"In the Hell of Life, Holy Saturday"

Another beautiful post today from Interrupting the Silence:

The Harrowing of Hell,
14th century (source)

“When one door closes another opens,” goes an old and popular saying. But what about that time in between, after one door closes but before another opens? What do we do then? As a friend of mine once said, “It’s hell when you are waiting in the hallway.” That’s where we are today. The door on Good Friday has closed. Jesus is dead. The door on Easter has not yet opened. The tomb is sealed and guarded.

This is Holy Saturday, in-between time, tomb time.

Many, perhaps most, will not remember or celebrate this day, but, at some point, we all live this day. We all come to the Holy Saturday of our life, the hell of our life, and it always involves a death of some kind: the death of loved one, the death of a relationship, the death of a dream. Regardless of how it comes about someone or something has died and all the doors remain closed.

Our reading from Lamentations describes this well. We have been “brought into darkness without any light.” We are “besieged and enveloped with bitterness and tribulation.” We are walled in and cannot escape. We call and cry for help but our prayer is shut out.

We are homeless. There is nothing but the tomb.

This day seems like anything but holy. Where is Jesus on Holy Saturday? Reread the Apostles’ Creed. Remind yourself that on this day “He descended to the dead” or as another translation says, “He descended into hell.” Holy Saturday is when Christ descends into the hell of our life, breaking the bonds of death, and setting the captives free. Holy Saturday is the day death and Hades tremble in fear, and regret ever having tried to take captive the author and creator of life.

It is tempting in the Holy Saturday of our lives to run away, to leave the tomb and just get to Easter. But the tomb is the birthplace of Easter, “the workshop of resurrection.” Tragedy, sorrow, and death do not simply go away or get replaced. They are transformed. In that holy workshop Christ transforms tragedy into triumph, sorrow into joy, and death into life. We must, therefore, remain present to the tomb of Holy Saturday. That’s what Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are doing.

They are “sitting opposite the tomb.” They do not say anything; there is not much to say on this day. They do not do anything; there is not much to do on this day. Holy Saturday is a time of patience. This is about more than just waiting or passing time. It is the willingness to trust that there is more going on than we see or understand. It is reminding ourselves that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end.” It is remaining present so that when another door opens, and it will, we will be there to walk through it.

Do you remember who were the first to see the open tomb of Christ? Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.

“By death He conquered death, and to those in the graves He granted life!”

+

This sermon is for Holy Saturday and is based on Matthew 27:57-66 and Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24.

"Holy Saturday: this stretch, this nakedness"

From catholicity and covenant today:

When he died, he did not wake from a bad dream, and find he was God.  He went lower yet; descended into hell, says our creed.  That is, he died, and he was dead.  For hell, in this formula of words, means simply this: whatever is the condition of the dead, when they have died.

And what condition is that?  What is it to have died, and to be dead?  If resurrection is unimaginable, how much more unimaginably unimaginable is death?  Resurrection will refashion us in the stuff of glory.  We shall not be flesh and blood, but we shall be ourselves, we shall be.  But death, what is death?  What is the tenuous thread which spans the abyss of not-being, to join our being what we were with what we shall become?  This stretch, this nakedness, what is it?  I do not know, but Christ knows; for he descended into hell.

From Austin's Farrer's sermon "Gates to the City" in A Celebration of Faith.

(The painting is Georges Rouault De Profundis, 1948.)

Good Friday: Stabat Mater

Stabat mater dolorosa
juxta Crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.

Cuius animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem
pertransivit gladius.

O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta,
mater Unigeniti!

Quae moerebat et dolebat,
pia Mater, dum videbat
nati poenas inclyti.

Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?

Quis non posset contristari
Christi Matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio?

Pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis,
et flagellis subditum.

Vidit suum dulcem Natum
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.

Eia, Mater, fons amoris
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.

Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.

Sancta Mater, istud agas,
crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.

Tui Nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
poenas mecum divide.

Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.

Juxta Crucem tecum stare,
et me tibi sociare
in planctu desidero.

Virgo virginum praeclara,
mihi iam non sis amara,
fac me tecum plangere.

Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.

Fac me plagis vulnerari,
fac me Cruce inebriari,
et cruore Filii.

Flammis ne urar succensus,
per te, Virgo, sim defensus
in die iudicii.

Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per Matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriae.

Quando corpus morietur,
fac, ut animae donetur
paradisi gloria. Amen.


At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to her Son to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.

O how sad and sore distressed
was that Mother, highly blest,
of the sole-begotten One.

Christ above in torment hangs,
she beneath beholds the pangs
of her dying glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain
from partaking in her pain,
in that Mother's pain untold?

For the sins of His own nation,
She saw Jesus wracked with torment,
All with scourges rent:

She beheld her tender Child,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord:

Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.

Holy Mother! pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Savior crucified:

Let me share with thee His pain,
who for all my sins was slain,
who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live:

By the Cross with thee to stay,
there with thee to weep and pray,
is all I ask of thee to give.

Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine;

Let me, to my latest breath,
in my body bear the death
of that dying Son of thine.

Wounded with His every wound,
steep my soul till it hath swooned,
in His very Blood away;

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
lest in flames I burn and die,
in His awful Judgment Day.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
be Thy Mother my defense,
be Thy Cross my victory;

While my body here decays,
may my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in Paradise with Thee.

Translation by Edward Caswall
Lyra Catholica (1849)

Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae (The Holy Week Office): Tomás Luis de Victoria

This is quite amazing; a complete - I think so, anyway; it's 2.5+ hours of music - recording of this work by Victoria. 



Victoria wrote this piece in or around 1585.   The YouTuber includes the following credits:

Coro de monjes del Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos
Coro de voces blancas de Burgos
Concertador: Dom Felipe Fernández, O.S.B.
Director: Ismael Fernandez de la Cuesta.

Below is the (partial, it seems) track list from the above page; the first part is from Palm Sunday - and most of the rest comes from Matins of Maundy Thurday (In Coena Domini), Good Friday (Parasceve), and Holy Saturday (Sabbato Sancto).

In other words, the greatest part of this music was written for the Office of Tenebrae - Matins and Lauds of the great Three Days.   Included, too, are readings (including some from the Lamentations of Jeremiah), antiphons, responsories, hymns, and pieces from John's Passion and the Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday.

To follow along with the Matins sections, use Divinum Officium; enter the date at the top of the page, then click "Matutinum" at the bottom.  You can listen to St. Thomas' Tenebrae sung in plainsong here.

Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae- S.XVI. ( Integral)

I DOMINICA IN RAMIS PALMARUM

Pueri Hebraeorum

II FERIA V IN COENA DOMINI

In I Nocturno ( Lectiones I,II,III )
In II Nocturno ( Lectiones et Responsoria:
IV " Amicus meus",V " Judas mercator"
VI " Unus ex discipulis" )
Lector: Francisco Lara

In III Nocturno ( Lectiones et Responsoria:
VII " Eran quasi Agnus", VIII "Una Hora"
IX " Seniores populi "
Lector: Dom Pedro Alonso, O.S.B.
Benedictus Dominus
Lectores: Dom Baudilio López O.S.B. y
Francisco Lara ( Primer coro)- Dom Jose Luis Angulo, O.S.B.
y Dom Constancio del Alamo, O.S.B. ( segundo Coro)

III FERIA VI PARASCEVE ( principio )

In I Nocturno ( Lectiones I, II, III ).......
In II Nocturno ( Lectiones et Responsalia:
IV " Tamquam ad latronem", V " Tenebrae factae sunt", VI " Animam meam" )
Lector: Francisco Lara
In III Nocturno ( Lectiones y Responsoria:
VII " Tradiderunt me", VIII " Jesum tradidit",
IX " Caligaverunt" )
Lector: Dom Pedro Alonso, O.S.B.

III FERIA VI IN PARASCEVE ( final)

Passio secundum Joannem ....
Sinagoga: Francisco Lara
Cronista y Jesucristo:
Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta
Improperia: " Popule meus"......
Soprano: Hermana Maria Begoña Martínez
Contralto: Hermana, Maria Lourdes Gabilondo
Tenor: Francisco Lara
Bajo: Dom Constancio del Alamo, O.S.B.

IV SABBATO SANCTO

In I Nocturno ( Lectiones I, II, III )
In II Nocturno ( Lectiones et Responsoria:
IV " Recessit pastor nortes", V " O vos omnes",
VI " Ecce quomodo" )...........
In III Nocturno ( Lectiones et Responsoria:
VII " Astiterunt", VIII " Aestimatus sum",
IX " Sepulto Domino")...........
Miserere mei, Deus

Maundy Thursday: "Gregorian Chants from Assisi - Medieval Lauds"

Gregorianische Gesange aus Assisi, Gregorian Chants from Assisi - Laudes Antiquae Medieval Lauds, In Cena Domini de Missa Solemni Vespertina - Coro della Cappella Papale di San Francesco d 'Assisi, Padre Maestro Alfonso Del Ferraro. (1967)

In cena domini : de missa solemni vespertina = Plainsong melodies for the commemoration of the Lord's Supper on Maundy Thursday.

De missa
1.Nos autem gloriari oportet
2. Christus factus est pro nobis obediens.

De lotione pedum:
3.Mandatum novum do vobis
4. Postquam surrexit Dominus
5. Dominus Jesus, postquam cenavit
6. Domine, tu mihi lavas pedes?
7. Si ego Dominus et Magister vester
8. In hoc cognoscent omnes
9. Maneant in vobis fides, spes, caritas
10. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est

De missa:
11. Dextera Domini fecit virtutem
12. Sanctus

De solemni translatione ac repositione sacramenti:
13.Pange lingua gloriosi Corporis mysterium

Cantus Poenitentiae:
14.Parce Domine, parce populo tuo

In festo Corpore Christi:
15.Verbun supernum prodiens
16.Lauda Sion Salvatorem.

Maundy Thursday: "Partaking of the sacrificial body"

Again from catholicity and covenant:

Do the disciples understand the nature of the bond? Jesus has blessed his food, to be the body he will offer in his sacrifice; do they know that they are committed to membership in such a body as that?  A body flogged, broken, crucified - see, he crumbles the loaf before their eyes.  Do they perceive the new meaning in the ancient custom, the breaking of the bread?  Are they willing to be parts of such a body, are they willing that his body, with its sacrificial destiny, should be theirs?  The disciples were not yet fully willing, but they came to be, and so we all must; for if we do not want to be given and surrendered to God, why touch religion at all?  By partaking of the sacrificial body, we are to be made capable of sacrifice, taken up, as we are, into the sacrificial being of Christ.

From Austin Farrer's address "This is my Body", given at the 1958 Eucharistic Congress, in Said and Sung.

(The painting is Georges Rouault Christ and the Apostles.)

Maundy Thursday: "We must return every day into his death"

In catholicity and covenant today:

Take the Passion of Christ in S. Matthew or S. Luke, and merely look with all your eyes on one scene at a time.  Begin at the upper room;  see Jesus give himself away with his own hands to his Father and to his friends, in bread and wine that are his body and blood.  Go on to the garden, see him give himself again, and confirm his gift in the agony of prayer; see him, by standing to the truth of his mission, call death on his own head in Caiaphas's court and in Pilate's.  See him, half  flogged to death, wear that crown and that robe which assert the kingdom of God's will on earth through mockery and annihilation.  See him receive the cross on which he is to die, and see him die on it.  Then see if the overflowing mercy which unites you to him will not make something more of your giving yourself to God, if only for a day.  We must live one day at a time, but we cannot do that if we do not return every day into the life of Jesus, and above all into his death.

From Austin Farrer's sermon "Dying to Live" in Said or Sung.

(The painting is Georges Rouault Head of Christ, 1937.)

The Gradual for Monday in Holy Week: Exsurge Domine

I found this video while looking for something else; after some searching, I learned that Exsurge Domine is the Gradual for Monday in Holy Week:



Here's a page from the St. Gall codex that contains this chant:

I found the chant text and a link to the codex above at the Académie de Chant grégorien.  The text comes from Psalm 35:23:

Exsurge Domine,
et intende iudicium meum, Deus meus,
et Dominus meus, in causam meam.

Awake, and rise to my defense!
Contend for me, my God and my Lord.

St Matthew Matthäus Passion, BWV 244

Christoph Prégardien, tenor
Tobias Berndt, baritone
Dorothee Mields, soprano
Hana Blažíková, soprano
Damien Guillon, countertenor
Robin Blaze, countertenor
Colin Balzer, tenor
Hans Jörg Mammel, tenor
Matthew Brook, bass
Stephan MacLeod, bass

Collegium Vocale Gent Conducted by Philippe Herreweghe

Holy Saturday: "Hast Thou Considered My Servant Job?"

Via Thornton Wilder and Mockingbird.

Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before SATAN that CHRIST also came among them. And
SATAN. [Said unto CHRIST:] Whence comest Thou?
CHRIST. [Answered SATAN and said:] From going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it.
[And:]
SATAN. [Said unto CHRIST:] Hast though considered my servant Judas? For there is none like him in the earth, an evil and a faithless man, one that feareth me and turneth away from God.
[Then:]
CHRIST. [Answered SATAN and said:] Doth Judas fear thee for naught? Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? But draw back thy hand now and he will renounce thee to thy face.
[And:]
SATAN. [Said unto CHRIST:] Behold, all that he hath is in thy power.
[So CHRIST went forth from the presence of SATAN.]

* * * * *

[He descended to the earth. Thirty-three years are but a moment before SATAN and before God, and at the end of this moment CHRIST ascends again to his own place. He passes on this journey before the presence of the adversary.]
SATAN. You are alone! Where is my son Judas whom I gave into your hands?
CHRIST. He follows me.
SATAN. I know what you have done. And the earth rejected you? The earth rejected you! All Hell murmurs in astonishment. But where is Judas, my son and my joy?
CHRIST. Even now he is coming.
SATAN. Even Heaven, when I reigned there, was not so tedious as this waiting. Know, Prince, that I am too proud to show all my astonishment at your defeat. But now that you are swallowing your last humiliation, now that your failure has shut the mouths of the angels, I may confess that for a while I feared you. There is a fretfulness in the hearts of men. Many are inconsistent, even to me. Alas, every man is not a Judas. I knew even from the beginning that you would be able, for a season, to win their hearts with your mild eloquence. I feared that you would turn to your own uses this fretfulness that visits them. But my fears were useless. Even Judas, even when my power was withdrawn from him, even Judas betrayed you. Am I not right in this?
CHRIST. You are.
SATAN. You admitted him into your chosen company. Is it permitted to me to ask for how much he betrayed you?
CHRIST. For thirty pieces of silver.
SATAN. [After a pause:] Am I permitted to ask what role he was assigned in your company?
CHRIST. He held its money-bags.
SATAN. [Dazed:] Does Heaven understand human nature as little as that? Surely the greater part of you closest companions stayed beside you to the end?
CHRIST. One stayed beside me.
SATAN. I have overestimated my enemy. Learn again, Prince, that if I were permitted to return to earth in my own person, not for thirty years, but for thirty hours, I would seal all men to me and all the temptations in Heaven’s gift could not persuade one to betray me. For I build not on intermittent dreams and timid aspirations, but on the unshakable passions of greed and lust and self-love. At last this is made clear: Judas, Judas, all the triumphs of Hell await you. Already above the eternal pavements of black marble the banquet is laid. Listen, how my nations are stirring in new hope and in new joy. Such music has not been lifted above my lakes and my mountains since the day I placed the apple of knowledge between the teeth of Adam.
[Suddenly the thirty pieces of silver are cast upward from the revolted hand of JUDAS. They hurtle through the skies, flinging their enormous shadows across the stars and continue falling forever through the vast funnel of space.]
[Presently JUDAS rises, the black stains about his throat and the rope of suicide]
SATAN. What have they done to you, my beloved son? What last poor revenge have they attempted upon you? Come to me. Here there is comfort. Here all this violence can be repaired. The futile spite of Heaven cannot reach you here. But why do you not speak to me? My son, my treasure!
[JUDAS remains with lowered eyes.]
CHRIST. Speak to him, my beloved son.
JUDAS. [Still with lowered eyes, softly, to SATAN:] Accursed be thou, from eternity to eternity.
[These two mount upward to their due place and SATAN remains to this day, uncomprehending, upon the pavement of Hell.]

* * * * *

-from “The Angel that Troubled the Waters” by Thornton Wilder, pp. 129-133 (Coward-McCann, 1928)

Maundy Thursday: Pange Lingua, gloriosi

Written by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th Century, the hymn extols the Eucharist and Christ's sacrifice in giving it. Below are the words, in Latin and the glorious, glorious English translation by Edward Caswall, a 19th-Century Anglican clergyman and hymn writer (who later converted to Roman Catholicism).

Listen to a stunningly beautiful version of it here, an mp3 of the St. Thomas Fifth Avenue Solemn Maundy Thursday Eucharist, sung to the hymn tune Grafton. I love the plainsong version - but this is really so lovely and loving that it's difficult to listen to, in its context, without tears welling in the eyes. The hymn, with organ accompaniment, starts at around 1:43:30; at the moment I think it's the loveliest hymn ever written. There are long pauses between verses as the Sacrament is taken in procession to the Altar of Repose. (The whole service is very worth listening to; you'll hear the crotalus used at the consecration, and the sound of palm branches scrubbing the altar as it's stripped at the very end of the service, during the chanting of Psalm 22. Here's the service leaflet, in PDF; here's Coverdale Psalm 22, the version they're singing.)

Pange, lingua, gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi,
quem in mundi pretium
fructus ventris generosi
Rex effudit Gentium.

Nobis datus, nobis natus
ex intacta Virgine,
et in mundo conversatus,
sparso verbi semine,
sui moras incolatus
miro clausit ordine.

In supremae nocte coenae
recumbens cum fratribus
observata lege plene
cibis in legalibus,
cibum turbae duodenae
se dat suis manibus.

Verbum caro, panem verum
verbo carnem efficit:
fitque sanguis Christi merum,
et si sensus deficit,
ad firmandum cor sincerum
sola fides sufficit.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
veneremur cernui:
et antiquum documentum
novo cedat ritui:
praestet fides supplementum
sensuum defectui.

Genitori, Genitoque
laus et jubilatio,
salus, honor, virtus quoque
sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
compar sit laudatio.

Amen. Alleluja.

NOW, my tongue, the mystery telling
Of the glorious Body sing,
And the Blood, all price excelling,
Which the Gentiles’ Lord and King,
Once on earth among us dwelling,
Shed for this world’s ransoming.

Given for us, and condescending
To be born for us below,
He with men in converse blending
Dwelt, the seed of truth to sow,
Till he closed with wondrous ending
His most patient life of woe.

That last night at supper lying
Mid the twelve, his chosen band,
Jesus, with the Law complying,
Keeps the feast its rites demand;
Then, more precious food supplying,
Gives himself with his own hand

Word-made-flesh, true bread he maketh
By his word his Flesh to be,
Wine his Blood; when man partaketh,
Though his senses fail to see,
Faith alone, when sight forsaketh,
Shows true hearts the mystery.

Therefore we, before him bending,
This great Sacrament revere;
Types and shadows have their ending,
For the newer rite is here;
Faith, our outward sense befriending,
Makes our inward vision clear.

Glory let us give and blessing
To the Father and the Son,
Honor, thanks, and praise addressing,
While eternal ages run;
Ever too his love confessing
Who from both with both is One.

Amen. Alleluia.

Good Friday: '“There Is No Possibility of a Smooth Evolution Here”: An Atheist’s Good Friday Sermon'

Via Mockingbird:

From Terry Eagleton’s lecture series, Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate, in which Eagleton criticizes the approach of new atheists Richard Dawkins and Hitch (God rest his soul), or “Ditchkins,” as Eagleton calls them. Raised a Catholic and currently finding it “hard to say” what his current stand is on matters of faith, Eagleton’s primary interest lies in mining Christian theology for insights valuable to the Marxist. But along the way he demonstrates an understanding of the Christian Gospel better than many of those coming from a pulpit:

“Raising of Lazarus,” Guercino

[F]or Christian teaching, God’s love and forgiveness are ruthlessly unforgiving powers which break violently into our protective, self-rationalizing little sphere, smashing our sentimental illusions and turning our world brutally upside down. In Jesus, the law is revealed to be the law of love and mercy, and God not some Blakean Nobodaddy but a helpless, vulnerable animal. It is the flayed and bloody scapegoat of Calvary that is now the true signifier of the law. . .

Here, then, is your pie in the sky or opium of the people, your soft-eyed consolation and pale-cheeked piety. Here is the fantasy and escapism that the hard-headed secularist pragmatist finds so distasteful. Freud saw religion as the mitigation of the harshness of the human condition; but it would surely be at least as plausible to claim that what we call reality is a mitigation of the Gospel’s ruthless demands, which include such agreeable acts of escapism as being ready to lay down your life for a total stranger. Imitating Jesus means imitating his death as well as his life, since the two are not finally distinguishable. The death is the consummation of the life, the place where the ultimate meaning of Jesus’s self-giving is revealed. . . .

What is at stake here is not a prudently reformist project of pouring new wine into old bottles, but an avant-gardist epiphany of the absolutely new—of a regime so revolutionary as to surpass all image and utterance, a reign of justice and fellowship which for the Gospel writers is even now striking into this bankrupt, dépassé, washed-up world. . . . The coming of the kingdom involves not a change of government, but a turbulent passage through death, nothingness, madness, loss and futility. . . signified among other things by Christ’s descent into hell after his death. There is no possibility of a smooth evolution here. Given the twisted state of the world, self-fulfillment can ultimately come about only through self-divestment.

Good Friday: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, according to St. John

In Latin, with the English translation scrolling at left.

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:

Good Friday: Tenebrae Factae Sunt

Tenebrae Factae Sunt is the fifth of the nine responsories for Matins of Good Friday.

 

From CPDL:

A responsory is a sung response to a Scripture reading. It has two parts: a respond and a versicle. After the versicle (indicated below by V. and usually sung by a single voice or a smaller group), the second part of the respond is repeated.

Tenebrae factae sunt, dum crucifixissent Jesum Judaei: et circa horam nonam exclamavit Jesus voce magna: Deus meus, ut quid me dereliquisti?

Et inclinato capite, emisit spiritum.

V. Exclamans Jesus voce magna ait: Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum.

Et inclinato capite, emisit spiritum.


There was darkness over the earth when the Judaeans crucified Jesus: and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

V. Jesus cried with a loud voice and said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

The Maundy Thursday Offertory: Ubi Caritas

The Offertory for the Maundy Thursday Evening Mass (Missa Vespertina in Cena Domini) is Ubi Caritas - "Where Love is, there is God." This is one of the few chants not based directly on Scripture, and for most of its history, it was used as one of the antiphons for the footwashing rite at the Maundy Thursday Eucharist. (It was assigned by the Roman Catholic Missal as the Offertory only in 1970.)



Here's the chant score, with the Latin text and one English translation below. (There are differences in the Latin text, according to manuscript used; one version has Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est ("Where Love and Charity are, there is God"), and another version - the one given below - has Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est. ("Where Charity is true, there is God").)

Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.

Exultemus, et in ipso jucundemur.

Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.

Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur:

Ne nos mente dividamur, caveamus.

Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites.

Et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus.

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

Simul quoque cum beatis videamus,

Glorianter vultum tuum, Christe Deus:

Gaudium quod est immensum, atque probum,

Saecula per infinita saeculorum. Amen.

Where charity and love are, God is there.

Christ's love has gathered us into one.

Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.

Let us fear, and let us love the living God.

And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

Where charity and love are, God is there.

As we are gathered into one body,

Beware, lest we be divided in mind.

Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,

And may Christ our God be in our midst.

Where charity and love are, God is there.

And may we with the saints also,

See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:

The joy that is immense and good,

Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.

Here's Marucie Durufle's choral version, hewing closely to the Gregorian chant melody, sung by the King's College Choir:



This is Morten Lauridsen's lovely version, via the "Poznan Chamber Choir, Dir.: Bartosz Michalowski at 11th International Chamber Choir Competition Marktoberdorf 2009":




Here, 'Composer/pianist Ola Gjeilo joins the CWU Chamber Choir (Gary Weidenaar, director) in presenting Gjeilo's "Ubi Caritas"':



And here is the Taize version of this song:



Here's a post on the Introit for today, Nos autem gloriari (also used on Holy Cross Day), and another on all the chants for today.

Palestrina's "Lamentations of Jeremiah"

Via the Hilliard Ensemble; lovely. The Lamentations are sung in plainchant as part of Holy Week's Office of Tenebrae, sung at Mattins and Lauds on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday; see Breviary.net for the full Office, beginning with Maundy Thursday.  (Here is the Episcopal Church's liturgy for the single-service version of Tenebrae, from The Book of Occasional Services.)

The Palestrina here is broken into the three videos below, as the Lamentations would be sung at the three separate services (although a few sections are missing here); the YouTube blurb is below each video, and the complete Lamentations in English at the end of the post.

Incipit : Aleph : Beth (Maundy Thursday, Lesson 1)

Incipit lamentatio Ieremiae prophetae.

ALEPH Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo: Facta est quasi vidua domina Gentium: Princeps provinciarum facta est sub tributo.

BETH Plorans ploravit in nocte, et lacrimae eius in maxillis eius: Non est qui consoletur eam ex omnibus caris eius: Omnes amici eius spreverunt eam, et facti sunt ei inimici.

Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.

Heth : Teth : Iod (Good Friday, Lesson 1)

HETH Cogitavit Dominus dissipare murum filiae Sion: tetendit funiculum suum, et non avertit manum suam a perdtione: Iuxitque antemuraele, et murus pariter dissipatus est.

TETH Defixae sunt in terra portae eius: perdidit, et contrivit vectes eius: Regem eius et principes eius in gentibus: non est lex, et prophetae eius non invenerunt visionem a Domino.

IOD Sederunt in terra, conticuerunt senes filiae Sion: consperserunt cinere capita sua, accincti sunt ciliciis, abiecerunt in terram capita sua virgines Iuda.

Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.

Lamed : Mem : Nun (Good Friday, Lesson 2)

LAMED Matribus suis dixerunt: Ubi est triticum et vinum? Cum deficerent quasi vulnerati in plateis civitatis: cum exhalarent animas suas in sinu matrum suarum.

MEM Cu comparabo te? Vel cui assimilabo te, filia Ierusalem? Cui exaequabo te, et consolabor te, virgo filia Sion? Magna est enim velut mare contritio tua: quis medebitur tui?

NUN Prophetae tui viderunt tibi falsa et stulta, nec aperiebant iniquitatem tuam, ut te ad paenitentiam provocarent: viderunt autem tibi assumptiones falsas, et eiectiones.

Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum.

 Here are the Lamentations in English (taken from the St. Thomas leaflet).  The initial words (Aleph, Beth, Ghimel, etc.), are letters of the Hebrew alphabet; Lamentations make up another Biblical acrostic.

LESSON 1 Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:1-14

Aleph. How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!

Beth. She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.

Ghimel. Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.

Daleth. The ways of Sion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.

He. Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return unto the Lord thy God!


LESSON 2

Vau. From the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.

Zain. Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries, all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hands of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths.

Heth. Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.

Teth. Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down  wonderfully: she had no comforter: O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return unto the Lord thy God!


LESSON 3

Jod. The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things; for she hath seen that  the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.

Caph. All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to  relieve the soul: see, O Lord, and consider; for I am become vile.

Lamed. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto  my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce  anger.

Mem. From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread  a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day.

Nun. The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon  my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return unto the Lord thy God!

From Saint Thomas Church: The Office of Tenebrae

Saint Thomas Church will webcast the Office of Tenebrae this evening at 5:30; this is always a stunningly beautiful service.  [EDIT:  That link is from last year, but you can now listen to St. Thomas' 2013 Tenebrae, sung on March 27.]

This service anticipates the monastic offices for the last three days of Holy Week. Tenebrae means "shadows" and refers to the gradual extinguishing of candles and lights as the service proceeds, until only one candle remains.

As the people enter the church before the service begins, they see in the chancel seven candles glowing brightly. The altar candles, too, are lit, though the candles are made of non-bleached beeswax, just as we use at funerals.

The Order of Service proceeds as follows:

The ministers enter in silence and proceed to their places. Three acolytes, who at almost all other services would be carrying a cross and two torches, walk ahead of the ministers, empty-handed.


The choir and cantors then progress through a series of antiphons and Psalms. At the end of Psalm 69, the first candle is extinguished. At the end of Psalm 70, the second. At the end of the Psalm 74, the third. As each candle is snuffed out, the lights high above the congregation are dimmed a bit more.

Then comes a period where the lights remain as they are: the Lord's Prayer is said, and a series of three lessons and three responsories are sung.

This is followed by the Lauds, another series of antiphons and Psalms during which three more candles are extinguished (after Psalm 63, after the Song of Moses, and after Psalm 150). Now, the nave of the church is very near dark, as the lights have been dimmed even further.

Near the end of the canticle, acolytes emerge to extinguish the altar candles, leaving only the seventh candle lit.

During the repetition of the antiphon after the canticle, the Verger climbs a ladder, removes the candle, and as the choir sings the motet, she takes it toward the High Altar, through the Sanctuary gate, and then hides it in a small room hidden behind the door to the north side of the High Altar.

The congregation says the Lord's Prayer and the choir sings the Miserere.

The Officiant says a prayer and adds (whispering to himself under his breath): "...who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

A loud sound fills the church. Christ is dead. The organ is outraged; the choristers beat their books against their stalls.

Then, in complete silence, the candle emerges from its hiding place. It is returned to its place high above the chancel. By its light all leave in silence.

Officiant:	Fr Mead
Sung by:	The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys
Psalms for Tenebrae:	Plainsong
The Lamentations of Jeremiah:	Plainsong
Christus factus est:	Felice Anerio, (c. 1560-1614)
Miserere mei, Deus:	Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652)

Here's the service leaflet, in PDF.

Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder (Bach Cantata BWV 135)

Heard this premiered last night at Bach Vespers. The Cantata was written for the Third Sunday after Trinity, but works well for Palm Sunday; the final movement is the tune used for the Holy Week hymn "O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded."  And let me again say how great the singing is at Holy Trinity; Lutherans can really rock the joint!



Here's the text and translation from Bach-Cantatas.com:

1. Chorus [Verse 1] (S, A, T, B)

Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder
Straf nicht in deinem Zorn,
Dein' ernsten Grimm doch linder,
Sonst ist's mit mir verlorn.
Ach Herr, wollst mir vergeben
Mein Sünd und gnädig sein,
Dass ich mag ewig leben,
Entfliehn der Höllenpein.

2. Recit. (T)

Ach heile mich, du Arzt der Seelen,
Ich bin sehr krank und schwach;
Man möchte die Gebeine zählen,
So jämmerlich hat mich mein Ungemach,
Mein Kreuz und Leiden zugericht;
Das Angesicht Ist ganz von Tränen aufgeschwollen,
Die, schnellen Fluten gleich, von Wangen abwärts rollen.
Der Seele ist von Schrecken angst und bange;
Ach, du Herr, wie so lange?

3. Aria (T)

Tröste mir, Jesu, mein Gemüte,
Sonst versink ich in den Tod,
Hilf mir, hilf mir durch deine Güte
Aus der großen Seelennot!
Denn im Tod ist alles stille,
Da gedenkt man deiner nicht.
Liebster Jesu, ist's dein Wille,
So erfreu mein Angesicht!

4. Recit. (A)

Ich bin von Seufzen müde,
Mein Geist hat weder Kraft noch Macht,
Weil ich die ganze Nacht
Oft ohne Seelenruh und Friede
In großem Schweiß und Tränen liege.
Ich gräme mich fast tot und bin vor Trauern alt,
Denn meine Angst ist mannigfalt.

5. Aria (B)

Weicht, all ihr Übeltäter,
Mein Jesus tröstet mich!
    Er lässt nach Tränen und nach Weinen
    Die Freudensonne wieder scheinen;
    Das Trübsalswetter ändert sich,
    Die Feinde müssen plötzlich fallen
    Und ihre Pfeile rückwärts prallen.

6. Chorale [Verse 6] (S, A, T, B)

Ehr sei ins Himmels Throne
Mit hohem Ruhm und Preis
Dem Vater und dem Sohne
Und auch zu gleicher Weis
Dem Heilgen Geist mit Ehren
In alle Ewigkeit,
Der woll uns all'n bescheren
Die ewge Seligkeit.

1. Chorus [Verse 1] (S, A, T, B)

Ah Lord, me a poor sinner
Blame not within thy wrath;
Thy solemn rage yet soften,
Else is my hope forlorn.
Ah Lord, may'st thou forgive me
My sin and mercy send,
That I have life eternal
And flee the pain of hell.

2. Recit. (T)

Ah, heal me now, thou soul's physician,
I am so ill and weak;
One could in truth my bones all number,
So grievously have this my toil and woe,
My cross and sorrow dealt with me;
My countenance
Is full of tears and now all swollen;
Like rapid streams they are, which down my cheeks are rolling.
My soul is now with terror torn and anxious;
Ah, thou Lord, why this waiting?

3. Aria (T)

Comfort me, Jesus, in my spirit,
Or I'll sink now into death;
Lift me, lift me through thy dear kindness
From my spirit's great distress.
For in death is nought but stillness,
Where for thee no thought is given.
Dearest Jesus, if it please thee,
Fill with joy my countenance!

4. Recit. (A)

I am from sighing weary,
My soul hath neither strength nor might,
For I the whole night through,
Oft lacking peace of mind and calmness,
In copious sweat and tears am lying.
I fear nigh unto death and am with mourning old,
For my great fear is manifold.

5. Aria (B)

Yield, all ye evildoers,
My Jesus comforts me!

He brings, when past are tears and weeping,
The sun of joy once more its radiance;
The storms of sadness are transformed,
The enemy must sudden perish
And their own darts recoil against them.

6. Chorale [Verse 6] (S, A, T, B)

In heaven's throne be glory
With lofty fame and praise
To Son and to the Father
As well in equal wise
To Holy Ghost with honor
For all eternity,
Who shall us all let share in
Eternal blessedness. 

Palm Sunday and sung Passion, from Trinity Wall Street

This starts with the Procession coming into the church - certainly a good public witness in Manhattan. (Perhaps they begin at St. Paul's Chapel? Not sure.)

And , with procession music and a sung Passion they've composed themselves, it looks like. It's really worth seeing, even though I personally prefer the simple plainchant version of the passion we sang at St. Mary's (the congregation sings the part of Jesus, so we learn to sing that tone, and now I know all the various tones as well). In this video, the Passion narrative is a kind of alternatim, with the choir singing the composed part, and (I think) the whole congregation singing verses, in refrain, of "Ah, Holy Jesus." Here's what the blurb at the site says:

The traditional scripture text from the Gospel of Mark will be used in the reading of the Passion, which will be chanted in an improvisational style by members of the Trinity Choir, with participation by the congregation in a sung refrain.

The Passion starts at around 17:00, right after the singing of another composed version of Christus Factus Est (called here "A song of Christ's humility"). Very interesting, really.



TWS is doing some really interesting things in terms of music these days. For instance, a few years ago they sang a composed (and choral!) version of the Exsultet at Easter Vigil. Again, I prefer the simpler stuff, just because the tunes stick in my head and become part of my psychic world; composed stuff is often too difficult to do this with - but it is dramatic and can be very lovely. It seems to veer off into a kind of interesting "Orthodox chant" style, which I do really like. This passion is very long, because they start it from the story of the woman anointing Jesus' feet; a nice touch, I think. Here's the service bulletin, in PDF.

TWS has some priests with really excellent singing voices!

Orthodox Byzantine Chant for Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday: "By Raising Lazarus"

The first song on this video is a beautiful "Lazarus Saturday & Palm Sunday Troparion" - and it includes some interesting theology! ("By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy passion, Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God!"). The singer is Vassilis Hadjinicolaou - he may also be the composer/arranger, I'm not sure - and this song is followed by two others: "Six days before the Feast of Passover" and "Behold the Bridegroom." They all come from a recording called "Holy Week."


Here's a page about this recording at Liturgica.com; here's the blurb there about it:

Holy Week is the fourth recording to appear under the general title Byzantine Music in the New World. It is an effort to place the Byzantine musical tradition of the Orthodox Church within an English-language context and it is directed mainly to English-speaking Christians around the world. The composer and performer, Vassilis Hadjinicolaou, is a talented musician who hails from Thessaloniki (Greece) and who resided for many years in Montreal (Canada). While there, he witnessed the great need amongst North American Orthodox for a Byzantine musical expression in their own language. This recording features selections from Holy Week (the week between Palm Sunday and Pascha or Easter) sung in traditional Byzantine melodies.

He's great, isn't he?

Here's a page from OCA.org about Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, plus an excerpt:

The week following the Sunday of St Mary of Egypt is called Palm or Branch Week. At the Tuesday services of this week the Church recalls that Jesus’ friend Lazarus has died and that the Lord is going to raise him from the dead (Jn 11). As the days continue toward Saturday, the Church, in its hymns and verses, continues to follow Christ towards Bethany to the tomb of Lazarus. On Friday evening, the eve of the celebration of the Resurrection of Lazarus, the “great and saving forty days” of Great Lent are formally brought to an end:

Having accomplished the forty days for the benefit of our souls, we pray to Thee, O Lover of Man, that we may see the holy week of Thy passion, that in it we may glorify Thy greatness and Thine unspeakable plan of salvation for our sake. ...(Vesper Hymn)

Lazarus Saturday is a paschal celebration. It is the only time in the entire Church Year that the resurrectional service of Sunday is celebrated on another day. At the liturgy of Lazarus Saturday, the Church glorifies Christ as “the Resurrection and the Life” who, by raising Lazarus, has confirmed the universal resurrection of mankind even before his own suffering and death.

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy passion, Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God! Like the children with the branches of victory, we cry out to Thee, O Vanquisher of Death: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord! (Troparion).

Christ —the Joy, the Truth and the Light of All, the Life of the world and its Resurrection—has appeared in his goodness to those on earth. He has become the Image of our Resurrection, granting divine forgiveness to all (Kontakion).

At the Divine Liturgy of Lazarus Saturday the baptismal verse from Galatians: As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal 3:27) replaces the Thrice-holy Hymn thus indicating the resurrectional character of the celebration, and the fact that Lazarus Saturday was once among the few great baptismal days in the Orthodox Church Year. Because of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, Christ was hailed by the masses as the long-expected Messiah-King of Israel. Thus, in fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, he entered Jenrsalem, the City of the King, riding on the colt of an ass (Zech 9:9; Jn 12:12). The crowds greeted him with brancfies in their hands and called out to him with shouts of praise: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! The Son of David! The King of Israel! Because of this glorification by the people, the priests and scribes were finally driven “to destroy him, to put him to death” (Lk 19:47; Jn 11:53, 12:10).

The feast of Christ’s triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Palm Sunday, is one of the twelve major feasts of the Church. The services of this Sunday follow directly from those of Lazarus Saturday.

Palm Sunday for the West is this Sunday, April 1 - but in the East it's on our Easter day, April 8.