Universal Salvation and 1 Kings 14.

September 12, 2019 in Universal salvation No Comments Tags: Catherine of Siena, David Bentley Hart, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Universal salvation

Now and again the possibility of universal salvation is a subject of controversy. Hans Urs von Balthasar roiled Catholic waters with his Dare We Hope That All Men Will Be Saved? David Bentley Hart has entered the lists with his new book All Shall Be Saved.There is a strain of universalism in St. Paul, with his repeated emphases on “all.” But there are the solemn warnings of Jesus about the worm that dies not and the fire that is not quenched.

I am not a theologian, so I will not try to answer the question. I might point out that our theories do not cause salvation or damnation: God’s actions do.

But we should consider what our reaction to Jesus’ solemn warnings should be. Jesus makes these warning in his prophetic role. A passage from 1 Kings 14 can help us see how Jesus wants us to react:

“At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it be not known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. 3 Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what shall happen to the child.”

4 Jeroboam’s wife did so; she arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. 5 And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son; for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.”

When she came, she pretended to be another woman. 6 But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with heavy tidings for you. 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you leader over my people Israel, 8 and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you; and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, 9 but you have done evil above all that were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods, and molten images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back; 10 therefore behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will utterly consume the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone. 11 Any one belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and any one who dies in the open country the birds of the air shall eat; for the Lord has spoken it.”’ 12 Arise therefore, go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14 Moreover the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam today. And henceforth[a] 15 the Lord will smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers, and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 And he w0ill give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin.”

17 Then Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah. And as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the prophet.”

Jeroboam’s wife does not respond to the prophet’s word. Does she disbelieve him? Or does she believe and accept the prophetic word in silent resignation?

Peter Leithart comments:

“The interesting thing about this possibility is that her silent resignation is as much an act of unbelief as a loud rejection. Faith responds to a prophecy of doom like David, who fasts, prays, and mourns for his son, in spite of Yahweh’s telling him that his son will die. So long as the child lives, there is hope.

“Faith is often confused with resignation. The prophetic word comes, cutting like a double-edged sword, and we respond with tight-lipped silence. This is not faith. Faith responds to God’s word, not with silent submission, but with confession, praise, earnest and anguished petition. Faith responds with the desperate cries of a Job, the “my God, my God” of David and Jesus, the “how long, O Lord?’ of the Psalms. God’s word is not the end of a conversation, but an invitation to renew conversation. God does not judge and condemn to send us slinking away in resigned silence. God judges and condemns so that we can give our “amen” to his judgment, humble ourselves, and be saved. Ultimately, the issues go to theology proper: the Triune God, the God whose life is an eternal conversation, does not create a world as a stage where he performs soliloquies before a respectfully hushed audience. God creates the world and humanity to enter into a dialogue.”

And what should be our response to Jesus’s solemn warnings about damnation?

Barbara Newman recounts St. Catherine of Siena’s response:

Catherine of Siena muses that she would lovingly be condemned to hell for the honor and glory of God if all sinners could thereby be saved. But God replies that this would be impossible “Love of me cannot exist in hell, for that love would wipe hell out of existence.” So much the better, Catherine replies: “If your truth and justice would permit it, I would love that hell should be wiped out, or at least that no soul should ever go there again. And if were possible that, without losing love of you, I could be set upon the mouth of hell to close it, and so prevent any further souls from entering it, that is what I would like most of all.”

Newman shows that many women mystics followed this logic: they told God that they would be willing to suffer the pains of hell that all souls might be saved. They challenged God: Could He be less merciful than they were? They did not accept the judgement of eternal salvation for sinners. They suffered and prayed and wept. They entered into the conversation within God: How could His justice and mercy be reconciled. How could His deepest desire be fulfilled, that all be saved, that through Jesus the whole cosmos would escape everlasting death and be returned to the Father? How, how, how….

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music: September 15, 2019

September 10, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Patronal Feast

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of S. Peter

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Sunday, September 15, 2019

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass with Procession

Brunch to follow in the undercroft

_________________

Common

Mass for Four Voices, William Byrd

_________________

Anthems

I Was Glad, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918)

I was glad when they said unto me, we will go into the house of the Lord.
Our feet shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is builded as a city that is at unity in itself.
O pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.
Peace be within thy walls and plenteousness within thy palaces.

_______

O Crux, Peter Philips (1560-1628)

O Crux, splendidior cunctis astris,
mundo celebris,
hominibus multum amabilis,
sanctior universis; que sola
fuisti digna portare talentum mundi:
dulce lignum, dulces clavos,
dulcia ferens pondera
salva presentem catervam,
in tuis hodie laudibus congregatam.
Alleluia, Alleluia.

O Cross, more splendid than all the stars,
honored throughout the world,
most worthy of the love of mankind,
more holy than all the universe, who alone
were worthy to bear the ransom of the world:
sweet wood, sweet nails,
that bore the sweet burden,
save your flock
assembled here to sing your praises.
Alleluia, Alleluia.

_________________

Hymns

Lift high the cross was written by George William Kitchen (1827—1912), Dean of the Cathedral for a festival service of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, held in Winchester Cathedral in 1887. His version was altered by Anglican priest Michael Robert Newbolt (1874–1956), who later became Canon of Chester Cathedral. The hymn incorporates an important feature of processionals: the crucifer (cross-bearer) leads the procession, lifting the cross high. This ritual use of the cross is a sign of the victory of the resurrection and finds a biblical basis in John 12:32, “And I, when I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself”— which is written on the arch above our chancel. The hymn also alludes to the story of the Emperor Constantine’s vision as told in Eusebius’s Life of Constantine, in which he saw a cross inscribed with the words, “In hoc signo vinces” (“in this sign [of the cross] you will conquer”). Constantine recognized Christianity and provided a basis for the further spread of Christianity.

The tune CRUCIFER was written by Sir Sydney Hugo Nicholson (1875-1947), teh founder of teh School of English Church Music.

#337 When I survey the wondrous cross (ROCKINGHAM) is by Isaac Watts (1674—1748). When preparing for a communion service in 1707, when he himself was thirty-three years old, Watts wrote this personal expression of gratitude for the love that Christ revealed by His death on the cross. Watts echoes Paul: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6: 14). The third stanza repeats almost verbatim phrases from St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s hymn “Salve mundi salutare”: such sentiments would be felt by any sincere Christian who meditated upon the crucifixion.

Edward Miller (1735-1807) adapted ROCKINGHAM from an earlier tune, TUNEBRIDGE, which had been published in Aaron Williams’s A Second Supplement to Psalmody in Miniature (c. 1780). The tune title refers to a friend and patron of Edward Miller, the Marquis of Rockingham, who served twice as Great Britain’s prime minister.

The royal banners forward go (AGINCOURT) is by Venantius Fortunatus (ca. 540-early 7th century) who wrote it to celebrate the reception of the fragment of the true cross at Poitiers. It was translated by John Mason Neale (1818-1866).

The Agincourt Carol is an English folk song written some time in the early 15th century. It recounts the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, in which the English army led by Henry V of England defeated that of the French Charles VI. The carol is one of thirteen on the Trinity Carol Roll, probably originating in East Anglia, that has been held in the Wren Library of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music September 8, 2019

September 3, 2019 in Uncategorized No Comments

Take up thy cross

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw St. and Madison Ave.

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Trinity XII

September 8, 2019

Summer Schedule

One Mass at 9:00 A.M.

Breakfast following in the undercroft

__________________

O Divine Redeemer, Charles Gounod

Ah! Turn me not away,
Receive me though unworthy;
Hear Thou my cry,
Behold, Lord, my distress!
Answer me from thy throne
Haste Thee, Lord to mine aid,
Thy pity shew in my deep anguish!
Let not the sword of vengeance smite me,
Though righteous thine anger,
O Lord! Shield me in danger, O regard me!
On Thee, Lord, alone will I call.
O Divine Redeemer!

I pray Thee, grant me pardon,
and remember not, remember not my sins!
Forgive me, O Divine Redeemer!
Night gathers round my soul;
Fearful, I cry to Thee;
Come to mine aid, O Lord!
Haste Thee, Lord, haste to help me!
Hear my cry! Save me Lord in Thy mercy;
Come and save me O Lord
Save, in the day of retribution,
From Death shield Thou me, O my God!
O Divine Redeemer, have mercy!
Help me, my Savior!

__________

En priere, Gabriel Faure

Si la voix d’un enfant peut monter jusqu’à Vous,
Ô mon Père,
Écoutez de Jésus, devant Vous à genoux,
La prière!
Si Vous m’avez choisi pour enseigner vos lois
Sur la terre,
Je saurai Vous servir, auguste Roi des rois,
Ô Lumière!
Sur mes lèvres, Seigneur, mettez la vérité
Salutaire,
Pour que celui qui doute, avec humilité
Vous révère!
Ne m’abandonnez pas, donnez-moi la douceur
Nécessaire,
Pour apaiser les maux, soulager la douleur,
La misère!
Révélez Vous à moi, Seigneur en qui je crois
Et j’espère:
Pour Vous je veux souffrir et mourir sur la croix,
Au calvaire!

If the voice of a child could reach up to you,
O my Father,
To be heard by Jesus… kneeling before You,
A prayer!
If you have chosen me to teach your laws
On Earth,
I would know how to serve you, august King of kings,
O Light!
On my lips, Lord, place the Truth
salutary,
So that those who doubt, with humility will
revere you!
Do not abandon me, but give me the Grace
necessary
to overcome evils, and to relieve pain
and misery!
Reveal yourself to me, Lord in whom I believe
and hope!
For You I want to suffer and die on the Cross,
on Calvary!

__________________

Hymns

Immortal, Invisible, God only wise (ST DENIO) by William Chalmers Smith (1824—1908), is a proclamation of the transcendence of God: “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever” (1 Tim 17). No man has ever seen God, who dwells in inaccessible light that is darkness to mortal eyes. God lacks nothing (“nor wanting”) and never changes (“nor wasting”), and is undying, unlike mortals, who in a striking image “blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree, then wither and perish.” The original ending of the hymn completes the thought: “And so let Thy glory, almighty, impart, / Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.” “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known” (John 1:18). Only in Jesus through the proclamation of the Gospel can we know the Father.

John Roberts, in Welsh Ieuan Gwyllt (1822-1877), composed the tune ST. DENIO (also known as JOANNA, or PALESTINA). It is derived from a Welsh folk song Can Mlynned i ‘nawr’ (“A Hundred Years from Now”).

Fairest Lord Jesus (CRUSADERS HYMN) is a 17th century German, hymn. Three stanzas of this hymn are taken from the version published by Richard Storrs Willis (1819-1900), in his Church Chorals and Choir Studies (New York, 1850). The tune emerges in Franz Liszt’s oratorio Legend of Saint Elizabeth—wherein the tune forms part of the “Crusader’s March”—but no evidence of the tune exists prior to 1842, when the hymn appeared in Schlesische Volkslieder.

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee was written ca. 1908, when Henry van Dyke (1852-1953) was a visiting preacher at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, set in the beautiful landscape of the Berkshire Hills, which is said to have inspired the hymn. Van Dyke, a Presbyterian minister, was also a professor of English literature at Princeton and a friend of President Woodrow Wilson. He also served as a naval chaplain in World War I. He composed it to be sung to the Ode to Joy in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music: September 1, 2019

August 27, 2019 in Uncategorized No Comments

The Heavenly Jerusalem

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw St. and Madison Ave.

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Trinity XI

September 1, 2019

Summer Schedule

One Mass at 9:00 A.M.

Breakfast following in the undercroft

___________

Anthems

Laudate Dominum, W. A. Mozart

Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
Laudate eum, omnes populi
Quoniam confirmata est
Super nos misericordia eius,
Et veritas Domini manet in aeternum.
Gloria Patri et Filio
et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper.
Et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Praise the Lord, all nations;
Praise Him, all people.
For He has bestowed
His mercy upon us,
And the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and forever,
and for generations of generations. Amen.

_____

Ave verum corpus, W. A. Mozart

Ave verum corpus natum
ex Maria virgine,
vere passum immolatum
in cruce pro homine,
cuius latus perforatum
unda fluxit sanguine,
esto nobis praegustatum
mortis in examine.

Hail, true Body, born
of the Virgin Mary,
who having truly suffered, was sacrificed
on the cross for mankind,
whose pierced side
flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
in the trial of death.

__________

Hymns

Glorious things of thee are spoken was written by John Newton (1725—1807), sometime slave trader and author of Amazing Grace, with the help of William Cowper (1731—1800). The opening line quotes Psalm 87:3 “Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God.” The theme is the universal church. The text begins with a vision of the new city of God (Heb 12:22), founded on the rock of ages (2 Sam 22), from which flow streams of living waters (Rev 22), alluding to the rock that Moses truck in the desert, to the Gihon spring on Mount Zion, and to the living water that Jesus promised the women at the well. The third stanza names the cloud and fire — the enduring presence God in the church —, and the manna (Ex 13:21, 16:31), a symbol of the Eucharist. We are washed in the Blood of the Lamb, making us Kings and priests to our God, to Whom we offer in Jesus the sacrifice of our lives in praise and thanksgiving for the salvation He has wrought.

The tune, AUSTRIA, by Haydn, created problems for England during World War II and was replaced by a newly composed tune, but we are using the 18^thcentury melody, which also appears in the Emperor quartet, opus 70, no. 5.

Jerusalem, my happy home has a complicated history. It may have been written by a 16^th century Catholic priest “F. B. P” (¿Francis Baker Porter?) imprisoned in the Tower and it may be based on The Meditations of St. Augustine. It exists in several versions; the one we use was said to be the favorite hymn of Elizabeth Ann Seton.

As adults, we know we live in a vale of tears: the disappointments of life, the sickness and death of friends and family, the destruction that evil works in God’s creation. This world as it now exists is not our home, which we will find in the transfigured world of the New Creation. The disharmony of the present age will be replaced by the harmony of heaven, symbolized by music, the new song, canticum novum, that we will forever sing. As the Navajos say, Hózhó Nahasdlii: It is finished in beauty.

LAND OF REST is an American folk tune with roots in the ballads of northern England and Scotland. It was known throughout the Appalachians; a shape-note version of the tune was published in The Sacred Harp (1844).

Love divine, all loves excelling is by Charles Wesley (1707—1788). The hymn is a prayer: through the incarnate Christ, we pray for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and ask that we would never be separated from the love of God in Christ, who works in us and through us until our time on earth is done.

One of the most loved Welsh tunes, HYFRODOL was composed by Rowland Hugh Prichard (1811—1887) in 1830 when he was only nineteen.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music August 25, 2019

August 20, 2019 in Uncategorized No Comments

Strive to enter through the narrow door

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw St. and Madison Ave.

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Trinity X

August 25, 2019

Summer Schedule

One Mass at 9:00 A.M.

Breakfast following in the undercroft

____________________

Common

Merbecke

___________________

Hymns

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy (IN BABILONE) was written by Frederick Faber (1814—1863). He was born an Anglican and reared a strict Calvinist. After attending Oxford, he took orders as an Anglican priest and began his ministry as a rector. Influenced by his friend John Henry Newman (1801—1890), who converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism in 1845, Faber also converted to Catholicism that same year.

IN BABILONE is a traditional Dutch melody that appeared in Oude en Nieuwe Hollantse Boerenlities en Contradansen (Old and New Dutch Peasant Songs and Country Dances), c. 1710. Ralph Vaughan Williams discovered this tune as arranged by Julius Rontgen (b. Leipzig, Germany, 1855; d. Utrecht, the Netherlands, 1932) and included it in The English Hymnal (1906), from which it gained widespread use

In Christ, there is no east or west (MCKEE) is by John Oxenham (1852—1941). Oxenham opposes Rudyard Kipling’s sentiment: “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” from Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses (1892). Paul in Galatians 3:28 proclaimed: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ.’”

MCKEE is a tune adapted from a spiritual by the famous African-American composer and songwriter, Harry T. Burleigh (1866–1949). It was named for the rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church in New York City, Elmer M. McKee, where Burleigh was the baritone soloist for over 50 years.

Mount Calvary was the leading Episcopal church in Baltimore in its mission to African-American, It welcomed all as members, and sponsored two missions in Baltimore, St. Mary the Virgin and St. Katherine. St Mary the Virgin was the most prominent African-American Episcopal church in the United States, and had more communicants than Mount Calvary. Mount Calvary sponsored the first African- American seminarian at the General Theological Seminary. The Catholic vision of Mount Calvary has always included all races.

All people that on earth do dwell is by William Kethe (–1594), who helped translate the Geneva Bible in 1560 and contributed twenty-five psalms to the 1561 Anglo-Genevan Psalter. Only ten of these were retained in the 1562 English Psalter, while the 1564 Scottish Psalter retained all 25. His version of Psalm 100, The Old Hundredth, is universally known by its first line.

OLD HUNDRETH is a hymn tune in Long Metre from Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (1551) (the second edition of the Genevan Psalter) and is one of the best-known melodies in all Christian musical traditions. The tune is usually attributed to the French composer Louis Bourgeois (c. 1510 – c.1560).

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music July 7, 2019

July 2, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw St. and Madison Ave.

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Trinity III

July 7, 2019

Summer Schedule

One Mass at 9:00 A.M.

Breakfast following in the undercroft

____________________

Common

Merbecke

___________________

Anthems

George Fredrick Handel (1685-1759)

I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep.

Here is Kiri te Kanawa.

____________________

Hymns

Come, ye thankful people, come (WINDSOR), written by Henry Alford (1810—1871) echoes the gospel of today, with Christ’s call for workers for the harvest. The first stanza focuses directly on the physical harvest, an image used throughout scripture from in Genesis through Revelation. The second stanza begins Alford’s expansion of the parable. Alford applies it to how joy and sorrow grow together in life, and how God does not eliminate sorrow until after the final harvest when God “will wipe every tear from their eyes.” The third and fourth stanzas move directly to the apocalypse with “For the Lord our God shall come.”

WINDSOR, by George Job Elvey (1816—1893). is named after the chapel in Windsor, England, where Elvey was organist for forty-seven years. This serviceable Victorian tune is held together by the rhythmic motive of the opening phrase.

Father, we thank Thee (RENDEZ A DIEU) is a translation by the Rev. Francis Bland Tucker (1896—1984; UVA 1914) of a portion of the Didache (c. 110 AD) that describes the manner of celebrating the Eucharist: “concerning the broken bread. We thank thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou hast made known unto us through Jesus thy Son; to thee be the glory forever. As this broken bread was once scattered on the mountains, and after it had been brought together became one, so may thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth unto thy kingdom.”

RENDEZ A DIEU is attributed to the Reformed composer, Loys Bourgeois (c 1510—1561). This beloved tune is one of the finest and most widely sung of the Genevan psalm tunes because of its clear melodic structure and vibrant rhythm.

All Creatures of our God and King (LASST UNS ERFREUEN) is based upon the Canticle of Brother Sun by St. Francis of Assisi (1182—1226). It was written in stages during the final year of his life, while he was nearly blind. Francis wrote: “For His praise, I wish to compose a new hymn about the Lord’s creatures, of which we make daily use, without which we cannot live.” We and all creation exist to honor and praise God. We praise God even for bodily death, because it is through the gates of death that we return home to Him and enter the New Creation. It was paraphrased by the Rev. William Henry Draper (1855—1933).

LASST UNS ERFREUEN is an arrangement by Ralph Vaughan Williams of a German tune from the Cologne Geistliche Kirchengesänge (Köln, 1623)

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music June 30, 2019

June 27, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Christ in the Wilderness: Foxes Have Holes, Stanley Spencer 1891-1959

Mount Calvary Church

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter

Eutaw St. and Madison Ave.

Baltimore, Maryland

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Trinity II

June 30, 2019

Summer Schedule

One Mass at 9:00 A.M.

Breakfast following in the undercroft

Common

Merbecke

Instrumental Music

Offertory: Bartolomeo Campagnoli Caprice No.2 for Solo Viola.

Communion: Prelude from J. S. Bach’s 4th Cello Suite

Hymns

He who would valiant be (ST. DUNSTANS) is a reworking by Percy Dearmer (1867—1936) of a poem “He who would true valour see” by John Bunyan in the Pilgrim’s Progress.

Humbly I adore Thee is a translation and adaptation of part of the Adoro te devote, which was composed by Thomas Aquinas (1225—1274) as a private prayer of devotion. Aquinas addresses Jesus in the sacrament as Truth, “Verity unseen.” For Aquinas, truth was the conforming of the mind to reality. The reality of the Eucharist is that Jesus is present beneath the outward signs of bread and wine. We believe this because Jesus has said it: “This is my Body.” The sacrament is a memorial in the fullest sense of the word: through the Mass the One Sacrifice of Calvary becomes truly present to us. We now see Jesus veiled, but our deepest desire is to see Him face to face. In that vision of God-become-Man for love of us, we are fully conformed to that truth and blessed because we attain the purpose for which we were created.

A mighty fortress is our God is from the German translation of Psalm 46 by Martin Luther. Leading Catholic liturgical scholar and musician Edward Foley calls Martin Luther “a model pastoral musician… a proponent and composer of music from the people and for the people, as evidenced in his chorales.” Speaking specifically of Ein feste Burg—the German title for “A mighty fortress”, Fr. Foley notes that this chorale “appears to be a paradigm of liturgical ‘people music.’” Luther’s “craft is affirmed by its ageless singability” — high praise from a Catholic scholar, indicating not only the quality of Luther’s work, but also its ecumenical popularity.

Leave a Comment

The Gaps in Bishop Barron’s Letter to a Suffering Church

June 21, 2019 in clergy sex abuse scandal, sexual abuse 1 Comment Tags: Letter to a Suffering Church, Robert Barron

Parts of Bishop Robert Barron’s Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis are excellent. It is an odd mixture of forthrightness and reticence. He acknowledges the current and past corruptions in the Church but argues that disillusioned members should stay because it is still the Mystical Body of Christ, that nowhere else can people receiving the deifying Eucharistic Lord, the source of holiness.

To begin with the last point: The Orthodox Churches have a Eucharist as valid and deifying as the Roman Catholic Church, and they manifest it better in their liturgy. Christians of all denominations can make a spiritual communion, which the Council of Trent taught had all the benefits of a sacramental communion.

But Barron’s emphasis on the Eucharist only makes the difficulty greater: how can men who confect and receive the Eucharist daily for decades commit such horrible crimes. Priests are closer to the sacraments than any member of the laity is, but they have clearly fallen short of common human decency, much less deification.

It is a question I ask myself, and ask Jesus, when I receive Him in communion: Why am I not immediately transformed by the presence of the ascended and glorified Lord, with whom I commune under the forms of bread and wine? I don’t know the answer, but the fact that I, and more importantly priests, are not transformed indicates that something in addition to the Eucharist is needed. And what is it?

The Christian is simul justus et peccator, at once just and sinful; the Church is a casta meretrix, a chaste whore. We all, some more than others, lead double lives, and integrating and centering our life complexly on the self-gift of God in Jesus Christ is the work of more than a lifetime, and a work that can hardly be accomplished on our own power. And simply receiving the sacraments is not enough and may not even be the most important thing.

There is also a big omission in Barron’s account of the failures of priests and bishops: the failures of the recent, not just ancient, occupants of the chair of Peter. Why was Pope John Paul so willfully blind to abuse, even when people informed him and pleaded with him to act? Given that gross failure, should he have been given the honor (and honor is all it is) of canonization?

Benedict did far more than John Paul, but even he failed to act with vigor against abusers such as McCarrick. Francis has fallen short of Benedict; the lay members of his commission resigned in disgust, he failed to carry out announced reforms, he rehabilitated abusers whom Benedict had disciplined, he had to eat his words when he traduced the victims of Chilean abusers. I have no great hopes that Francis will drain the sewage from the clergy; he is inconsistent, and everything seems to rely upon personal loyalty rather than principle.

The United States may have made some progress in curbing abuse, but I know that bishops are still playing games and hiding abusive priests. Nor are they willing to engage in fraternal correction of other bishops. Has Barron ever commented on Mahoney, who should probably be in jail, not lecturing to Catholics? Third world countries, where most Catholics live and which send many priests to the United States, have abysmal standards.

Nor do I have any confidence that the bishops of the United States really want to reform any more than they have to to keep the lawyers out of the pocketbooks. I am a board member of BishopAccountability, which has amassed millions of pages of documents on sexual abuse on the Church. It is no doubt the largest such archive in the world, the library from hell, as my wife calls it. We have never received a request from the hierarchy for information. The bishops do not want to know what happened. Why?

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music Corpus Christi 2019

June 21, 2019 in Uncategorized No Comments

Mount Calvary Church

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

The Roman Catholic Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Corpus Christi

8:00 AM Said Mass

10:00 AM Sung Mass

Eucharistic Procession to Mother Anne Seton House

Parish Picnic

Anthems

The text of the Corpus Christi Carol (music by Benjamin Britten) was discovered in 1504. One theory about the meaning of the carol is that it is concerned with the legend of the Holy Grail. In Arthurian traditions of the Grail story, the Fisher King is the knight who is the Grail’s protector, and whose legs are perpetually wounded.^[1]When he is wounded his kingdom suffers and becomes a wasteland. This would explain the reference to “an orchard brown”.

The text may be an allegory in which the crucified is described as a wounded knight. The bleeding knight could be Christ who bleeds for the sins of humanity endlessly. Christ is most probably represented as a knight as he is battling sin and evil by his continual pain. The “orchard brown” to which the knight was conveyed becomes, in this reading, the “orchard” of wooden crosses that covered the hill of Golgotha/Calvary where Christ – along with many others – was Crucified, while the “hall… hanged with purpill and pall” could be a representation of the tomb in which Christ was placed after Crucifixion. The maiden who is by the knight’s side could be Mary. The colours in the carol are also significant. The purple and gold are signs of wealth, although these were also colours that referred to the Church due to its wealth. The pall (black velvet) probably refers to death.

Panis angelicus, set by Cesar Franck, (Latin for “Bread of Angels” or “Angelic Bread”) is the penultimate strophe of the hymn “Sacris solemniis” written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the feast of Corpus Christi.

Hymns

Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor (BRYN CALFARIA) is a communion hymn by the Rev. George Hugh Bourne (1840-1925). The tune is by the Welsh musician William Owen (1813-1893).

O food to pilgrims given (O WEWLT ICH MUSS DICH LASSEN) is a translation of O esca viatorum, an anonymous Latin hymn first published in 1647. In the first verse, we express the desire to unite with Christ by means of His body, the manna from heaven; in the second, by means of His blood, the fountain of living water that gives us eternal life. In the third verse, we desire the vision of Christ’s face unveiled, whose hidden presence we adore in the eucharistic species.

O saving victim (MARTYR DEI) is a translation of O salutaris hostia by Thomas Aquinas.

Thee Father, we thank thee (RENDEZ A DIEU) is a translation by the Rev. Francis Bland Tucker (1896—1984; UVA 1914) of a portion of the Didache (c. 110 AD) that describes the manner of celebrating the Eucharist: “concerning the broken bread. We thank thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou hast made known unto us through Jesus thy Son; to thee be the glory forever. As this broken bread was once scattered on the mountains, and after it had been brought together became one, so may thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth unto thy kingdom.”

Hymns in procession

Now, my tongue, the mystery telling is a translation of the Pange lingua by Thomas Aquinas.

Holy God we praise Thy name is a translation of a German paraphrase of the Te Deum.

Leave a Comment

Kipling on Toxic Masculinity

June 20, 2019 in Masculinity No Comments

I WENT into a public ‘ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, ” We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ ” Tommy, go away ” ;
But it’s ” Thank you, Mister Atkins,” when the band begins to play
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it’s ” Thank you, Mister Atkins,” when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-‘alls,
But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ ” Tommy, wait outside “;
But it’s ” Special train for Atkins ” when the trooper’s on the tide
The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
O it’s ” Special train for Atkins ” when the trooper’s on the tide.

Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap.
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an` Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul? ”
But it’s ” Thin red line of ‘eroes ” when the drums begin to roll
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s ” Thin red line of ‘eroes, ” when the drums begin to roll.

We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an` Tommy, fall be’ind,”
But it’s ” Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s ” Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind.

You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an` Chuck him out, the brute! ”
But it’s ” Saviour of ‘is country ” when the guns begin to shoot;
An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
An ‘Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool – you bet that Tommy sees!

Leave a Comment

The Missing Men

June 20, 2019 in Men in church No Comments

I am aware of the dangers of confirmation bias, but I have never come across any anecdotes or statistics that purport to show that men, not women, are the predominant members of church congregations.

In John Gunstone’s Lift High the Cross: Anglo-Catholics and the Congress Movement I came across this in the section on the 1930 Congress:

“Rosenthal pointed out that twice as many women went to church as men…. He referred to the practice (in cheches where men and women sat on opposite sides of the central aisle) of men going to the communion rail first, and he quoted what a woman had said about it: ‘No doubt it is on the same principle as that on which men give precedence to women in the world; in church, poor dears, men are the weaker sex.’ There was much truth, he said, in the satirical verse:

In the conflict for Religion,
In the turmoil and the strife,
You will find the Christian soldier
Represented by his wife.”

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music June 16, 2019

June 9, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Holy Trinity, St. Andrei Rublev

Mount Calvary Church

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Trinity Sunday

June 16, 2019

8:00 Said Mass

10:00 Sung Mass

_________________________________________

Anthems

Tomás Luis de Victoria (1540-1611)

O lux beata Trinitas, Et principalis unitas, Iam sol recedat igneus, Infunde lumen cordibus. 2 Te mane laudum carmine, Te deprecemur vespere: Te nostra supplex Gloria Per cuncta laudet sæcula. 3 Deo Patri sit gloria, Ejusque soli Filio, Cum Spiritu Paraclito, Et nunc et in perpetuum.

O Trinity of blessed light, And princely unity, The fiery sun already sets, Shed thy light within our hearts. 2 To thee in the morning with songs of praise, And in the evening we pray, Thy glory suppliant we adore, Throughout all ages for ever. 3 Glory be to God the Father, To his only Son, With the Holy Spirit Now and for ever. Amen.

St. Thomas The Apostle Motet Choir in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL Luciano Laurentiu, conductor & music director

Sung as prelude on the vigil of The Solemnity of The Most Holy Trinity

__________

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 – 1594)

Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas atque indivisa Unitas confitebimur ei quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam suam.

Blessed be the holy Trinity, and undivided Unity: we will give glory to Him, because He hath shown His mercy to us.

At St. Michael and All Angels Church

_________________

Hymns

Come, thou almighty King (MOSCOW) by the prolific composer Anonymous dates from before 1757, when it was published in a leaflet and bound into the 1757 edition of George Whitefield’s Collection of Hymns for Social Worship. The text appears to be patterned after the British national anthem, God Save the King.

At first, this hymn was sung to the same tune as “God Save the King.” On the American side of the Atlantic, we use the same tune for “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”

Supposedly during the American Revolution, while British troops were occupying New York City and appeared to be winning the war, a group of English soldiers went to church one Sunday morning in Long Island. The setting was tense. The occupiers demanded the congregation sing, “God Save The King” in honor of King George III. The organist was forced to begin playing the tune – but instead of singing “God Save the King,” the congregation broke out in “Come, Thou Almighty King. ”

Samuel Metzger has a good arrangement. Here is a lively version, which you probably will never see at Mount Calvary, although it would get the attention of the children. Here are somewhat more subdued Presbyterians. Here is a Baptist megachurch version. Here are the Corban University Chamber Orchestra, Concert Band and Concert Choirin a somewhat Hollywood take on the hymn. Let us give thanks for Mount Calvary.

The tune is MOSCOW by Felice Giardini (1716-1796), who ended his musical career in Moscow, hence the name.

__________

Come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest (SURSUM CORDA) by George Wallace Briggs (1875-1959), celebrates the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. It is unusual in its opening, which begins conventionally enough, inviting Christ to be present, and then skilfully rejects that first line (with ‘Nay’) in favour of a deeper and more significant meaning. Stanzas 1 and 4 allude to the part of the Emmaus story (Luke 24:28-35) in which the two disciples invite Jesus to be their guest, but then Jesus becomes their host. Stanza 2 focuses on our partaking of the sacrament and stanzas 3 and 4 on the oneness we share with all believers in this world and in heaven.

__________

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty (NICAEA) by Reginald Heber (1783-1826), is a paraphrase of Revelation 4:8-11 and John’s vision of the unceasing worship in heaven. Heber avoids excessive subjectivity or cheap emotionalism, 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.

The hymn was a particular favourite of Tennyson’s.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music June 9, 2019

June 3, 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 St. Peter

Anglican Use

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

June 9, 2019

Pentecost

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

Parish Picnic following 10:00 AM Mass

____________________

Common

Healey Willan (1880-1968)

Missa de S. Maria Magdalena

_________________

Anthems

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Mein gläubiges herz

Mein gläubiges Herze,
Frohlocke, sing, scherze,
Dein Jesus ist da!

Weg Jammer, weg Klagen,
Ich will euch nur sagen:
Mein Jesus ist nah.

________

Mack Wilberg (1955-)

O light of life

O Light of Life!
O pure Light Divine!
Thou art in us;
Our ember is Thine.
Kindle our faith,
Give hope when we fear,
Deepen our love–
Thy fire appear!
Light of our souls,
Thou spark at our birth–
Grow bright in us,
Shine in all the earth!

__________________

Hymns

Hail thee, festival day (SALVA FESTA DIES). The refrain comes from the 20^th couplet of Venantius Fortunatus’ (c. 540—c. 600) long Latin poem (110 lines!) celebrating the conversion of the Saxons by Felix, Bishop of Nantes (c. 582): Salve feste dies toto venerabilis aevo. Venantius, who traveled around the Germanic kingdoms of Europe as a wandering minstrel, devoted his life to the cause of Christian literary elegance. As poet to the Merovingian court, he became a friend of the mystic Queen Radegund, and he later became Bishop of Poitiers. The poem was translated by George Gabriel Scott Gillett (1873-1948).

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.”

Come, Holy Ghost is by Rabanus Maurus (c. 780 – 856), a Frankish Benedictine monk and theologian who became archbishop of Mainz in Germany. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis (“On the Natures of Things”) and of treatises on education and grammar and of commentaries on the Bible. He was one of the most prominent teachers and writers of the Carolingian age, and was called “Praeceptor Germaniae,” or “the teacher of Germany.”

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Music June 2, 2019

May 29, 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 St. Peter

Anglican Use

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Easter VII

8:00 A.M. Said Mass

10:00 A.M. Sung Mass

Reception of First Communion by the Children of the parish

Breakfast following 10 A.M. Mass

____________________

Common

Healey Willan (1880-1968)

Missa de S. Maria Magdalena

____________________

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.

__________

William Byrd (1540-1623)

Non vos relinquam orphanos. Alleluia. Vado, et venio ad vos. Alleluia. Et gaudebit, cor vestrum. Alleluia.

I will not leave you comfortless. Alleluia. I go, and I will come to you. Alleluia. And your heart shall rejoice. Alleluia.

__________________

Hymns

Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness (SCHMÜCKE DICH). The original German text, Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, was written by the German politician and poet Johann Franck (1618—1677) in the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War. It expresses an intimate relationship between the individual believer and his Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus, ascended into heaven, is still present as our food in this “wondrous banquet.” He is the fount, from whom our being flows as we receive Him and are filled with Him. He feeds us and transforms us into His likeness so that we become His joy and boast and glory before the heavenly court.

Bread of heaven! on Thee we feed is by Josiah Condor (1789-1855), the son of an engraver and bookseller, and was largely self-educated after leaving school at thirteen. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven . . . Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life. … I am the true vine.”—John vi. 51-4, xv.

At the Lamb’s high feast we sing (SALZBURG) is a translation by Robert Campbell (1814-1868) of the seventh century Latin hymn, Ad regias agni dapes, which was sung by the newly baptized at Easter when they were first admitted to communion. Our victorious King through His death and resurrection has caused the angel of death to pass over us. We are redeemed by His blood, which opens Paradise to us where we will live forever. The LORD brought Israel out of Egypt through the sea into the promised land by the blood of the Lamb. Jesus through His death brings us through the wilderness of this life by feeding us with Himself, the true manna that comes down from heaven.

Leave a Comment

Mount Calvary Ascension Thursday May 30, 2019

May 26, 2019 in hymns, Mount Calvary Church, Music No Comments

Rabbula Gospels, 6th c. Syriac

Mount Calvary Church

Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue

Baltimore, Maryland

A Roman Catholic Parish

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter

Anglican Use

Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor

Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster

Ascension Thursday

May 30, 2019

7 P. M. Sung Mass

____________________________

Common

Missa super osculetur me, Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594)

Tonight’s service features music in the cori spezzati style pioneered in Venice in the late 16th century: two choirs in different locations pass music back and forth, with the resulting stereophonic effects creating all sorts of dramatic possibilities. Orlando di Lasso, one of the last of the line of Franco-Flemish composers that dominated music in the 16th century, traveled extensively to Italy and worked with the Gabrieli family in Venice who were proponents of the cori spezzati style at San Marco. di Lasso eventually settled in Munich and was one of the most prolific and outstanding composers of the late Renaissance, of the same caliber as Palestrina and Victoria, although his music is not as well known. His Missa super osculetur me is what scholars call a “parody mass” — it is based on his earlier polyphonic motet “Osculetur me” on a text from the Song of Solomon. What is most striking about this mass is the inexhaustible creativity with which Lassus treats the parody technique. Not content simply to quote or extrapolate on motifs from his motet, the composer engages the listener in an elaborate guessing game, sometimes presenting fragments complete (though out of order), as we hear in the Gloria and at other times developing material into longer sections of variation, seen in the Kyrie. The Benedictus departs from the original altogether, offering entirely new material to the listener. Textual interest is sustained through the use of long phrases (with their contrapuntal possibilities) and the different characters offered by single and double choirs.

________________________

Anthems

William Walton (1902-1983)

O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands: serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name. For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth from generation to generation. 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.

William Walton’s anthem “Jubilate Deo” written in 1976 is scored for double choir and organ. It is taken from the composer’s Chichester Service where it forms part of the music for morning prayer in the Anglican liturgy. Listen for the contrasts between the boisterous dotted opening section where the two choirs pass the melody back and forth and the quiet, legato middle section. Listen for how natural and supple Walton’s setting of the English text is. The tenors and basses break the quiet spell with the resolute march “into his gates with thanksgiving” followed by another quiet section that includes the a lovely rising arpeggio by a solo soprano singing “his mercy is everlasting.” The piece then concludes with a rousing doxology and amen with full organ

__________

Peter Philips (1560-1628)

Ascendit Deus in jubilatione, et Dominus in voce tubae. Dedit dona hominibus. Alleluia. Dominus in caelo paravit sedem suam. Alleluia.

God is gone up with a merry noise, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet. He gave gifts to men. Alleluia. The Lord hath prepared his seat in heaven. Alleluia.

The communion anthem, Ascendit Deus, was published by the English composer Peter Philips (1560-1628) in a collection entitled Cantiones Sacrae in 1612. As a boy, Philips was a chorister at St Paul’s cathedral in London, studying with the same Catholic choirmaster that had trained William Byrd. Like Byrd a devout Catholic, Philips left England for good in 1582, spending the rest of his life in Antwerp and Brussels. After the death of his wife and child, he was ordained a priest in 1601. A prolific composer, he wrote for the harpsichord, organ, and choir. His motet Ascendit Deus is full of vitality and energy as befits this text from Psalm 47, “God is gone up with a triumphant shout.” Listen for the brass fanfares at “in voce tubae” and the rapid-fire alleluias characteristic of Sweelinck, an organist and composer in Amsterdam. The piece ends in a joyful triple meter on shouts of alleluia.

_______________________

Hymns

Hail the day that sees Him rise (LLANFAIR) by Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was published in 1739 in Hymns and Sacred Poems under the title “Hymn for Ascension-Day.”

The first and second stanzas employ apostrophe, a rhetorical device in which the poet addresses an absent or inanimate object. The first addresses the day of Jesus’ ascension, the second the gates of heaven which accept Christ in glory. The third emphasizes the true humanity of Jesus and his continued investment in the lives of those on earth, in comparison to his heavenly inheritance described in the previous lines. He is the continuous intercessor for mankind, imploring his assistance in the efforts of all to follow him in the ascent to the presence of God, leading finally to the beatific vision and eternal union with God.

See the conqueror mounts in triumph (IN BABILONE) was written Christopher Wordsworth (1807-1885), the nephew of the poet William Wordsworth. Christopher Wordsworth was an athlete, classicist, poet, and Anglican bishop of Lincoln.

The text views the ascending Lord being sung to by angels at heaven’s gates, recalls Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension, and looks forward to our reign with Christ in glory. The text emphasizes not only the event of the Ascension but also its meaning for us: in Christ’s ascension, “we by faith can see” our own. Our shared destiny is to be raised with Jesus: “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.”(2 Cor 4:13-14)

Leave a Comment

«< 6 7 8 9 10 >»