Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander

Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander, who wrote the lyrics to some 400 hymns - some of the best-loved of the hymns in the Anglican tradition, in fact - was a woman.  Just didn't know this, that's all!  It's that first name, I guess....

From Cyberhymnal:

Born: Ear­ly Ap­ril 1818, Red­cross, Coun­ty Wick­low, Ire­land. Died: Oc­to­ber 12, 1895, Lon­don­der­ry, North­ern Ire­land. Buried: Ci­ty Cem­e­te­ry, Lon­don­der­ry, North­ern Ire­land.

Alex­and­er’s hus­band was Will­iam Alex­an­der, bi­shop of Der­ry and Ra­phoe, and lat­er the An­gli­can pri­mate for Ire­land. Ce­cil and her sis­ter found­ed a school for the deaf, and she set up the Girls’ Friend­ly So­ci­e­ty in Lon­don­der­ry. Ce­cil Al­ex­and­er wrote about 400 hymns in her life­time. Her works in­clude:

• Verses from the Ho­ly Scrip­tures, 1846
• Hymns for Lit­tle Child­ren, 1848
• Narrative Hymns for Vill­age Schools, 1853
• Po­ems on Sub­jects in the Old Test­a­ment, 1854 & 1857
• Hymns De­scrip­tive and De­vo­tion­al, 1858
• The Le­gend of the Gold­en Pray­er, 1859

Sources

• Hatfield, pp. 9-10
• Julian, pp. 38, 1602
• Nutter, p. 387
• Stulken, p. 212

Hymns

1. All Things Bright and Beau­ti­ful
2. Angels Stand Around Thy Throne, The
3. Dear Lord, This Thy Serv­ant’s Day
4. Do No Sin­ful Act­ion
5. Christ Has Ascend­ed Up Again
6. Eternal Gates Lift Up Their Heads, The
   • The Gold­en Gates Are Lift­ed Up
7. Every Morn­ing the Red Sun
8. For All Thy Saints, a No­ble Throng
9. Forgive Them, O My Fa­ther
10. Forsaken Once, and Thrice De­nied
11. From Out the Cloud of Am­ber Light
12. He Is Com­ing, He Is Com­ing
13. He Is Risen
14. His Are the Thou­sand Spark­ling Rills
15. How Good Is the Almighty God
16. In Nazareth in Olden Times
17. In the Rich Man’s Garden
18. It Was Early in the Morn­ing
19. Jesus Calls Us
20. O Love Most Patient, Give Me Grace
21. Once in Royal Da­vid’s City
22. Roseate Hues of Early Dawn, The
23. Saints of God Are Ho­ly Men, The
24. Saw You Never, in the Twilight?
25. So Be It, Lord; the Pray­ers are Prayed
26. Souls in Death and Darkness Lying
27. Spirit of God, That Moved of Old
28. St. Patrick’s Breastplate
29. Still Bright and Blue Doth Jordan Flow
30. There Is a Green Hill Far Away
31. There Is One Way
32. Up in Heaven
33. We Are But Little Children Weak
    • O Lord, the Ho­ly Innocents
34. We Are Little Christ­ian Children
35. We Were Washed in Ho­ly Water
36. When Christ Came Down on Earth of Old
    • O Son of God, in Glory Crowned
37. When of Old the Jewish Mothers
38. When Wound­ed Sore the Strick­en Heart
39. Within the Church­yard, Side by Side

The Passion Reading Chanted by the Trinity Choir

Here's that Palm Sunday sung Passion again; Trinity Wall Street has extracted it from the full Palm Sunday video to show it by itself.



The blurb says:

On Palm Sunday, the traditional scripture text from the Gospel of Mark was chanted in an improvisational style by members of the Trinity Choir, with participation by the congregation in a sung refrain.

It's really quite beautiful, isn't it? It might make a really good new version of a sung Passion - although it would have to be nailed down a bit (rather, that is, than "chanted in an improvisational style by members of the Trinity Choir") so that the congregation could get to know the melodies and sing them, either in the service, or on our own time (as happens now, once you get to know the Passion tones!).

This is one place where the Revised Common Lectionary has improved the situation, I think! Prior to this year, I don't think I've ever heard the Passion start out where it does here, at the anointing of Jesus at Bethany, by the woman "with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard."

Elizaphanian: "Why is it a 'Good' Friday?"

Rev. Sam on a roll! Looks like he's writing for the local news organization, and well done on that....

Courier article

Why 'Good'? The simple answer is that the crucifixion of Jesus reveals the truth about the world – and the truth sets us free. I believe that what is Good about Good Friday is that on this day above all God is revealed as a God of love, that with this God there is no place for fear of punishment. There are lots of theories that Christians debate about how we are to understand this (it's technically called 'the Atonement') but I think CS Lewis put it best when he said: "We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ's death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary: mere plans or diagrams to be left alone if they do not help us, and, even if they do help us, not to be confused with the thing itself... "

Good Friday is really the culmination of something that I have been trying to describe through my last half-dozen articles – it is the climax and inevitable conclusion of living in a Fallen world. That is, it is because of our sin and brokenness that someone who was innocent ends up getting lynched. What makes Jesus remarkable is that he recognises what is going on and doesn't fight back. He recognises that what keeps the fallen system ticking over is the process of praise and blame, judgement and condemnation. As an innocent man Jesus had every right to retaliate against those who were accusing him, those who were beating him and flogging him. But he didn't. Instead he forgave them. In other words, what Jesus was doing was breaking the cycle of violence and pointing out that we didn't have to keep trudging around that path.

Righteous violence, after all, is what put him on the cross. It was the certainty of being righteous that gave each group of accusers their justification for putting Jesus to death. Whether that be the Romans, the religious authorities, the crowd or even the friend who betrayed him, there was always some more or less expedient rationale that could be deployed to make sense of doing something wrong. That is still the world that we live in. In effect, what happens on the cross is that judgement itself is judged, condemnation itself is condemned. The cross is the declaration that God is not on the side of those doing the denouncing, rather God is the one who is being denounced, the one who has offended the political authorities and the religious authorities and disappointed the expectations of the crowd and his friends.

When Christians talk about the cross – which is so central to our faith – this is what we are conscious of. Our own failures and brokenness, all the ways in which we have fallen short of God's intentions for us. Yet the thing is – it is level ground at the foot of cross. That is, we are all in the same boat; as St Paul puts it, 'We are none of us righteous, no, not one'. To come to the foot of the cross is, for the Christian, simply to recognise our own fallen nature, to see the consequences of that fallen nature, but also to recognise that God has taken those consequences onto himself, and that if we acknowledge this truth and let go of the compulsions and fears that lead us to judge and condemn each other – then we need have no fear of condemnation and judgement ourselves. This is the secret at the heart of the Lord's Prayer: 'forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us'. We just stand at the foot of the cross, not asserting our own goodness, but recognising the fate of goodness in our Fallen world.

Of course, if this was the end of the story, it would mean that the fallen world was all that there is – and that really wouldn't be Good. But I don't want to spoil the end of the story for those who don't know it... I'll say something about that in my next article.

(Note the Girardian analysis slipped in there casually!)

Hopefully he'll update his blog so I can let everybody know how it all comes out....

Easter: Kommt, eilet und laufet, ihr flüchtigen Füße (The Easter Oratorio, BWV 249)

"Come hasten and hurry, you swift feet!," that is.

Translations:

Maria Jacobi (S), Maria Magdalena (A), Petrus (T), Johannes (B) 

1. Sinfonia

2. Adagio

3. Aria (Duetto) T B
Kommt, eilet und laufet, ihr flüchtigen Füße,
Erreichet die Höhle, die Jesum bedeckt!
    Lachen und Scherzen
    Begleitet die Herzen,
    Denn unser Heil ist auferweckt.
  
4. Recitativo A S T B
Alt
O kalter Männer Sinn!
Wo ist die Liebe hin,
Die ihr dem Heiland schuldig seid?
Sopran
Ein schwaches Weib muss euch beschämen!
Tenor
Ach, ein betrübtes Grämen
Bass
Und banges Herzeleid
Tenor, Bass
Hat mit gesalznen Tränen
Und wehmutsvollem Sehnen
Ihm eine Salbung zugedacht,
Sopran, Alt
Die ihr, wie wir, umsonst gemacht.

5. Aria S
Seele, deine Spezereien
Sollen nicht mehr Myrrhen sein.
    Denn allein
    Mit dem Lorbeerkranze prangen,
    Stillt dein ängstliches Verlangen.
  
6. Recitativo T B A
Tenor
Hier ist die Gruft
Bass
Und hier der Stein,
Der solche zugedeckt.
Wo aber wird mein Heiland sein?
Alt
Er ist vom Tode auferweckt!
Wir trafen einen Engel an,
Der hat uns solches kundgetan.
Tenor
Hier seh ich mit Vergnügen
Das Schweißtuch abgewickelt liegen.

7. Aria T
Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer,
Nur ein Schlummer,
Jesu, durch dein Schweißtuch sein.
    Ja, das wird mich dort erfrischen
    Und die Zähren meiner Pein
    Von den Wangen tröstlich wischen.
  
8. Recitativo S A
Indessen seufzen wir
Mit brennender Begier:
Ach, könnt es doch nur bald geschehen,
Den Heiland selbst zu sehen!

9. Aria A
Saget, saget mir geschwinde,
Saget, wo ich Jesum finde,
Welchen meine Seele liebt!
    Komm doch, komm, umfasse mich;
    Denn mein Herz ist ohne dich
    Ganz verwaiset und betrübt.
  
10. Recitativo B
Wir sind erfreut,
Dass unser Jesus wieder lebt,
Und unser Herz,
So erst in Traurigkeit zerflossen und geschwebt
Vergisst den Schmerz
Und sinnt auf Freudenlieder;
Denn unser Heiland lebet wieder.

11. Coro
Preis und Dank
Bleibe, Herr, dein Lobgesang.
Höll und Teufel sind bezwungen,
Ihre Pforten sind zerstört.
Jauchzet, ihr erlösten Zungen,
Dass man es im Himmel hört.
Eröffnet, ihr Himmel, die prächtigen Bogen,
Der Löwe von Juda kommt siegend gezogen!

Mary, daughter of James (S), Mary Magdalene (A), Peter (T), John (B)

1. Sinfonia

2. Adagio

3. Aria (T, B) (1)
Come, hasten and hurry,(2) ye fleet-footed paces,
Make haste for the grotto which Jesus doth veil!

Laughter and pleasure, Attend ye our hearts now, For he who saves us is raised up.

4. Recit. (A, S, T, B) Mary Magdalene, Mary, daughter of James, Peter, John
(Mary Magdalene)
O men so cold of heart!
Where is that love then gone
Which to the Savior ye now owe?
(Mary, daughter of James)
A helpless woman must upbraid you!
(Peter)
Ah, our sore-troubled grieving
(John)
And anxious, heartfelt woe
(Peter, John)
Here, joined with salty weeping
And melancholy yearning,
For him an unction did intend,
(Mary, daughter of James, Mary Magdalene)
Which ye, as we, in vain have brought.

5. Aria (S) Mary, daughter of James
Spirit, these thy costly spices
Should consist no more of myrrh.

For alone, Crowned with laurel wreaths resplendent, Wilt thou still thy anxious longing(3).

6. Recit. (T, B, A) Peter, John, Mary Magdalene
(Peter)
Here is the crypt
(John)
And here the stone
Which kept it tightly closed.
But where, then, is my Savior gone?
(Mary Magdalene)
He is from death now risen up!
We met, before, an angel here
Who brought to us report of this.
(Peter)
I see now with great rapture
The napkin all unwound here lying.

7. Aria (T) Peter
Gentle shall my dying labor,
Nought but slumber,
Jesus, through thy napkin be.
Yes, for it will there(4) refresh me
And the tears of all my pain
From my cheeks wipe dry with comfort.

8. Recit. and Arioso (S, A) Mary, daughter of James, Mary Magdalene
And meanwhile, sighing, we
Here burn with deep desire:
Ah, if it only soon might happen,
To see himself the Savior!

9. Aria (A) Mary Magdalene
Tell me, tell me, tell me quickly,
Tell me where I may find Jesus,
Him whom all my soul doth love!

Come now, come, and hold me close, For my heart is, lacking thee, Left an orphan and distressed.

10. Recit. (B) John
We now rejoice
That this our Jesus lives again,
And these our hearts,
Which once in sadness were dissolved and in suspense,
Forget their pain
And turn to joyful anthems,
For this our Savior once more liveth.

11. Chorus (S, A, T, B)
Laud and thanks
Bide, O Lord, thy song of praise.
Hell and devil are now vanquished,
And their portals are destroyed.
Triumph, O ye ransomed voices,
Till ye be in heaven heard.
Spread open, ye heavens, your glorious arches,
The Lion of Judah with triumph shall enter!

The Easter Sequence: Victimae Paschali Laudes

Victimae paschali laudes
immolent Christiani.

Agnus redemit oves:
Christus innocens Patri
Reconciliavit peccatores.

Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando,
Dux vitae mortuus, regnat vivus.

Dic nobis Maria, quid vidisti in via?
Sepulcrum Christi viventis,
Et gloriam vidi resurgentis:

Angelicos testes, sudarium et vestes.
Surrexit Christus spes mea:
Praecedet vos in Galilaeam.


Scimus Christum surrexisse
a mortuis vere:
Tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere.
Amen. Alleluia.

Christians, to the Paschal victim
offer your thankful praises!

A lamb the sheep redeemeth:
Christ, who only is sinless,
reconcileth sinners to the Father.

Death and life have contended
in that combat stupendous:
the Prince of life, who died,
reigns immortal.

Speak, Mary, declaring
what thou sawest, wayfaring:

"The tomb of Christ, who is living,
the glory of Jesus' resurrection;

"Bright angels attesting,
the shroud and napkin resting.

"Yea, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he will go before you."

Christ indeed from death is risen,
our new life obtaining;
have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen.

From the YouTube page:

Victimae Paschali is usually attributed to Wipo of Burgundy (1039), chaplain of the German Emperor Conrad II in the 11th century. It has also been attributed to Notker Balbulus (10th century) and Adam of St. Victor (13th century). Its text was also set to different music by many Renaissance and Baroque composers, including Busnois, Josquin, Lassus, Willaert, Hans Buchner, Palestrina, Byrd, Perosi, and Fernando de las Infantas. Lutheran chorales derived from Victimae Paschali Laudes include Christ ist erstanden and Christ lag in Todesbanden.

During the Middle Ages there were many Sequences in use, but the Council of Trent abolished all but a few. In the Missal of Pius V (1570) the number of sequences for the entire Roman Rite was reduced to four: Victimae paschali laudes (11th century) for Easter, Veni Sancte Spiritus for Pentecost (12th century), Lauda Sion Salvatorem (c.1264) for Corpus Christi, and Dies Irae (13th century) for All Souls and in Masses for the Dead. In 1727, the 13th century Stabat Mater for Our Lady of Sorrows was added to this list. In 1970 the Dies Irae was removed from the Requiem Mass of the revised, new Roman Missal and was transferred to the Liturgy of the Hours to be sung ad libitum in the week before the beginning of Advent. The Christmas sequence "Laetabundus," not present in the Roman Missal, is found in the Dominican Missal. This sequence is permitted for the Third Mass of Christmas, the Epiphany, and Candlemas.

Sung by Chanticleer.

Easter: Christus Vincit

From James MacMillan:

Christus vincit
Christus regnat
Christus imperat.
Alleluia!

(Christ conquers
Christ reigns
Christ rules.
Alleluia!)

Easter: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth