{"id":5880,"date":"2017-08-03T01:04:44","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T07:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/?p=5880"},"modified":"2017-08-01T10:51:59","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T16:51:59","slug":"mount-calvary-music-august-6-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/mount-calvary-music-august-6-2017-5880.htm","title":{"rendered":"Mount Calvary Music: August 6, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Moun<\/strong>t Calvary Church<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Baltimore<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Roman Catholic Church of<\/p>\n

The Personal\u00a0Ordinariate\u00a0of the Chair of St. Peter<\/p>\n

The Feast of the\u00a0<\/strong>Transfiguration<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

August 6, 2017<\/p>\n

Hymns<\/strong><\/p>\n

‘Tis good, Lord, to be here<\/em><\/p>\n

Be Thou my vision<\/em><\/p>\n

Immortal, invisible, God only wise<\/em><\/p>\n

Common<\/strong><\/p>\n

Missa de Angelis<\/em><\/p>\n

_____________________<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2018Tis good Lord to be here<\/em><\/strong> was written by Joseph Armitage Robinson (1858-1933), D.D., Dean of Westminster. Jesus, with Peter, James and John, had to come down from the mountain.\u00a0 The next story in Matthew 17 is of Jesus meeting the crowd and healing an epileptic boy; He predicts His death.\u00a0 In the Liturgy, we catch of glimpse of the Uncreated Light that shone through the humanity of Jesus. It is given to strengthen us in the realities and difficulties of everyday life, where God is to be found.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2019Tis good, Lord, to be here\u2019, but, Lord, when we go, \u2018Come with us to the plain\u2019, be with us in the day to day realities of our life, in our relationships with others, in our family or health problems, in all the joys and sadnesses of everyday life.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tis good, Lord, to be here,
\nthy glory fills the night;
\nthy face and garments, like the sun,
\nshine with unborrowed light.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tis good, Lord, to be here,
\nthy beauty to behold,
\nwhere Moses and Elijah stand,
\nthy messengers of old.<\/p>\n

Fulfiller of the past,
\npromise of things to be,
\nwe hail thy body glorified,
\nand our redemption see.<\/p>\n

Before we taste of death,
\nwe see thy kingdom come;
\nwe fain would hold the vision bright,
\nand make this hill our home.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tis good, Lord, to be here,
\nyet we may not remain;
\nbut since thou bidst us leave the mount,
\ncome with us to the plain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Joseph<\/a><\/p>\n

Joseph Armitage Robinson<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Joseph Armitage Robinson (1858-1933), \u00a0D.D., Dean of Westminster and of Wells, of Christ College, Camb. (B.A. 1881, M.A. 1884, D.D. 1896), sometime Fellow of his College, Norrisian Professor of Div., Camb., Rector of St. Margaret\u2019s., Westminster, and Canon of Westminster. As Dean of Wells Robinson enjoyed close links with Downside Abbey.\u00a0He also critically explored the origins of the Glastonbury legends. Robinson was a participant in the bilateral Anglican-Roman Catholic Maline Conversations.\u00a0 His hymn, \u201c\u2018Tis good, Lord, to be here\u201d was written c. 1890. It was included in the 1904 edition of\u00a0Hymns Ancient & Modern<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The tune SWABIA was composed by Johann M. Spiess (? \u2013 1772).\u00a0Spiess taught music at the Gymnasium in Heidelberg, Germany, and played the organ at St. Peter\u2019s Church and (1746-72) at Berne Cathedral.<\/p>\n

_____________________________<\/p>\n

Be thou my vision. <\/em><\/strong>The Irish monk Eohaid Forgaill (530-598) was a Latin scholar and \u201cKing of the Poets.\u201d He was said to have spent so much time studying that he went blind, and was give the name Dall\u00e1n, \u201cLittle Blind One.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 He wrote the poem, \u201cRop t\u00fa mo Baile\u201d (Be Thou my Vision<\/em><\/strong>) asking God to be his vision. But \u201cvision\u201d here means more than physical sight. The original Irish word \u201cbaile\u201d mean \u201cvision\u201d or \u201crapture,\u201d in the sense used by the Old Testament prophets. The language of this hymn is drawn from traditional Irish culture: it uses heroic imagery to describe God. This was characteristic of medieval Irish poetry, which cast God as the \u2018chieftain\u2019 or \u2018High King\u2019 (Ard Ri) who provided protection to his people or clan.<\/p>\n

\"Be<\/a>14th C. Manuscript MG 3, National Library of Ireland<\/em><\/p>\n

containing \u201cRob tu mo bhoile\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Irish monk Eohaid Forgaill (530-598) was a Latin scholar and \u201cKing of the Poets.\u201d He was said to have spent so much time studying that he went blind, and was give the name Dall\u00e1n, \u201cLittle Blind One.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 He wrote the poem, \u201cRop t\u00fa mo Baile\u201d (\u201cBe Thou my Vision\u201d) asking God to be his vision But \u201cvision\u201d here means more than physical sight. The original Irish word \u201cbaile\u201d mean \u201cvision\u201d or \u201crapture,\u201d\u00a0in the sense used by the Old Testament prophets.<\/p>\n

This was translated into literal prose by Irish scholar Mary Byrne (1880-1931), a Dublin native, and then published in\u00a0Eri\u00fa<\/em>, the journal of the School of Irish Learning, in 1905. Eleanor Hull (1860-1935b), born in Manchester, was the founder of the Irish Text Society and president of the Irish Literary Society of London. Hull versified the text and it was published in her\u00a0Poem Book of the Gael\u00a0<\/em>(1912).<\/p>\n

Irish liturgy and ritual scholar Helen Phelan, a lecturer at the University of Limerick, points out how the language of this hymn is drawn from traditional Irish culture: \u201cOne of the essential characteristics of the text is the use of \u2018heroic\u2019 imagery to describe God. This was very typical of medieval Irish poetry, which cast God as the \u2018chieftain\u2019 or \u2018High King\u2019 (Ard Ri<\/em>) who provided protection to his people or clan. The lorica (Latin: breastplate) is one of the most popular forms of this kind of protection prayer and is very prevalent in texts of this period.\u201d St. Patrick\u2019s Breastplate (1940\u00a0The Hymnal<\/em>, #268) is in this genre.<\/p>\n

Hull\u2019s verse version was paired with the Irish tune SLANE in\u00a0The Irish Church Hymnal<\/em>\u00a0in 1919. The folk melody was taken from a non-liturgical source, Patrick Weston Joyce\u2019s\u00a0Old Irish Folk Music and Songs: A Collection of 842 Airs and Songs hitherto unpublished<\/em>\u00a0(1909).<\/p>\n

\u201cMost \u2018traditional\u2019 Irish religious songs are non-liturgical,\u201d says Dr. Phelan. \u201cThere is a longstanding practice of \u2018editorial weddings\u2019 in Irish liturgical music, where traditional tunes were wedded to more liturgically appropriate texts. This is a very good example of this practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in 433 AD, on the eve of Bealtine, a Druidic Holiday that lines up directly with Easter as well as the spring equinox, it was declared by the King, Leoghaire (Leary) Mac Neill, that no fires were to be lit until the fire atop of Tara Hill was lit. Going against the kings wishes, St. Patrick went out to Slane Hill and lit a candle to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The king was so impressed by the courage that St. Patrick had shown, Leoghaire let him continue his missionary work throughout Ireland. The tune was given the name SLANE to commemorate this event.<\/p>\n

English translation by Mary Byrne, 1905:<\/p>\n

Be thou my vision O Lord of my heart
\nNone other is aught but the King of the seven heavens.<\/p>\n

Be thou my meditation by day and night.
\nMay it be thou that I behold even in my sleep.<\/p>\n

Be thou my speech, be thou my understanding.
\nBe thou with me, be I with thee<\/p>\n

Be thou my father, be I thy son.
\nMayst thou be mine, may I be thine.<\/p>\n

Be thou my battle-shield, be thou my sword.
\nBe thou my dignity, be thou my delight.<\/p>\n

Be thou my shelter, be thou my stronghold.
\nMayst thou raise me up to the company of the angels.<\/p>\n

Be thou every good to my body and soul.
\nBe thou my kingdom in heaven and on earth.<\/p>\n

Be thou solely chief love of my heart.
\nLet there be none other, O high King of Heaven.<\/p>\n

Till I am able to pass into thy hands,
\nMy treasure, my beloved through the greatness of thy love<\/p>\n

Be thou alone my noble and wondrous estate.
\nI seek not men nor lifeless wealth.<\/p>\n

Be thou the constant guardian of every possession and every life.
\nFor our corrupt desires are dead at the mere sight of thee.<\/p>\n

Thy love in my soul and in my heart \u2014
\nGrant this to me, O King of the seven heavens.<\/p>\n

O King of the seven heavens grant me this \u2014
\nThy love to be in my heart and in my soul.<\/p>\n

With the King of all, with him after victory won by piety,
\nMay I be in the kingdom of heaven O brightness of the son.<\/p>\n

Beloved Father, hear, hear my lamentations.
\nTimely is the cry of woe of this miserable wretch.<\/p>\n

O heart of my heart, whatever befall me,
\nO ruler of all, be thou my vision.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is the hymnal version. Verse three is usually omitted.<\/p>\n

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
\nNaught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
\nThou my best Thought, by day or by night,
\nWaking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.<\/p>\n

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
\nI ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
\nThou my great Father, I Thy true son;
\nThou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.<\/p>\n

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
\nBe Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
\nThou my soul\u2019s Shelter, Thou my high Tow\u2019r:
\nRaise Thou me heav\u2019nward, O Pow\u2019r of my pow\u2019r.<\/p>\n

Riches I heed not, nor man\u2019s empty praise,
\nThou mine Inheritance, now and always:
\nThou and Thou only, first in my heart,
\nHigh King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.<\/p>\n

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
\nMay I reach Heaven\u2019s joys, O bright Heav\u2019n\u2019s Sun!
\nHeart of my own heart, whate\u2019er befall,
\nStill be my Vision, O Ruler of all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although there are hundreds of versions of Be Thou my vision on the Internet, all the vocals ones are not very satisfactory.<\/p>\n

Here is the\u00a0Mormon Tabernacle Choir<\/a>. Here is\u00a0King\u2019s College, Cambridge.<\/a>Here it is arranged as an\u00a0art song<\/a>. Here sung in Modern Irish.<\/p>\n

Here is a charming version for\u00a0violin and harp<\/a>. A good arrangement for\u00a0cello and piano<\/a>. Of course for\u00a0Celtic instruments<\/a>. For\u00a0string quartet<\/a>. For\u00a0brass quintet<\/a>! For\u00a0marching band<\/a>!!<\/p>\n

_____________________________<\/p>\n

Immortal, Invisible, God only wise<\/em><\/strong>, by William Chalmers Smith (1824\u20141908), is a proclamation of the transcendence of God: \u201cTo the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever\u201d (1 Tim 17). No man has ever seen God, who dwells in inaccessible light that is darkness to mortal eyes. God lacks nothing (\u201cnor wanting\u201d) and never changes (\u201cnor wasting\u201d), and is undying, unlike mortals, who in a striking image \u201cblossom and flourish like leaves on the tree, then wither and perish.\u201d The original ending of the hymn completes the thought: \u201cAnd so let Thy glory, almighty, impart, \/ Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.\u201d \u201cNo one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known\u201d (John 1:18). Only in Jesus through the proclamation of the Gospel can we know the Father.<\/p>\n

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
\nin light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
\nmost blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
\nalmighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.<\/p>\n

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
\nnor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might:
\nthy justice, like mountains high soaring above,
\nthy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.<\/p>\n

To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
\nin all life thou livest, the true life of all;
\nwe blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree,
\nthen wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.<\/p>\n

Thou reignest in glory, thou dwellest in light,
\nthine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
\nall praise we would render; O help us to see
\n\u2019tis only the splendor of light hideth thee!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The final stanzas have been somewhat altered from the original:<\/p>\n

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
\nThine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
\nOf all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
\nTake the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.<\/p>\n

All laud we would render; O help us to see
\n\u2019Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
\nAnd so let Thy glory, almighty, impart,
\nThrough Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is Christ Church Cathedral i<\/a>n Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

\"William<\/a><\/p>\n

Walter Chalmers Smith<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Walter Chalmers Smith D. D. (1824-1908) \u00a0was educated at the Grammar School and University of that City. He pursued his Theological studies at Edinburgh, and was ordained Pastor of the Scottish Church in Chadwell Street, Islington, London, in 1850. After holding several pastorates he became, in 1876, Minister of the Free High Church, Edinburgh.\u00a0The Free Church of Scotland elected him its moderator during its Jubilee year in 1893.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom 1860 to 1893 Dr. Smith published the following volumes of verse: \u201cThe Bishop\u2019s Walk\u201d (1860); \u201cHymns of Christ and the Christian Life\u201d (1867); \u201cOlrig Grange\u201d (1872); \u201cBorland Hall\u201d (1874); \u201cHilda; among the Broken Gods\u201d (1878); \u201cRaban; or, Life Splinters\u201d (1880); \u201cNorth Country Folk\u201d (1883); \u201cKildrostan\u201d (1884); \u201cThoughts and Fancies for Sunday Evenings\u201d (1887); \u201cA Heretic and other Poems\u201d (1891); \u201cSelections from the Poems of Walter C. Smith\u201d (1893).<\/p>\n

Although Dr. Smith\u2019s work has a claim to a place among that of the general poets, there is a certain fitness in his being placed among the sacred poets, since the strongest force in his poetry is the religious one, so that, even in what may be called his secular poetry, the most vital parts grow out of his theologic thought or religious feeling. In this respect he is like the other poet of Aberdeenshire, George MacDonald, who says himself, that he would not care either to write poetry or tell stories if he could not preach in them\u2014but then there is preaching and preaching; and if all preaching were of the living sort we get from these two Aberdonians, the name would carry a higher meaning than it usually does.\u201d (William Horder)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Williams,<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

John Roberts<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0Can Mlynned i \u2018nawr\u2019<\/em>\u00a0(\u201cA Hundred Years from Now\u201d). This version appeared in his\u00a0Canaidau y Cyssegr<\/em>\u00a0(Songs of Worship<\/em>) of 1839.\u00a0 The melody was first harmonized to, adapted for, and used with Smith\u2019s words in\u00a0The English Hymnal<\/em>\u00a0of 1905-1906, edited by Gustav Theodore Holst (1874-1934).\u00a0Roberts was a leader in the revival of Welsh choral song.<\/p>\n

This hymn was sung in\u00a0Westminster Abbey, London, England, at the 2002 funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. It is Prince Charles\u2019s favorite hymn and was sung at\u00a0his wedding to Camilla<\/a>. \u00a0Here it is sung at a memorial service for the victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon in Washington from\u00a0St Paul\u2019s Cathedral, 14th September 2001<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As Librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Christopher de Hamel has charge of\u00a0The Gospels of St. Augustine<\/em>, the very manuscript that Pope Gregory the Great (540\u2014604) gave to St. Augustine of Canterbury (543\u2014604) to take to England. De Hamel carried it in the procession of the enthronement of Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2003.<\/p>\n

\"Rowan<\/a><\/p>\n

Rowan Williams venerating\u00a0the\u00a0Gospel Book of St. Augustine<\/em><\/p>\n

In his book,\u00a0Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts<\/em>, de Hamel recounts:<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to enter the cathedral that day through the west door, joining the procession just as they began singing the first hymn, \u2018immortal, invisible, God only wise,\u2019 a Welsh tune in homage to the nationality of the new primate. I was holding the Gospels of St. Augustine open of a cushion. It was secured by two ribbons of transparent conservation tape. Upwards of 2,500 people singing a familiar hymn very loudly in an enclosed stone building makes the air vibrate. This is the nature of sound waves. The parchment leaves of the manuscript, as we saw earlier, are extremely fine and of tissue thinness, and they picked up the vibrations and they hummed and fluttered in time to the music. At that moment it was as if the sixth-century manuscript on its cushion had come to life and was taking part in the service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mount Calvary Church Baltimore A Roman Catholic Church of The Personal\u00a0Ordinariate\u00a0of the Chair of St. Peter The Feast of the\u00a0Transfiguration August 6, 2017 Hymns ‘Tis good, Lord, to be here Be Thou my vision Immortal, invisible, God only wise Common Missa de Angelis _____________________ \u00a0\u2018Tis good Lord to be here was written by Joseph Armitage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1229,1375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hymns","category-mount-calvary","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5880"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5920,"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5880\/revisions\/5920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podles.org\/dialogue\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}