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

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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.

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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.

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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 20^th 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).

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

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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.

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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.)

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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

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Common

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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Common

An Anglican Folk Mass, Martin Shaw

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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’).

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