The Advent 3 Alleluia: Excita, Domine

This rather famous text comes from Psalm (79/80), Qui Regis Israel:

 Stir up your might, O Lord, and come to save us.

 

 

It's "Gaudete" - "Rejoice!" - Sunday, so named for the first word of today's Introit, Gaudete in Domino.  The text for the Introit comes from the famous Philippians passage:

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.   Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

"Gaudete Sunday" is meant to be a day of lighter mood - "moderation" - when the "Last Things" theme of Advent gives way a bit to this calm assurance of the nearness of the Lord's presence.  The liturgical color changes from purple to pink (if a church has a pink set of vestments).

Interesting, then, that the Epistle is not that reading from Philippians!  It is a nice one, though:  James 5:7-10, and is quite similar in theme:

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

The James, BTW, is not the "Historic Lectionary" epistle either; that one came from 1 Corinthians 4.

The Gospel, Matthew 11:2-11, though, has been in use at Advent 3 for a long time - at least since the 16th Century continuously (and in every BCP, as far as I can tell):

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

`See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.'

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

And as usual, I'm thrilled at the wondrous Advent reading from Isaiah; it, too, resonates with the Gaudete theme:

Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,

the desert shall rejoice and blossom;

like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the LORD,

the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

"Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Holy Way;

the unclean shall not travel on it,

but it shall be for God's people;

no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,

but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain joy and gladness,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The collect for this week also contains the famous "stir up" text; as per the FHD and Hatchett's Commentary citations below, it has apparently  moved around the calendar quite a bit: from the Last Sunday in Advent to the Last Sunday before Advent, and ultimately back to this day (where it fits so well with this chant proper!):

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

The following is from Commentary on the American Prayer Book, by Marion Hatchett:

The Gelasian sacramentary is the source for this collect which is included in the first of the propers for Advent (no. 1121), and is addressed to the Son. In the Gregorian it is changed to a prayer addressed to the Father in a proper for a Sunday, included after the provisions for a winter ember vigil (no. 805). The Gallican Bobbio missal provides it as a second prayer in the first of the three Masses for Advent (no. 38). In the Sarum missal it was appointed for the fourth Sunday in Advent. Cranmer retained it in that version with slight changes, adding the phrase "among us" and, at the end of the petition, "through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord." Revisers in 1662 added the phrase "in running the race that is set before us," and expanded "deliver us" to "help and deliver us." Cranmer's second phrase was deleted in the 1928 revision and the first of the additions of the 1662 edition has been dropped in the present revision, thus restoring the prayer to a form close to its original. The prayer echoes Psalm 80:2 and Hebrews 12:1. The one remnant of a series of four prayers which began with "excita" (stir up) used on four of the last five Sundays before Christmas in the Sarum missal, this prayer sets forth better than the others the themes of the two advents: the first in which He came in humility, and the second in which He comes in power; the first in which He came to save, and the second in which He comes to help and relieve.

The rubric following is a reminder that the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of this week are the traditional winter ember days, though these may now be transferred to a time related to local or diocesan occasions for ordination.

Here's Full Homely Divinity on "Stir Up Sunday" - and some of its culinary associations:

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may by thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The traditional Collect for the Sunday next before Advent was echoed in a popular rhyme on the way home from church:

Stir up, we beseech thee, the pudding in the pot;
And when we get home, we'll eat the lot.

...though, technically, the agenda for the day was not eating the pudding, but making it. On the Sunday before the beginning of Advent, it has always been customary to make the Christmas pudding (a type of fruit cake) so that the flavors could blend and age properly for the pudding to be at its best when eaten at Christmas dinner. Everyone shares in the making of the pudding, taking turns stirring it (east to west, the direction the wise men traveled) and each person making a wish while taking her or his turn at stirring. Often the cake also has tokens baked into it: a coin to signify that the finder would have a prosperous year, a ring to foretell a coming marriage or a button or thimble to predict another year of bachelorhood or spinsterhood. In the full homeliest manner, the making of the pudding renews a sense that the presence and purposes of God are never far removed from quotidian life. The sweetness of the pudding is a sign that God always desires the peace and happiness of his people. The contents of the pudding are a subtle reminder of a principal object of the Christian life: the fruit of good works, referred to in the collect. Sadly, the traditional collect has been replaced in many revisions of the Book of Common Prayer, but in the Church of England it has found new life as the prayer after Communion.

With or without the traditional collect in the Church's liturgy, there is no reason why Christian families cannot continue this tradition and use the old collect at home. After all, the Christmas pudding does need to be prepared in advance if it is to rise to the occasion on which it is eaten. The traditional English Christmas pudding is a steamed plum pudding. Click here for a website with a typical recipe. The American fruit cake is a variation on the same theme. We note that fruit cake has gotten a bad reputation, due to poorly made commercial versions that are dry and tasteless. When made in advance (to a good recipe, of course) and cured with regular infusions of quality spirits (wine, brandy, or bourbon are all suitable), a fruit cake is, in our humble opinion, one of the noblest confections ever created, and easily on a par with the best plum puddings.

Here is a list of all the chant propers for Advent 3, sung by the Sao Paolo Benedictines:

Hebdomada tertia adventus
DominicaIntroitus: Phil. 4, 4.5; Ps. 84 Gaudete in Domino (cum Gloria Patri)(6m13.5s - 5839 kb) score
Graduale: Ps. 79, 2.3. V. 2 Qui sedes, Domine (2m24.8s - 2265 kb) score
(anno B) Io. 1, 6. V. 7 et Lc. 1, 17 Fuit homo (2m09.3s - 1011 kb)
Alleluia: Ps. 79, 3 Excita, Domine (1m58.4s - 1853 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 84, 2 Benedixisti, Domine (1m18.4s - 1226 kb) score
Communio: Cf. Is. 35, 4 Dicite: Pusillanimes (56.9s - 891 kb) score

To celebrate the day, here's a very nice recording of Purcell's "Rejoice in the Lord Alway," sung by the Choir of King's College Cambridge:




Ant this is a fresco "in der Kirche von Gracanica, Szene" of John the Baptist from around 1235, by "Meister von Gracanica."

Seen and heard today at Divine Service, Advent 1 (12/1/13)

Ah!    It's come around again:  one of the most wonderful Sundays of the year.  And here's how it started:



I was thinking just before the Litany began that it might be good to write a new set of words; the litany sounds too 1662, maybe, and its concerns are not our concerns, mostly, I thought.  While singing it, though, I realized that - in spite of "the world, the flesh, and the devil" and the old-fashioned language - most of it is pretty good stuff, standard intercessory and penitential prayer, which we do all the time.   So even though it's a bit Tudor, it still works, mostly.  You can get all the words here.

Then, one of the best of all hymns, Sleepers wake.  You can listen to St. Peter's Chicago sing it, starting at around 7:45 in the video below:



What a fantastic text!  This one's from the 16th Century, too, written by Philip Nicolai (20th C. English translation by Carl P. Daw, Jr., though):

"Sleepers, wake!" A voice astounds us,
the shout of rampart-guards surrounds us:
"Awake, Jerusalem, arise!"
Midnight's peace their cry has broken,
their urgent summons clearly spoken:
"The time has come, O maidens wise!
Rise up, and give us light;
the Bridegroom is in sight.
Alleluia!
Your lamps prepare and hasten there,
that you the wedding feast may share."

Zion hears the watchman singing;
her heart with joyful hope is springing,
she wakes and hurries through the night.
Forth he comes, her bridegroom glorious
in strength of grace, in truth victorious:
her star is risen, her light grows bright.
Now come, most worthy Lord,
God's Son, Incarnate Word,
Alleluia!
We follow all and heed your call
to come into the banquet hall.

Lamb of God, the heavens adore you;
let saints and angels sing before you,
as harps and cymbals swell the sound.
Twelve great pearls, the city's portals:
through them we stream to join the immortals
as we with joy your throne surround.
No eye has known the sight,
no ear heard such delight:
Alleluia!
Therefore we sing to greet our King;
for ever let our praises ring.

The organ prelude in the video above comes from Bach's Cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140; he used this hymn chorale by Philip Nicolai in that piece, too:



This different set of words may be how they sing it in England; here the Trinity College Cambridge Choir does it up nicely:




We had Lo, he comes with clouds descending last, and at a really crazy fast pace.  I can understand that, though, and I approve; this hymn can sound absolutely funereal if you drag it.  (Perhaps the choirmaster hates the hymn; it could have been that, too!)

In the video below, from Atonement in Chicago, it's the entrance hymn, though, and sung slowly and majestically.  It works fine to sing it more slowly here.

Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favored sinners slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of His train:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
God appears on earth to reign.

Every eye shall now behold Him
Robed in dreadful majesty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced and nailed Him to the tree,
Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.

The dear tokens of His passion
Still His dazzling body bears;
Cause of endless exultation
To His ransomed worshippers;
With what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture
Gaze we on those glorious scars!

Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Thine own;
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Thou shalt reign, and thou alone!

And the collect is this truly splendid one - my favorite of the year:

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.

A wonderful piece of religious rhetoric there, with all its resonances:  mystical allusions to light and dark, to weakness and power, to the mortal and the immortal, the temporal and eternal, the earthly and the cosmic.  Wow.

Advent 1 may be the only day of the year on which the hymnody completely blows away the readings!

Seen and heard Sunday at Divine Service: Christ the King (November 24, 2013)

The white, high holy day vestments.

The wonderful collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The absolutely splendid Gospel reading, perfect for this feast of ineffable mystery and beauty:

Luke 23:33-43

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. The people stood by, watching Jesus on the cross; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

The Offertory:




And speaking of weeping at hymns:  I did, today, at the final words of the final hymn, "Crown him with many crowns."   The video below comes from Queen Elizabeth II's 50th Jubilee, and the reason for weeping is right there in the text.  It becomes very stark and clear when watching the video; it's exceedingly moving that the Queen, a "crowned head" herself, had made this choice:  "Crown Him the Lord of Lords, Who over all doth reign....."

It's good to know there are still people like her in the world.




You can get nine verses here (some of which are used in the video above), but we sing only these five:

Crown Him With Many Crowns

Crown him with many crowns,
the Lamb upon his throne;
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
all music but its own;
awake, my soul, and sing of him
who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless King
through all eternity.

Crown him the Son of God
before the worlds began,
and ye, who tread where he hath trod,
crown him the Son of man;
who every grief hath known
that wrings the human breast,
and takes and bears them for his own,
that all in him may rest.

Crown him the Lord of life,
who triumphed over the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife
for those he came to save;
his glories now we sing,
who died, and rose on high,
who died, eternal life to bring,
and lives that death may die.

Crown him of lords the Lord,
who over all doth reign,
who once on earth, the incarnate Word,
for ransomed sinners slain,
now lives in realms of light,
where saints with angels sing
their songs before him day and night,
their God, Redeemer, King.

Crown him the Lord of heaven,
enthroned in worlds above;
crown him the King,to whom is given,
the wondrous name of Love.
Crown him with many crowns,
as thrones before him fall,
crown him, ye kings, with many crowns,
for he is King of all.

Not heard today, but why not post this video of the wonderful Dutch carol, "King Jesus Hath a Garden," anyway - just for the joy of it?

1. King Jesus hath a garden, full of divers flowers,
Where I go culling posies gay, all times and hours.

Refrain:
There naught is heard but Paradise bird,
Harp, dulcimer, lute,
With cymbal, trump and tymbal,
And the tender, soothing flute.

2. The Lily, white in blossom there, is Chastity:
The Violet, with sweet perfume, Humility. Refrain


3. The bonny Damask-rose is known as Patience:
The blithe and thrifty Marygold, Obedience. Refrain


4. The Crown Imperial bloometh too in yonder place,
'Tis Charity, of stock divine, the flower of grace. Refrain


5. Yet, 'mid the brave, the bravest prize of all may claim
The Star of Bethlem-Jesus-bless'd be his Name! Refrain


6. Ah! Jesu Lord, my heal and weal, my bliss complete,
Make thou my heart thy garden-plot, fair, trim and neat. Refrain

Anglicans Online offers a fantastic meditation on what it calls, aptly, "one of the richest days of the liturgical year."   Here's the last part of it - but I definitely advise reading the whole thing:

The lifetime of every reader of Anglicans Online has been a period in which every sort of ideology has been substituted for the kingdom of God, by Christians no less than by others. We have seen capitalism, communism, racism, sexism, absolutism, bullionism (our favourite), spiritualism, nationalism and even mechanism fail to meet completely the needs of the human soul. Our Christian faith is that the reign of Jesus Christ in the kingdom of God does meet every need of our souls and our societies; the reign of Christ is in our hearts and in our actions, not in our forebears' misunderstanding of a King Jesus who would overthrow the Romans. This instead is the kingdom of God described by our Lord:

Then the king will say [...], 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'

This parable teaches us that Christ the King reigns when he reigns within us.

Christ reigns in weakness from the Cross itself, in weakness transformed into power and beauty through forgiveness and self-offering.

Christ reigns in joy from the time of his first miracle, in joy made ever new through food and wine and song.

Christ reigns in poverty begun in his childhood in Nazareth, in poverty without earthly power but with dignity and honor and kin.

Christ reigns in service from the time of his last supper, in service like the washing of feet and the clothing of the naked and the feeding of the poor.

Christ reigns in teaching from the beginning of his ministry, in teaching that nourishes every mind and heart open to it.

Christ reigns in learning from his childhood, in learning through which he grew and changed, and we do, too.

Christ reigns in sorrow, in sorrow so deep that no pain of ours is beyond his sympathy and empathy.

Christ reigns in quiet and calm, in 'the silence of eternity, interpreted by love'.

Christ reigns in love itself, in love made perfect in every firm and gentle act of a father for his daughter, of a priest for a penitent, of a friend for a friend, of a labourer for her family, of a professor for his students, of a cook for them who will eat, of a doctor for such as need care, of a poet who feeds our hearts, of a builder who keeps rain and snow from our mortal frames, of an altar guild member who has washed and ironed linens for 50 years, of a human feeding an animal, of a farmer who tends the plants that give us nutrition, of a cleaner who keeps us safe from infection of mind or body. Christ reigns in love as care takes place and increases among all of God's creatures, and as wickedness and selfishness and confusion are banished from our motives.

Christ is king when he reigns in our hearts.

See you next week. Advent is upon us!

Seen and heard today at Divine Service: "Thou Visitest the Earth"

Maurice Greene's beautiful "Thou Visitest the Earth," his composition based on today's  Psalm 65. Here it's sung (exquisitely!) by the Choir of New College, Oxford.  (Listen to more from this great choir here, at their webcast page.)



The Communion Hymn was St. Thomas Aquinas' beautiful Adoro te devote ("Humbly I adore Thee, verity unseen").  The English words of the hymn (#314 in the 1982 Hymnal) are copyright, but here's a version in Latin - sung by "The Cathedral Singers, Richard Proulx (conductor)" - with a metrical English translation below:

Adoro te devote, latens Deitas,
Quæ sub his figuris vere latitas;
Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit,
Quia te contemplans totum deficit.

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur.
Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius;
Nil hoc verbo veritátis verius.

O memoriale mortis Domini!
Panis vivus, vitam præstans homini!
Præsta meæ menti de te vívere,
Et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo sanguine:
Cujus una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,
Oro, fiat illud quod tam sitio:
Ut te revelata cernens facie,
Visu sim beátus tuæ gloriæ. Amen



    Prostrate I adore Thee, Deity unseen,
    Who Thy glory hidest 'neath these shadows mean;
    Lo, to Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed,
    Tranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.

    Taste, and touch, and vision, to discern Thee fail;
    Faith, that comes by hearing, pierces through the veil.
    I believe whate'er the Son of God hath told;
    What the Truth hath spoken, that for truth I hold.

    On the Cross lay hidden but thy Deity,
    Here is hidden also Thy Humanity:
    But in both believing and confessing, Lord,
    Ask I what the dying thief of Thee implored.

    Thy dread wounds, like Thomas, though I cannot see,
    His be my confession, Lord and God, of Thee,
    Make my faith unfeigned ever-more increase,
    Give me hope unfading, love that cannot cease.

    O memorial wondrous of the Lord's own death;
    Living Bread, that giveth all Thy creatures breath,
    Grant my spirit ever by Thy life may live,
    To my taste Thy sweetness never-failing give.

    Pelican of mercy, Jesus, Lord and God,
    Cleanse me, wretched sinner, in Thy Precious Blood:
    Blood where one drop for human-kind outpoured
    Might from all transgression have the world restored.

    Jesus, whom now veiled, I by faith descry,
    What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny,
    That thy face unveiled, I at last may see,
    With the blissful vision blest, my God, of Thee. Amen

Today's lovely collect is this one:

Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This is another very ancient one; from the 6th Century at least, given the reference in Hatchett to the Leonine Sacramentary.  His (Hatchett's) Commentary says that:

The prayer is among a series for use at Vespers in the Leonine sacramentary (no.598).  The Gelasian appoints it as the initial prayer of the eighth of the sixteen Sunday Masses (no. 1209), and the Gregorian supplement has it as the collect (no. 1168) for the fourteenth Sunday after (the) Pentecost (octave).  The Sarum missal and earlier Prayer Books associate it with the fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.  The message is clear and forthright:  only if we love what God commands can we render cheerful obedience, and for this we need the gifts of faith, hope, and charity.  The Latin form as "that we may deserve to obtain what you promise," but Cranmer eliminated any idea of merit from the collect.

Good old Cranmer, emphasizing Grace above all - and that's a good idea, too, in my view.   That theme goes very well with the motet above as well, which exalts the good gifts of God.  It's also perfect for the Gospel reading for today, the story of the Publican and the Pharisee; that one's entirely about the centrality of Grace.

I was thinking about "gratitude" today; it's normal to want to express it for the beauty of the world, and for other good and pleasing things (including Maurice Greene's musical talent!).

My dog and I took a nice long walk in the hills today, and got our blood rushing and our cheeks all rosy - and then we went to the dog park, where we saw a Jack Russell Terrier and a German Shepherd, both puppies, chasing 2 Italian greyhounds around the place.  (They never came close to catching them.)  A Bernese Mountain Dog got into the act, too, and a couple of mutts, including mine.

It was a beautiful day, and the dogs were loving it too.   Easy to understand the Psalmist's desire to thank God for "crowning the year" with such a day.....

Seen and heard Sunday at Divine Service

The very beautiful collect for Proper 21:

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hatchett's Commentary says, about this collect, that:

The Gallican Missale Gothicum includes this as the initial prayer of the first of six Sunday Masses (no. 477); it is the first prayer of the sixth of sixteen Sunday Masses in the Gelasian sacramentary (no. 1198).  The supplement to the Gregorian appoints it (no. 1159) for the eleventh Sunday after (the) Pentecost (octave), and the Sarum missal and previous Prayer Books for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity.  It has undergone several revisions.  The 1549 version reads:

God, which declarest thy almighty power, most chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Give unto us abundantly thy grace that we, running to thy promises, may be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The words "mercy and pity" would be more literally translated "sparing and showing compassion."  "Give unto us abundantly thy grace" migth be more literally "multiply upon us your grace."

In 1662 the revised petition read:  "Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we running the way of thy Commandments, may obtain thy gracrious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure."  That revision seemed to make the receiving of heavenly treasure a reward for obedience to the commandments rather than a free gift of grace which we pray that we might run forward eagerly to receive.  In the present revision the collect is revised to make it similar to Cranmer's version.  The preamble states with striking force that the supreme demonstration of God's power is shown not in creation and providence, but in His redemptive love and mercy.

Here's a link to the Missale Gothicum at archive.org.

About the Missale Gothicum of the Gallican Rite:

The Missale Gothicum (Vatican, Queen Christina MSS. 317), described by Delisle, No. 3, is a manuscript dating from the end of the seventh century and once belonging to the Petau Library. The name is due to a fifteenth-century note at the beginning of the book, and hence it has been attributed by Tommasi and Mabillon to Narbonne, which was in the Visigothic Kingdom. Duchesne, judging by the inclusion of Masses for the feasts of St. Symphorian and St. Léger (d. 680), attributes it to Autun. The Masses are numbered, the MS. beginning with Christmas Eve, which is numbered "III". Probably there were once two Advent Masses, as in the "Missale Gallicanum". There are eighty-one numbered sections, of which the last is the first prayer of "Missa Romensif cottidiana", with which the MS. breaks off. The details of the Masses in this book are given in the section of the present article on the liturgical year. The Masses are all Gallican as to order, but many of the actual prayers are Roman. The "Missale Gothicum" has been printed by Tommasi (Codices Sacramentorum, Rome, 1680), Mabillon (De Liturgiâ Gallicanâ, Paris, 1685), Muratori (Liturgia Romana Vetus, Venice, 1748), Neale and Forbes (op. cit.), and Migne's "Patrologia Latina" (Vol. LXXII).

And then, at the Offertory:




 

Seen and heard today at Divine Service

There is a balm in Gilead:  a sweet spiritual at the Offertory, done up big here by Mahalia:



Here are the words, from Cyberhymnal:

Refrain

There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin sick soul.

Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.

Refrain

If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

Refrain

And then this beautiful hymn, Lobe den Her­ren from the 17th Century, for the final hymn in procession; all the really great hymn tunes are German, it seems.  Cyberhymnal  says:  "An­der Theil des Er­neu­er­ten Ge­sang­buch, se­cond edi­tion (Bre­men, Ger­ma­ny: 1665); har­mo­ny by Wil­liam S. Ben­nett, 1864."



This hymn has some wonderful words.  Cyberhymnal says "Words: Jo­ach­im Ne­an­der, in A und O Glaub- und Lieb­es­ü­bung (Stras­lund: 1680); trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Cath­er­ine Wink­worth, 1863."   (Nice translation job, there, Catherine.)
And there are a lot of words originally, it seems.   We only sang four verses today, I think, but here's the full deal, from Cyberhymnal:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

And then this, one of my favorite collects of the year, as the season turns:

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hatchett says that this one is really old:

This collect reflects the tumultuous times of the barbarian invasions.  It is from the Leonine sacramentary as a collect for use on Ascension Day (no. 173).  The translation is from William Bright's Ancient Collects (page 79), and is included in the Prayer Book for the first time.  Colossians 3:2 provides the Biblical reference.

Even outside "tumultuous times of barbarian invasion," the collect induces a very powerful mix of ideas and emotions:  the bittersweet nature of the passage of time and season and earthly life; the hope for peace and the desire for the holy, in response; the powerful and permanent foundation of faith in Christ.

Unfortunately, though, at the moment the collect is very a propos in its original sense as well, on a day of violence and tumult, when many people have been killed in terror attacks - including at least 75 Anglicans while leaving their church, and many Kenyans, as they were shopping.

Requiem aeternum dona eis Domine.

Dulce lignum, dulces clavos: The Alleluia for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14)

This is one of the relatively few chant propers for the mass that doesn't come from Scripture; its source is Fortunatus' 6th-Century poem Pange lingua, gloriosi, and more specifically the Crux fideles section of that poem.

This is an mp3 recording of this beautiful chant, from the Benedictines of Brazil.   The text:

Dulce lignum, dulces clavos
Dulcia ferens pondera
Quae sola fuistis digna sustinere
Regem coelorum et Dominum

O sweet wood, O sweet nails
That bore his sweet burden
Which alone were worthy to support
The King of Heaven and Lord

And the chant score:

You can get all the words here to the entire Pange lingua, gloriosi of Fortunatus; below I've extracted only the Crux fideles section:

Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis,
nulla talem silva profert flore, fronde, germine,
dulce lignum dulce clavo dulce pondus sustinens.

Flecte ramos, arbor alta, tensa laxa viscera,
et rigor lentescat ille quem dedit nativitas,
ut superni membra regis mite tendas stipite.

Sola digna tu fuisti ferre pretium saeculi
atque portum praeparare nauta mundo naufrago,
quem sacer cruor perunxit fusus agni corpore.

Faithful Cross!
above all other,
one and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom,
none in fruit thy peers may be;
sweetest wood and sweetest iron!
Sweetest Weight is hung on thee!

Lofty tree, bend down thy branches,
to embrace thy sacred load;
oh, relax the native tension
of that all too rigid wood;
gently, gently bear the members
of thy dying King and God.

Tree, which solely wast found worthy
the world's Victim to sustain.
harbor from the raging tempest!
ark, that saved the world again!
Tree, with sacred blood anointed
of the Lamb for sinners slain.

Holy Cross Day is a "Feast of Our Lord," according to the Calendar of the Episcopal Church, ranking alongside Holy Name, Presentation, Annunciation, Visitation, St. John the Baptist, and Transfiguration.  It's a big one, in other words. 

Justus has a page about the feast and about the cross in Christian life; here's an excerpt:

During the reign of Constantine, first Roman Emperor to profess the Christian faith, his mother Helena went to Israel and there undertook to find the places especially significant to Christians. (She was helped in this by the fact that in their destructions around 135, the Romans had built pagan shrines over many of these sites.) Having located, close together, what she believed to be the sites of the Crucifixion and of the Burial (at locations that modern archaeologists think may be correct), she then had built over them the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was dedicated on 14 September 335. It has become a day for recognizing the Cross (in a festal atmosphere that would be inappropriate on Good Friday) as a symbol of triumph, as a sign of Christ's victory over death, and a reminder of His promise, "And when I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." (John 12:32)

Tertullian, in his De Corona (3:2), written around AD 211, says that Christians seldom do anything significant without making the sign of the cross. Certainly by his time the practice was well established. Justin Martyr, in chapters 55 and 60 of his First Apology (Defence of the Christian Faith, addressed to the Emperor Antoninus Pius and therefore written between 148 and 155 Ad), refers to the cross as a standard Christian symbol, but not explicitly to tracing the sign of the cross as a devotional gesture. In the ruins of Pompeii (destroyed 79 Ad), there is a room with an altar-like structure against one wall, and over the altar the appearance of the plaster shows that a cross-shaped object had been nailed to the wall, and forcibly pulled loose, apparently shortly before the volcano buried the city. It is suggested that this house may have belonged to a Christian family, and that they took the cross and other objects of value to them when they fled the city. This is not the only possible explanation, but I do not know of a likelier one.

Much more at the link.


The Collect for this day is beautiful:

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.

The readings, too, are among the most beautiful in Scripture; they include the lovely hymn from Philippians 2:5-11 -  to my way of thinking one of the most glorious passages to be found anywhere in the Bible (and from which comes the beautiful gradual for today and for Palm Sunday, Christus factus est.):

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
    did not regard equality with God
    as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
    taking the form of a slave,
    being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to the point of death--
    even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
    and gave him the name
    that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
    every knee should bend,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
    that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Here are links to the other readings for today; the Collect comes directly from the Gospel reading from John:

Isaiah 45:21-25
Psalm 98 or 98:1-4
Philippians 2:5-11
or Galatians 6:14-18
John 12:31-36a 

Here's a really lovely piece, based in this chant with perhaps an polyphony alternatim; I can't quite tell what's going on here.  As you can see, this is "Sacred Music from 12th-Century Paris," apparently composed by Magister Leoninus.  The first "Alleluia" clearly comes from this chant proper - but I can't quite follow the rest so far.  Beautiful, though!




And here's a nice version of Crux fideles; there is something at the page about "Crux fidelis - R. Kühnel & Gregoriano."  I think that's a reference to the composer - this, perhaps - and the fact that there's some chant in the middle verse; I'm not sure what that is yet, though.  The YouTube page says it's a "Live recording: ex parish choir "S.Stefano" of Mozzanica (BG) Italy, 14 september 2008."  Interesting, anyway:




Fr. Jay Smith, of New York's Church of St. Mary the Virgin, has written a beautiful meditation on this day, using the San Damiano Cross as a lens through which to see the day.  Here's an extract from that meditation; I encourage you, though, to click over to the website and read the whole thing.

The story of Francis of Assisi’s conversion is well known to many Christians. Of course, there is the confrontation with Francis’s seriously displeased father; but there is also Francis’s experience in the run-down Church of San Damiano, just outside of Assisi. Francis is walking by the church and goes in to pray. He gazes upon a large crucifix, painted in the Byzantine style; and he hears Christ saying to him, “Go, repair my Church, which as you see is falling completely in ruin.” These are loaded, prophetic, words. Francis starts fixing the church and in doing so, he too is “repaired.” The Lord comes up close and Francis is converted. He is turned toward Christ in a new way. Eventually, Francis gathers brothers and sisters around him. He founds his famous order and the rest is history.

The San Damiano Crucifix is a familiar image to many people, especially to those interested in Franciscan history and spirituality. It is large, nearly seven feet tall and over four feet wide. It was probably created around 1100 by an Umbrian artist working in what is known as the Syro-Byzantine style. There are some truly wonderful things about this crucifix. It comes as no surprise that it moved Francis so. First, like much Christian art, in particular much Western Christian art, it is an image that is meant to teach. It has been pointed out that, taken together, the many figures on the cross tell the story of Our Lord’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. (Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M., does a detailed and fascinating interpretation of the Cross in his book, The Franciscan Vision and the Gospel of John: The San Damiano Cross, St. Bonaventure, NY, 2006. His book got me thinking about the cross for this article.) Second, the cross is an icon and like all icons “written” in the Eastern Christian tradition, it invites the viewer to meditate and pray, to enter into an encounter with the reality depicted in the image.

Father Guinan reminds us that the San Damiano Crucifix, that most Franciscan of images, is in some ways, not typically Franciscan (Franciscan Vision, 2). For one thing, it was created before Francis was born. More important, the cross does not accentuate Jesus’ suffering on the cross, and therefore it does not stress Jesus’ humanity, which was an important focus in later Franciscan theology, spirituality, and art. Jesus’ humanity is not denied. This is a human body, nailed to a cross. Blood flows both from Jesus’ hands and from his feet. But Jesus does not wear the crown of thorns and the iconographer makes no attempt to depict the suffering of a crucified criminal with any sort of realistic, historical, or physiological accuracy.

In this image, the artist carefully balances humanity with divinity. The inscription above Jesus’ head tells us that he is a king. The clean white garment, edged in gold, may tell us that he is a priest. The attitude of his body, the expression on his face, and the brilliant halo around his head tell us that the Crucified One is also the Risen Lord. As Father Guinan points out, the blood from Jesus’ hands and feet flows forth and down upon the other figures in the image. (If one didn’t know better, the very idea would be gory and distasteful; but for those with “eyes to see,” it is a richly symbolic, deeply scriptural and sacramental idea.) Moreover, angels attend Jesus on the cross and, at the top of the image, angels greet Jesus as he “returns” to the heavenly places, to be seated at the Father’s right hand. As in the Gospel of John, so also here, the Cross is not so much the locus of abandonment and desolation, it is the place where the glory of God is already being revealed: “Jesus said, ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die” (John 12:32).

If icons are meant to be an encounter with the Holy One, what do we encounter when we look at this image? That will be different for each one of us. Perhaps the encounter will be different every time we look at it. (If God is working to “repair,” transform, and convert us, are we ever exactly the same today as we were yesterday?) This is what I see as we arrive at Holy Cross Day: the cross was invented by human beings, acting on their cruelest impulses, to torture, shame, deter, terrorize, and kill. Jesus Christ, “though he was in the form of God” (Philippians 2:6), becomes fully human, “being born in human likeness” (2:7). He does not recoil from the worst and most painful elements of the human condition: sin, death, and terrible cruelty. He does not flee from us in horror or distaste. He comes up close. He sees what we sometimes forget: we were created in the very image of God. Jesus Christ “descends” deeply into the human condition in order to heal us and set us free; and by doing that he shows us who God is. He shows us that God is more powerful than sin and death. He shows us God’s tenacious, unyielding love. He shows us, in his deep humility, the very Glory of God.

Lætetur Cor: The Introit for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Lætetur Cor ("Let their hearts rejoice") is used as the Introit for "the Fourth and Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time" - which is interesting.  I'll have to look into the reasoning for this.
 

The text comes from Psalm (104/)105, verses 3-4, then verse 1.

Laetétur cor quaeréntium Dóminum: quaérite Dóminum, et confirmámini: quaérite fáciem ejus semper. Vs. Confitémini Dómino, et invocáte nomen ejus: annuntiáte inter gentes ópera ejus.

Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice; seek the Lord and be strengthened; seek his face for evermore. Vs. Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name; declare his deeds among the gentiles.

Here again is the "universal" theme of Epiphanytide:  the imperative to "declare his deeds among the gentiles," presumably those who "seek his face" to be strengthened "for evermore."

Interestingly, this Psalm is cited as a song of thanks in 1 Chronicles 16, immediately after David had brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, "dancing and celebrating":

¹And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord ³ and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat,^[a] and a cake of raisins.
⁴ Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁵ Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, ⁶ and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. ⁷ Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers.

David's Song of Thanks

⁸ Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!
⁹ Sing to him, sing praises to him;
    tell of all his wondrous works!
¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
¹¹ Seek the Lord and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!
¹² Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
    his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
¹³ O offspring of Israel his servant,
    children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

¹⁴ He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.
¹⁵ Remember his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
¹⁶ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁷ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹⁸ saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
    as your portion for an inheritance.”

¹⁹ When you were few in number,
    of little account, and sojourners in it,
²⁰ wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
²¹ he allowed no one to oppress them;
    he rebuked kings on their account,
²² saying, “Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”

²³ Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
    Tell of his salvation from day to day.
²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
²⁵ For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and he is to be feared above all gods.
²⁶ For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
²⁷ Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and joy are in his place.

²⁸ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
²⁹ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;^[b]
30     tremble before him, all the earth;
    yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
³¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
    and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
³² Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    let the field exult, and everything in it!
³³ Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
    before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
³⁴ Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!

³⁵ Say also:

“Save us, O God of our salvation,
    and gather and deliver us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
    and glory in your praise.
³⁶ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting!”

Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Worship Before the Ark

³⁷ So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the ark as each day required, ³⁸ and also Obed-edom and his^[c] sixty-eight brothers, while Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah were to be gatekeepers. ³⁹ And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon ⁴⁰ to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly morning and evening, to do all that is written in the Law of the Lord that he commanded Israel. ⁴¹ With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever. ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate.

Here's a PDF, via CCWatershed, of the Simple English propers for today - and here's a video of the Introit:





The Gospel for today picks up where last week's ended, at Luke 4:21-30:

In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, and began to say, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

I never noticed that last part until recently!  Not sure exactly what's happening there;  impressive Jesus, or invisible Jesus?

The Collect for today is this one:

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hatchett's Commentary says, about this Collect:

This collect is found in the Gregorian sacramentary among the daily prayers (no. 922), and in the supplement (no. 1099), as well as in previous editions of the Prayer Book, as the collect for the second Sunday after the Epiphany. The Sarum missal appoints it for the second Sunday after the octave of the Epiphany. Cranmer translated the petition "grant us thy peace all the days of our life," but this revision restores the original wording.

Remembering Hatchett's note on the collect two weeks back, that "many of the post-Epiphany collects ... [relate] to the Gospel of the day," it's interesting to note that this one doesn't appear to.  (I'm actually not sure if Hatchett was referring in that comment to all versions of the Prayer Book, or to the 1979 US Book in particular. That would be an interesting thing to look at, in fact.)

But this collect is where Neville Chamberlain picked up on "peace in our time," I'm fairly sure.

Remembering, too, the old numbering system for this season, here are some great notes about what's happening right now in the Great Church Year, from the website of St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue:

The Gesima Sundays

The purpose of the three Gesima Sundays is to provide a transition from Christmastide to Lent.

On February 2, we celebrate Candlemas, the 40^th and final day of Christmas, a season of the year which overlaps with Epiphanytide (still on-going through February 12, Shrove Tuesday). Over the course of the 40 days of Christmastide, we have the naming of Christ at his circumcision (The Feast of the Holy Name, always January 1), the visit of the Magi on the Feast of the Epiphany (always January 6) after the twelve days of Christmas, and then finally the presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas, always February 2). Therefore, these forty days celebrate the early life of Jesus.

But there is another forty day period to come, called Lent. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, the church calendar switches over to its paschal cycle, which is determined not by fixed calendar dates (such as December 25, January 6 and February 2), but rather by the movable date of Easter, which the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 established as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the northern hemisphere's vernal equinox. The date of Easter can fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. That's quite a wide range.

So, there is a period of three Sundays in late Epiphanytide which transition us from Christmas to Lent in two ways:

1. The three Gesima Sundays transition us from one calendar to the next. Quiquagesima Sunday is always the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and is always 50 days before Easter. (Quinquagesima means “fifty days”). Working backwards, Sexagesima is two Sundays before Ash Wednesday and Septuagesima is three Sundays before Ash Wednesday. It’s true that Sexagesima and Septuagesima are not exactly 60 and 70 days before Easter, but the Church nevertheless uses these terms to warn the faithful that Lent is coming soon. Since this year Easter falls on March 31, Ash Wednesday falls 40 days before (excluding Sundays, which don’t count) which is February 13. So that means Quinquagesima is Febraury 10, Sexagesima is February 3, and Septuagesima is January 27.
2. The three Gesima Sundays also transition our attention away from Christ’s childhood (Christmas, Epiphany, etc) and towards an understanding of the fulfillment of his mission. Candelmas (February 2) occurred forty days after his birth and, as stated earlier, ends the Christmastide season. So, look at the assigned lessons for the morning services on Sunday, February 3, which is the day after Candlemas and the second of the three Gesima Sundays, and you’ll perceive the transition happening. The lessons are Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, and Luke 4:21-30. In Jeremiah, the prophet, though just a child, is given his mission as a man. In Corinthians, we are exorted to put away our childish ways and to love one another as adults. In Luke, we hear of Jesus in his childhood hometown of Nazareth, speaking the truth and yet being rejected. His own townsfolk wanted to hold on to their understanding of him as a child. But he did not come into this world for that purpose.

Adorate Deum: The Introit for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

Wow, this is a beautiful introit, and here's a great rendering of it:



Here's a translation of the text, which comes from Psalm (96/)97, verses 7-8 and then verse 1; the chant score is below:

Worship God, all you angels: Sion has heard and is glad.  The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice: let the many coastlands be glad.

Easter is very early this year - it's on March 31 - and this Sunday is already Septuagesima (the third Sunday before Ash Wednesday).   The Extraordinary Form uses a completely different set of propers for these last weeks before Lent begins; you can listen to the Introit for Septuagesima Sunday at that last link.

But I'm happy to highlight the modern Introit here - it's beautiful!  This is the Introit only for Year C, according to the Brazilian Benedictines. The Year C Gospel is Luke's story of Jesus' announcement in the synagogue that he himself is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy:

Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

This story comes immediately after Luke's version of Jesus' temptation in the wildnerness.

Years A and B actually have their own Introit: Dominus secus mare ("The Lord by the sea"), the text of which comes from Matthew. Here's that one, sung by the "Schola Antiqua (Juan Carlos Asensio Palacios)":

Dominus secus mare Galilææ vidit duos fratres,
Petrum et Andream, et vocavit eos:
Venite post me: faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum.

Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei:
et opera manuum ejus annuntiat firmamentum.

The Lord saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew, by the seaside of Galilee, and He called them; Come ye after Me, I will make you to be fishers of men.

The Heavens show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the works of His hands .

Also very pretty.   The Gospel reading for Year A does contain the story from Matthew that makes up the first part of the Introit; the Year B Gospel is the same story from Mark.  I'm not sure, though, why some Sundays have alternating propers like this; something else to find out about, then.

The Collect for this week is this new one:

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hatchett's Commentary notes that the Collect  contains references to all three different Gospel readings for today:

The Rev. Dr. Massey H. Shepherd, Jr. drafted this collect which recalls phrases from the collect for the feast day of Saint Andrew, the story of whose calling by Christ is the Gospel of Years A and B.  The Gospel for Year C is the story of our Lord's sermon at Nazareth which is also echoed by the collect.  We pray that we may not only answer His call but also proclaim the Good News, and that "we and all the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works."

Which does again echo Epiphany's "universal" theme.  Interestingly,  Hatchett notes on that same page that "many of the post-Epiphany collects ... [relate] to the Gospel of the day."  And that, too, is a way to drive home the "universal" theme - that the Gospel - the "manifestation" of Christ in his Incarnation - is for all the world.

As, of course, is the "many coastlines" of the Adorate Deum Introit itself.  I suppose, in fact, that the great theme in all three Gospels is that these are some of the opening notes of Christ's ministry.

Interestingly, the Gospel in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (and also in the original 1662 BCP) told the stories of the healing of the leper, and the healing of the Centurion's servant, from Matthew 8.  (It was the same reading in the pre-1970 Roman Catholic Lectionary, too, according to this site - although the Septuagesima reading is Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard.  One of these days I'm really going to try to compare and contrast some of the various lectionary systems to see what's been going on for the past 2,000 years!)

Here's a wonderful tempera with gold leaf of the calling of Peter and Andrew, from Duccio di Buoninsegna, from about 1310: