Behold the Glories of the Lamb

A young boy complains to his father that most of the church hymns are boring to him because they are so far behind the times. His father becomes angry and states that "the hymns are good enough for your grandfather and me, and they will serve you just as well." But the teenager says that not only are the tunes boring, but the words are meaningless ... the songs are just too old fashioned. Putting an end to the discussion, his father says to him, "Well, if you think you can write better hymns, then why don't you?" The son says that he will. He goes to his room and writes his first hymn.

The year was 1690, the teenager was Isaac Watts, and the hymn was "Behold the Glories of the Lamb." During the next few years he wrote other songs. "We're marching to Zion", "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", and "Joy to the World" are among the almost 350 hymns he created. The lyrics were his own but sometimes the melodies were similar in origin to Luther's ... seized from the streets or from popular theatre.

Larry Norman
Liner Notes, In Another Land
ht/Becoming

Behold the glories of the Lamb
Amidst His Father’s throne.
Prepare new honors for His Name,
And songs before unknown.

Let elders worship at His feet,
The Church adore around,
With vials full of odors sweet,
And harps of sweeter sound.

Those are the prayers of the saints,
And these the hymns they raise;
Jesus is kind to our complaints,
He loves to hear our praise.

Eternal Father, who shall look
Into Thy secret will?
Who but the Son should take that Book
And open every seal?

He shall fulfill Thy great decrees,
The Son deserves it well;
Lo, in His hand the sovereign keys
Of Heav’n, and death, and hell!

Now to the Lamb that once was slain
Be endless blessings paid;
Salvation, glory, joy remain
Forever on Thy head.

Thou hast redeemed our souls with blood,
Hast set the prisoner free;
Hast made us kings and priests to God,
And we shall reign with Thee.

The worlds of nature and of grace
Are put beneath Thy power;
Then shorten these delaying days,
And bring the promised hour.

Jacob Wrestles with the Angel

Today in his Wednesday catechesis on prayer, Pope Benedict interpreted the story of Jacob's wrestling with an angel. He said, "The Church’s spiritual tradition has seen in this story a symbol of prayer as a faith-filled struggle which takes place at times in darkness, calls for perseverance, and is crowned by interior renewal and God’s blessing. This struggle demands our unremitting effort, yet ends by surrender to God’s mercy and gift."

I'm reminded of Charles Wesley's verse treatment of this same story, which reads the passage in a similar way. Of special interest are first of all the Christological dimension, and secondly, the recurrences of the word "nature." The wrestling is about the surrender of human nature to the divine nature. In Christian life, this dynamic is very interesting, because the human nature is not undone by its surrender. It is wounded by the encounter, but is not annihilated by it. The fear is that God's overwhelming strength will make an end of human nature, rather than saving it. But God loves what He has made. We see God face to face and live!

COME, O thou Traveller unknown,
Whom still I hold, but cannot see!
My company before is gone,
And I am left alone with thee;
With thee all night I mean to stay,
And wrestle till the break of day.

I need not tell thee who I am,
My misery and sin declare;
Thyself hast called me by my name,
Look on thy hands, and read it there;
But who, I ask thee, who art Thou?
Tell me Thy name, and tell me now.

In vain thou strugglest to get free,
I never will unloose my hold!
Art thou the Man that died for me?
The secret of thy love unfold;
Wrestling, I will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

Wilt thou not yet to me reveal
Thy new, unutterable name?
Tell me, I still beseech thee, tell;
To know it now resolved I am;
Wrestling, I will not let thee go,
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

’Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue
Or touch the hollow of my thigh;
Though every sinew be unstrung,
Out of my arms thou shalt not fly;
Wrestling I will not let thee go
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

What though my shrinking flesh complain,
And murmur to contend so long?
I rise superior to my pain,
When I am weak, then I am strong
And when my all of strength shall fail,
I shall with the God-man prevail.

My strength is gone, my nature dies,
I sink beneath Thy weighty hand,
Faint to revive, and fall to rise;
I fall, and yet by faith I stand;
I stand and will not let Thee go
Till I Thy Name, Thy nature know.

Yield to me now, for I am weak,
But confident in self-despair;
Speak to my heart, in blessings speak,
Be conquered by my instant prayer;
Speak, or thou never hence shalt move,
And tell me if thy name is Love.

‘Tis Love! ’tis Love! thou diedst for me!
I hear thy whisper in my heart;
The morning breaks, the shadows flee,
Pure, universal love thou art;
To me, to all, thy bowels move;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

My prayer hath power with God; the grace
Unspeakable I now receive;
Through faith I see thee face to face,
I see thee face to face, and live!
In vain I have not wept and strove;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

I know thee, Saviour, who thou art.
Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend;
Nor wilt thou with the night depart.
But stay and love me to the end,
Thy mercies never shall remove;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

The Sun of righteousness on me
Hath rose with healing in his wings,
Withered my nature’s strength; from thee
My soul its life and succour brings;
My help is all laid up above;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

Contented now upon my thigh
I halt, till life’s short journey end;
All helplessness, all weakness, I
On thee alone for strength depend,
Nor have I power from thee to move;
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

Lame as I am, I take the prey,
Hell, earth, and sin, with ease o’ercome;
I leap for joy, pursue my way,
And as a bounding hart fly home,
Through all eternity to prove
Thy nature and thy name is Love.

Charles Wesley

Aeterne rerum conditor

One of the 4 universally-acknowledged Ambrosian hymns:

Eternal maker of all things
Of day and night the sov'reign King,
Refreshing mortals, You arrange
The rhythm of the seasons' change

The rooster sounds his morning cry
--Throughout the night he watched the sky--
For travelers, a guiding light
To tell the watches of the night.

The morning star that hears the cry
Dispels the darkness from the sky.
The demons, hearing the alarm
Abandon all their paths of harm.

The sailor hears and he is brave;
The sea becomes a gentle wave.
The rooster's call reached Peter's ears:
He washed away his sins in tears.

Our wav'ring hearts, Lord Jesus, see.
O look upon us, make us free,
For in Your gaze no fault can stay,
And sins by tears are washed away.

O Light, upon our senses shine.
Dispel our sleepiness of mind,
That we may sing Your morning praise,
Then, vows fulfilling, live our days.

Translation c. 2010 Kathleen Pluth

The moving hymn

While singing this hymn of thanksgiving after Communion, many at the Holy Father's Mass this morning at Westminster Cathedral were visibly moved. It was sung to the tune St. Catherine, which we often use for Faith of Our Fathers.

"O Bread of Heaven, beneath this veil
Thou dost my very God conceal:
My Jesus, dearest treasure, hail!
I love Thee and, adoring, kneel;
Each loving soul by Thee is fed
With Thine own Self
in form of Bread.

O food of life, Thou Who dost give
The pledge of immortality;
I live, no ‘tis not I that live;
God gives me life, God lives in me:
He feeds my soul, He guides my ways,
And every grief with joy repays.

O Bond of love that dost unite
The servant to his living Lord ;
Could I dare live and not requite
Such love - then death were meet reward:
I cannot live unless to prove
Some love for such unmeasured love.

My dearest God! Who dost so bind
My heart with countless claims to Thee!
O Sweetest love, my soul shall find
In Thy dear bonds true liberty.
Thyself Thou hast bestowed on me;
Thine, Thine for ever I will be.

O Mighty Fire, Thou that dost burn
To kindle every mind and heart!
For Thee my frozen soul doth yearn;
Come, Lord of love, Thy warmth impart;
If thus to speak too bold appear,‘
Tis love like Thine has banished fear.

O Sweetest dart of love Divine!
If I have sinned, then vengeance take;
Come pierce this guilty heart of mine,
And let it die for His dear sake
Who once expired on Calvary,
His heart pierced through for love of me.

Beloved Lord, in Heaven above
There, Jesus, Thou awaitest me,
To gaze on Thee with endless love;
Yes, thus I hope, thus shall it be:
For how can He deny me Heaven,
Who here on earth Himself hath given?"

At their best, hymns can pack a ton of theological information, and religious emotion, into a small space. Here's a familiar Easter hymn by Charles Wesley.

1. Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!

Sons of men and angels say: Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply: Alleluia!

2. Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; Alleluia!
Christ has burst the gates of hell: Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise; Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise! Alleluia!

3. Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Alleluia!Once He died, our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

4. Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

5. Hail, the Lord of earth and heaven! Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given; Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now; Alleluia!
Hail, the Resurrection, thou! Alleluia!

Aside from the excellence of the entire hymn, which takes us proleptically from the Resurrection of Christ to our own resurrection (in keeping with the remarkable Pauline logic of I Corinthians 15), there is a single line of such exquisite theological intensity that I've tried to "steal" it in several different ways already in my own writing.

"Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; Alleluia!"

Frankly the rest of verse 2 is somewhat pro forma, because after this line, what else is there to say? The tomb is empty! Death has been defeated, the powers of earth have been defeated. Their efforts are vain--kenotic--empty, and against God.

The images are directly Scriptural and used as Scripture uses them. And yet they come through the hymn in a fresh way. First, they demand a small amount of work, like a puzzle: in context and as a group they can only mean the three things they mean, but first one must think. Which stone? Watch (a multivalent English word)? Seal (the same)? The hymn points us back to Scripture to rediscover a story with concrete details, including the unusual situation of soldiers guarding a dead man. Secondly, they are very short words, one of the keys to Wesley's perennial appeal. Here his short words are nouns (and an adjective) but just as often they are verbs: "FIX in us thy humble dwelling/ all thy faithful mercies CROWN" (from another excellent Wesley hymn, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling).

Thirdly, these short words have big, open sounds. Vain is an emphatic word, a word that excludes, but its long vowel would seem to suggest the opposite. (Notice that the sound of the old word "fain" captures a sense of longing.) "Stone," one of Thomas Merton's favorite words, implies weight and solidity, with its long O. "Watch" is exceptional here. The vowel is short, the consonants much more expressive. "Seal" has a very long vowel, a diphthong anchored in its long e.

Verse 3 will taunt death, death in se, in the Pauline way. But here at the beginning of verse 2 we are still in the mode of wonder at the fact of Jesus' resurrection, as much declaring the resurrection as reflecting upon it. And yet there is some taunt in this line: it is both "joy" and "triumph."

As with all great hymns a congregation becomes like little children saying "Can you believe it? Look at the great things God has done!"

With all the powers my poor Heart hath

The Adoremus Hymnal contains an abbreviated version of Richard Crashaw's unusually free, unusually brilliant translation of St. Thomas Aquinas' hymn to the Eucharist, Adoro Te Devote.


With all the powers my poor Heart hath
Of humble love and loyal Faith,
Thus low (my hidden life!) I bow to Thee
Whom too much love hath bowed more low for me.
Down down, proud sense! Discourses die!
Keep close, my soul’s inquiring eye!
Nor touch nor taste must look for more
But each sit still in his own Door.

Your ports are all superfluous here,
Save that which lets in faith, the ear.
Faith is my skill. Faith can believe
As fast as love new laws can give.
Faith is my force. Faith strength affords
To keep pace with those powerful words.
And words more sure, more sweet, than they,
Love could not think, truth could not say.

O let Thy wretch find that relief
Thou didst afford the faithful thief.
Plead for me, love! Allege and show
That faith has farther, here, to go,
And less to lean on. Because then
Though hid as GOD, wounds writ Thee man.
Thomas might touch; none but might see
At least the suffering side of Thee;
And that too was Thy self which Thee did cover,
But here even that’s hid too which hides the other.

Sweet, consider then, that I
Though allowed nor hand nor eye
To reach at Thy loved face; nor can
Taste Thee GOD, or touch Thee MAN,
Both yet believe; and witness Thee
My LORD too and my GOD, as loud as He.
Help, Lord, my faith, my hope increase;
And fill my portion in Thy peace.
Give love for life; nor let my days
Grow, but in new powers to Thy name and praise.

O dear memorial of that death
Which lives still, and allows us breath!
Rich, royal food! Bountiful BREAD!
Whose use denies us to the dead;
Whose vital gust [taste] alone can give
The same leave both to eat and live;
Live ever Bread of loves, and be
My life, my soul, my surer self to me.

O soft self-wounding Pelican!
Whose breast weeps Balm for wounded man.
Ah this way bend Thy benign flood
To a bleeding Heart that gasps for blood:
That blood, whose least drops sovereign be
To wash my worlds of sins from me.

Come love! Come LORD! and that long day
For which I languish, come away;
When this dry soul those eyes shall see,
And drink the unsealed source of Thee,
When glory’s sun faith’s shades shall chase,
And for Thy veil give me Thy FACE. Amen.

Found among the excellent hymns here.

And as they tune it, fall

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre, and as they tune it, fall
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, who fixed this floating ball;
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line, whom David Lord did call,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let every tribe and every tongue before Him prostrate fall
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.

O that, with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!

Abedecerian (Latin for Alphabetical)

Whilst perusing the Christmas section of the Liber Hymnarius, with a view towards translating its ancient hymns, I discovered the beautiful A solis ortus cardine. It is an acrostic hymn, so that each verse begins with a successive letter of the alphabet: a, b, c.

Now this may seem like a frivolous organizing principle for a venerable hymn, but the practice has roots in an even more venerable hymn form: the Psalm. Psalms 119 and 145, for example, are acrostic Psalms.

Turns out that the hymn, which ends at I for Iesu, is actually only the first part of the hymn that continues on H for Herod, and is the Epiphany hymn Hostis Herdodes Impie.

Songs of Thankfulness and Praise--or--An Epiphany Hymn that Isn't We Three Kings

Merry Christmas!

I've been getting some traffic related to an archived post on the hymn Songs of Thankfulness and Praise.

Just thought I'd mentioned that I've programmed this hymn for the next two weeks: both Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord. The first time we will sing it as a choir-led meditation; the second week as the Offertory hymn, which is generally sung by the whole congregation. Since we don't have pre-Mass singing rehearsals at my parish, I've found that to be a helpful way to introduce a hymn.

The tune Salzburg is also the tune used in Worship III for At the Lamb's High Feast, so it is familiar, but we haven't sung it since last Eastertide. So a refresher will likely be helpful.

Lo, He Comes

Hail, Holy Queen

The first trick to appreciating this wonderful hymn is forgetting entirely about the movie Sister Act.

Second, notice the compositional maneuver of setting a low-pitched, limited-range verse followed by a soaring refrain. In some cases I have spoken of this pattern as emotionally manipulative, for example, in On Eagles' Wings. Here, though, the intention is far different. The soaring is not ours! It is Mary's, and the angels sing her praises. We soar to join them.

And that leads me to a final comment (leaving aside such sublime theology and singably enjoyable poetry as "the spring through which all graces flow"): this is one of those hymns which makes the common praise of heaven and earth explicit. Since the prayer of Solomon in the temple, since the dream of Jacob and the passing of Enoch, we've known that the firmament of heaven can be permeated by praise. But rarely enough--outside of the Christmas season--sing explicitly of the very true mystery of the cosmic liturgy.

Angels, all your praises bring.
Earth and heaven with us sing.
All creation echoing: Salve, salve, salve Regina!

Continuity

At the National Shrine last Wednesday (was it only 5 days ago?) the Holy Father and all the American bishops sang the Vespers hymn, At the Lamb's High Feast. This is an admirable choice for several reasons, all important. Only a few relatively inconsequential points argue against it.

For:

• It is a translation of Ad regias agni dupes, an Ambrosian Hymn--that is to say it was either written by St. Ambrose himself, or else good enough and venerable enough to be ascribed to him


• For centuries it has been the traditional Vespers hymn for the Easter season before Ascension, that is to say, now


• Considering the congregation it was exceedingly fitting that the hymn would include the lines "Praise we Him whose love divine/ gives His sacred Blood for wine/ gives His Body for the feast/ Christ the Victim; Christ the Priest." Priests are all called to be good shepherds, laying down their lives for their people. So it is fitting that the bishops (who have the fullness of the priestly sacrament of ordination) would recall the tie between the Eucharist and the offering of their lives.


• The hymn is an excellent translation of an ancient text. Providing excellent translations of ancient texts, I believe, is one of several steps which the bishops might well choose to take in their efforts to provide better liturgical music for their people. So it was fitting that they should enjoy singing together this particularly excellent example.


• The translator, Robert Campbell, was a convert to Roman Catholicism from the Episcopal Church of Scotland.


• The hymn itself, just as it comes to us in English from the page, is rich with sacramental and biblical imagery that is at the same time clearly expressed and intensely poetic. It's simply a worthwhile hymn, one of the very best. Having translated a few hymns into English, I admit that sometimes all that I want is to make a translation. Campbell did not stop there; he made a hymn!
  

Against:

• In the current confusion over Eucharistic theology, it generally seems best to me to avoid any hymn that refers to the Eucharist as "bread" and "wine," because these words can give the impression that the real change of consecration has not occurred. It should be a simple rule to follow: Do not use hymns in the Liturgy that weaken faith! In this case the effect of using these words is mitigated by the obvious sense that these gifts derive from the Crucified, and from "above." It's not just bread, it's "Paschal bread," in parallelism with the "Paschal victim." I've used this hymn in my parish, at Communion, several times during this Easter season. I think its goodness outweighs this misgiving. And yet the misgiving remains...


• The tune was written by one Lutheran, arranged by another. Of course, the arranger was Bach, and it is a wonderful composition. I've ordinarily been singing the alto line for this hymn this Easter, and it's a melody in itself. (That is not something that can usually be said about an alto line!)

Both for and against:

• This text was among those altered by the Urbanite reforms of 1632. In fact this text was in fact so changed that even its title, formerly Ad cenam Agni providi, was lost. We live in interesting times, liturgically, in which the Holy Father has taken authoritative steps towards the restoration of the sacred in the liturgy. One of his most important moves, the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, authorized wider use of the Mass of 1962, even without the permission of the local bishop. The motu proprio is opposed by many bishops in the US and elsewhere. So the question arises: given the existence of this tension and the generally paracletic tone of the Apostolic Journey, is it a good idea to use a hymn that reminds bishops of a papal decision (the Urbanite reforms of the hymnary) that seems to many modern scholars to have been ill-advised and capricious? Or is this consideration too trivial--and far too obscure--to enter into the conversation?

In my opinion the bulk of the argument falls in favor of the use of the hymn, because of its excellence in English, its ancient origins, and probably most importantly its use in the immediate centuries of the past as the Vespers hymn for Easter. Singing it is an exercise of--an act of faith in--the diachronic unity of the Church. The Church is one, throughout time, and the bishops of the Churches of the US sang with one voice, with the Pope, a song that has resounded (in some form) through most of the Church's centuries.

A great hymn selection.

Our Lady of Lourdes

It didn't necessarily start out as a good day. One of our priests, who is very devoted to Our Lady of Lourdes, asked me to provide music at the morning Mass, and I had every intention of doing so--but the Capital Beltway had every intention of keeping me away. So did Route 1. Thankfully, our Organist put the numbers on the hymn boards and got everything ready and underway when I arrived just in time to sing the Gospel Acclamation.

After this inauspicious beginning, however, the day just got better and better. The Mass itself was wonderful (the part I was there for, that is). The homily included personal reflections and even more importantly a thorough discussion of St. Bernadette's apparitions and her trials. We sang the Agnus Dei a cappella, and the peoples' voices were so very encouraging. We sang one of my favorite hymns at Communion, Virgin-Born, We Bow Before You (by Reginald Heber, who also gave us Holy, Holy, Holy), and then, in thanksgiving, I chanted the Magnificat. Lastly we sang the very fun Hail, Holy Queen, which is one of those great hymns that comes right out and says that human beings and angels sing together.

Twice later in the day I had a chance to sing Marian hymns, at an evening Mass at one of the shrines designated as a pilgrimage site for the special feast day, and at lunch time. The lunch story is too long to relate here, but let me just say that singing the Salve Regina with such a dedicated group of people, after feast-day pizza and wings, was a highlight of my professional life thus far.

Here's Virgin-Born, We Bow Before You, a text by the Anglican Bishop Heber sung to a tune borrowed from the Genevan Psalter. How very ecumenical, in peace, for Our Lady of Lourdes.

Virgin-born, we bow before you:

blesséd was the womb that bore you;

Mary, Mother meek and mild,

blesséd was she in her Child.

Blesséd was the breast that fed you;

blesséd was the hand that led you;

blesséd was the parent's eye

that watched thy slumbering infancy.

Blesséd she by all creation,

who brought forth the world's salvation, and

blesséd they, for ever blessed, who

love you most and serve you best.

Virgin-born, we bow before you;

blesséd was the womb that bore you;

Mary, Mother meek and mild,

blessed was she in her Child.

Words: Reginald Heber (18thC)

Music: Psalm 86, Claude Goudimel (16thC): (Click Karaoke)

"Prevenient Grace"

Today we sang a hymn that I'd never heard before, "I Sought the Lord." It's a stunningly clear theological lyric, completely true, and yet remarkably tender. It's one of those hymns that you can imagine being sung by St. John, the Beloved Disciple, as he reclined upon the Master on the night He was betrayed.

The theology expressed here is a long-acknowledged truth of the Christian faith: God is the initiator of salvation. He made us, first of all, but He also seeks us out. The spiritual life contains a number of puzzling optical illusions. One of the most painful spiritual experiences is due to the illusion that the more virtuous we become, the more attuned our consciences are to our faults; and thus we often seem to be going in reverse.

At times like that it is helpful to remember that we aren't all that responsible for our own spiritual lives. Of course there is striving--there is a battle to be won--but the fact is that our very efforts are gifts from God. Grace goes deeper and deeper; we can never fathom the gift. Even our first turnings towards God, when we thought we were trying to win Him, He was seeking us out like lost sheep or lost coins, or like His own dear children.

God gives us grace to prepare us for conversion. This grace comes before we make any first move, it is pre (before) + venient (coming), that is, prevenient grace.

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me;
it was not I that found, O Savior true;
no, I was found of thee.

Thou didst reach forth thy hand and mine enfold;
I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea;
'twas not so much that I on thee took hold,
as thou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but oh, the whole
of love is but my answer, Lord, to thee;
for thou wert long beforehand with my soul,
always thou lovedst me.

The Threefold Manifestation

Traditionally the Epiphany and Baptism of the Lord have been linked with His first miracle: the changing of water into wine for the Wedding Feast at Cana.

The primary link is the idea of "manifestation." But I also think of these all as feasts of special gladness.

Maybe that's the same thing!

Manifest at Jordan's stream,
Prophet, Priest and King supreme;
and at Cana, wedding guest,
in thy Godhead manifest;
manifest in power divine,
changing water into wine;
anthems be to thee addressed,
God in man made manifest.

more

Come Down, O Love Divine

Today, while the worst of the wildfires raged, we happened to sing, Come Down, O Love Divine at Mass. In a song about the Holy Spirit, one expects some fire imagery, but still it was somewhat disconcerting to sing

O let it freely burn till earthly passions turn to dust and ashes in its heat consuming.
And let thy glorious light shine ever on my sight and clothe me 'round the while my path illuming.

In this world, unchecked fire destroys. But like the fire that greeted Moses in the burning bush, this Fire, the divine flame, burns without destruction. Nothing that IS is destroyed by these flames. Only what is not. Only that which, by its soggy presence in the soul, dampens the fires of joy and love. The Holy Spirit has no patience with our sinfulness, thank God. The Holy Spirit wants the dreariness and weight of damp sin to be overcome by laughing, burning love. The Holy Spirit wants to be in our souls, for their purification and joy.

St. Paul

Sorry to be so silent. I've been absorbed in projects, at work and at home. On top of all these projects is one that consumes a lot of my imagination: an oratorio in honor of St. Paul. I'm writing a libretto, which is off to a very good start, in hopes that I can find a composer and possibly some funding.

In order to write my texts it has been necessary to think of words that rhyme with "Paul." I had been working on this myself, forgetting that the task has already been accomplished by Edward Perronet, in his remarkable hymn All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name. Enjoy!

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre, and as they tune it, fall
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.
efore His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, who fixed this floating ball;
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line, whom David Lord did call,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let every tribe and every tongue before Him prostrate fall
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.

Praise to the Holiest in the Height

When a theologian is moved to write a hymn, something special happens. A hymn is an exercise in tender devotion, while a theologian, who has training in languages and discourse, is dedicated to religious truth. Bring them together and, if you're lucky, you might just come up with something this suitable:

Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise;
In all His words most wonderful,
Most sure in all His ways.

O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.

O wisest love! that flesh and blood,
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail.

And that a higher gift than grace
Should flesh and blood refine,
God’s Presence and His very Self,
And Essence all divine.

O generous love! that He, who smote,
In Man for man the foe,
The double agony in Man
For man should undergo.

And in the garden secretly,
And on the Cross on high,
Should teach His brethren, and inspire
To suffer and to die.

Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise;
In all His words most wonderful,
Most sure in all His ways.

John Henry Cardinal Newman

O Christ, the Great Foundation

Today I enjoyed singing two great hymns, Crown Him with Many Crowns, and this one, sung to the tune of The Church's One Foundation.

Any good hymns at your parish today?

1. O Christ, the great foundation
On which your people stand
To preach Your true salvation
In every age and land:
Pour out Your Holy Spirit
To make us strong and pure,
To keep the faith unbroken
As long as worlds endure.

2. Baptized in one confession,
One church in all the earth,
We bear our Lord's impression,
The sign of second birth:
One holy people gathered
In love beyond our own,
By grace we were invited,
By grace we make You known.

3. Where tyrants' hold is tightened,
Where strong devour the weak,
Where innocents are frightened,
The righteous fear to speak,
There let Your church awaking
Attack the powers of sin
And, all their ramparts breaking,
With You the victory win.

4. This is the moment glorious
When He who once was dead
Shall lead His church victorious,
Their champion and their head.
The Lord of all creation
His heavenly kingdon brings,
The final consummation,
The glory of all things.

Timothy T'infang Lew

Trans. Mildred A. Wiant

From Glory To Glory, By God Who Is The Spirit

Once again I have 2nd Corinthians on my mind. Charles Wesley wonderfully fitted one of its most beautiful images (3:18) into verse 4. He's simply inimitable, that man.

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.