Note: This was originally printed for a September bulletin.
On October 31, 1517, twelve years before he wrote this hymn, the Roman Catholic monk Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences to the door of a Wittenberg, Germany, church, effectively sparking the Protestant Reformation with his critique of indulgences sold by the Catholic church. Out of this Reformation, celebrating its 490th anniversary next month, was born all of the other churches (besides Roman Catholic and Orthodox) that we know today: Lutherans, Presbyterians (including the branches of the Reformed Church), Anabaptists (predecessors of the Baptist denominations)--and Anglicans [that's the church I'm currently serving]!
One of the hallmarks of the Reformation was the five "solas", meaning "alone":
Sola gratia (we are saved "by grace alone")
Sola fide (through "faith alone")
Sola scriptura ("Scripture alone" is the source of Christian doctrine)
Solus Christus ("Christ alone" is the mediator between God and man)
Soli Deo Gloria (all glory is due to "God alone")
Two of the ways Luther expressed the idea of sola scriptura were by encouraging ordinary people to read Scripture for themselves and to sing scriptural ideas in their own languages, rather than merely hearing scriptural ideas sung in Latin. Because of his emphasis on ordinary people participating in the service, Luther was a father of congregational singing.
"A Mighty Fortress" expresses the strength of ordinary people's devotion in the face of much resistance, and since its words and tune were both written by the founder of the Protestant Reformation, it has been called the "Battle Hymn of the Reformation." For a while, it is the last hymn we will sing that was written by a monk--because ordinary people learned to read, write, and praise God with hymns in their own languages. May we sing it today with vigor, knowing we stand with generations of ordinary people to praise an extraordinary God.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
"Be Thou My Vision" 4: Valuing the Tune
Not only the words to the church's hymns but the tunes themselves are gifts from the Holy Spirit, to be treasured and passed down from one generation to the next. The tune of Be Thou My Vision is known as SLANE (hymn tune names are typically capitalized), and refers to a very dramatic event that occurred on March 26, AD 433 (Easter Sunday), on the Hill of Slane in Ireland.
Oral tradition relates that at the command of Leoghaire, the Supreme Monarch of Ireland, the druids and Irish chiefs were to meet in full number...
"...and the decree went forth that... the fires throughout the kingdom should be extinguished until the signal blaze was kindled at the royal mansion. ... [The druids] would muster all their strength to bid defiance to the herald of good tidings and to secure the hold of their superstition on the Celtic race, for their demoniac oracles had announced that the messenger of Christ had come to Erin. St. Patrick arrived at the hill of Slane, at the opposite extremity of the valley from Tara, on Easter Eve...and on the summit of the hill kindled the Paschal fire [as an Easter fire, it was a sign of the presence of Christ, the Light of the world]. The druids at once raised their voice. 'O King', (they said) 'live for ever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished.' By order of the king and the agency of the druids, repeated attempts were made to extinguish the blessed fire and to punish with death the intruder who had disobeyed the royal command. But the fire was not extinguished and Patrick shielded by the Divine power came unscathed from their snares and assaults. On Easter Day the missionary band having at their head the youth Benignus bearing aloft a copy of the Gospels, and followed by St. Patrick who with mitre and crozier was arrayed in full episcopal attire, proceeded in processional order to Tara. The druids and magicians put forth all their strength and employed all their incantations to maintain their sway over the Irish race, but the prayer and faith of Patrick achieved a glorious triumph. The druids by their incantations overspread the hill and surrounding plain with a cloud of worse than Egyptian darkness. Patrick defied them to remove that cloud, and when all their efforts were made in vain, at his prayer the sun sent forth its rays and the brightest sunshine lit up the scene. Again by demoniac power the Arch-Druid Lochru, like Simon Magus of old, was lifted up high in the air, but when Patrick knelt in prayer the druid from his flight was dashed to pieces upon a rock.
"Thus was the final blow given to paganism in the presence of all the assembled chieftains. It was, indeed, a momentous day for the Irish race" (from "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm", accessed July 25, 2007).
The Irish folk song Slane was written about this occasion, and became the hymn tune SLANE when it was matched appropriately to the Irish monastic prayer of protection, Be Thou My Vision, in the early 1900's.
******************************************************
If the tunes themselves are gifts, we should treat them well!
If you are singing this tune at home, here is a hint to help you find the correct rhythm in one difficult place: for the words to match the tune, one syllable in the third line usually gets two beats instead of one.
The syllable that gets two beats is capitalized in the following illustrations.
1. Thou my best THOUGHT, by day or by night....
2. Thou my great FA-ther, I Thy true son....
3. Thou my soul's SHEL-ter, Thou my high tower....
4. Thou and Thou ON-ly, first in my heart....
5. Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.... (here the syllables match the tune, beat for beat)
Oral tradition relates that at the command of Leoghaire, the Supreme Monarch of Ireland, the druids and Irish chiefs were to meet in full number...
"...and the decree went forth that... the fires throughout the kingdom should be extinguished until the signal blaze was kindled at the royal mansion. ... [The druids] would muster all their strength to bid defiance to the herald of good tidings and to secure the hold of their superstition on the Celtic race, for their demoniac oracles had announced that the messenger of Christ had come to Erin. St. Patrick arrived at the hill of Slane, at the opposite extremity of the valley from Tara, on Easter Eve...and on the summit of the hill kindled the Paschal fire [as an Easter fire, it was a sign of the presence of Christ, the Light of the world]. The druids at once raised their voice. 'O King', (they said) 'live for ever; this fire, which has been lighted in defiance of the royal edict, will blaze for ever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished.' By order of the king and the agency of the druids, repeated attempts were made to extinguish the blessed fire and to punish with death the intruder who had disobeyed the royal command. But the fire was not extinguished and Patrick shielded by the Divine power came unscathed from their snares and assaults. On Easter Day the missionary band having at their head the youth Benignus bearing aloft a copy of the Gospels, and followed by St. Patrick who with mitre and crozier was arrayed in full episcopal attire, proceeded in processional order to Tara. The druids and magicians put forth all their strength and employed all their incantations to maintain their sway over the Irish race, but the prayer and faith of Patrick achieved a glorious triumph. The druids by their incantations overspread the hill and surrounding plain with a cloud of worse than Egyptian darkness. Patrick defied them to remove that cloud, and when all their efforts were made in vain, at his prayer the sun sent forth its rays and the brightest sunshine lit up the scene. Again by demoniac power the Arch-Druid Lochru, like Simon Magus of old, was lifted up high in the air, but when Patrick knelt in prayer the druid from his flight was dashed to pieces upon a rock.
"Thus was the final blow given to paganism in the presence of all the assembled chieftains. It was, indeed, a momentous day for the Irish race" (from "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm", accessed July 25, 2007).
The Irish folk song Slane was written about this occasion, and became the hymn tune SLANE when it was matched appropriately to the Irish monastic prayer of protection, Be Thou My Vision, in the early 1900's.
******************************************************
If the tunes themselves are gifts, we should treat them well!
If you are singing this tune at home, here is a hint to help you find the correct rhythm in one difficult place: for the words to match the tune, one syllable in the third line usually gets two beats instead of one.
The syllable that gets two beats is capitalized in the following illustrations.
1. Thou my best THOUGHT, by day or by night....
2. Thou my great FA-ther, I Thy true son....
3. Thou my soul's SHEL-ter, Thou my high tower....
4. Thou and Thou ON-ly, first in my heart....
5. Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.... (here the syllables match the tune, beat for beat)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
"Be Thou My Vision" 3: Fighting and Resting
I wrote the following a couple months ago with a migraine; there are a lot of semi-colons....
Be Thou my Battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
“Dignity” and “delight”, an unusual pairing in a hymn, provide the transition from fighting to resting. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “dignity” as worthiness, worth, nobleness, excellence; honorable or high estate; nobility or befitting elevation of aspect, manner, or style; becoming or fit stateliness, gravity. In medieval times, noblemen were required to fight with their king. Our King stays so close to us that we are not separated by the length of a battlefield nor even by another body; He defends us as our Shield and fights for us as our Sword. He goes deeper even than providing the tools of war; He confers nobility, the nobility belonging to sons and daughters of the King, that we may use the tools with good conduct and honor. This graciousness prompts deep delight, the kind of delight found in the safe shelter of a worthy lover, whose tower protects us from the battle raging outside. We have here pairings of outward activity (battle shield, sword) and inward rest (shelter, tower); the singer ecstatically prays that God meet all needs. “Battle shield” and “shelter” are further paired as images of things that surround us, while “sword” and “tower” are paired as images that point up and straight to the sky; we are protected from earthly perils and raised heavenward by God’s own power. The dignity of the uplifted human soul is joined with the delight of the sheltered human heart in one hymn of praise to God.
Be Thou my Battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
“Dignity” and “delight”, an unusual pairing in a hymn, provide the transition from fighting to resting. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “dignity” as worthiness, worth, nobleness, excellence; honorable or high estate; nobility or befitting elevation of aspect, manner, or style; becoming or fit stateliness, gravity. In medieval times, noblemen were required to fight with their king. Our King stays so close to us that we are not separated by the length of a battlefield nor even by another body; He defends us as our Shield and fights for us as our Sword. He goes deeper even than providing the tools of war; He confers nobility, the nobility belonging to sons and daughters of the King, that we may use the tools with good conduct and honor. This graciousness prompts deep delight, the kind of delight found in the safe shelter of a worthy lover, whose tower protects us from the battle raging outside. We have here pairings of outward activity (battle shield, sword) and inward rest (shelter, tower); the singer ecstatically prays that God meet all needs. “Battle shield” and “shelter” are further paired as images of things that surround us, while “sword” and “tower” are paired as images that point up and straight to the sky; we are protected from earthly perils and raised heavenward by God’s own power. The dignity of the uplifted human soul is joined with the delight of the sheltered human heart in one hymn of praise to God.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Sean's Question 2: All the Stanzas All the Time?
Sean asked: "It seems as though you spread the hymn out over the course of the month, is this formulaic or do you look at the context of the hymn stanzas? ... Do you sing ALL the verses in the hymn or just the verses in your hymnal..."?
Answer to both questions: it depends.
I'm interested in using the Hymn of the Month in different places in the service, so singing all the stanzas is not always appropriate. For example, my priest has requested that I almost always close our contemporary service with a high-energy praise song--send them out with a bang.... To honor his request, but also to illustrate to the congregation a correspondence of themes through the centuries, I closed with only the final stanza of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"--changing "That word above all earthly pow'rs" to "God's word above all earthly pow'rs" so we weren't hitting it without context--and then on the last note of the last line--"His kingdom is forevER"--launching immediately into the intro of a praise song called "King of Kings."
Another reason to not sing all the stanzas all the time is that the congregation could get weary of it. Some Sundays I present our Hymn of the Month merely as an instrumental during communion, offertory, prelude, or postlude. I hope the musical variations will bring different aspects of the text to light, as words drift in and out of the congregation's minds, both staving off boredom and illustrating text.
Finally, we don't necessarily sing the version in the Episcopal hymnal. In fact, we don't even have hymnals (which I much regret, but the church has other things to deal with right now). So while I'm picking the version or translation, I'm also studying all the original stanzas and beginning to assign them to different parts in the service during the coming month. Then we just pubish the desired stanzas each week, print format for the traditional service, Power Point for the contemporary service.
I have no idea if people in the congregation are actually holding on to the bulletin insert from the beginning of the month, the insert that prints the hymn in its entirety, but if they are, then they have a bird's eye view of the hymn to work with at home.
Answer to both questions: it depends.
I'm interested in using the Hymn of the Month in different places in the service, so singing all the stanzas is not always appropriate. For example, my priest has requested that I almost always close our contemporary service with a high-energy praise song--send them out with a bang.... To honor his request, but also to illustrate to the congregation a correspondence of themes through the centuries, I closed with only the final stanza of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"--changing "That word above all earthly pow'rs" to "God's word above all earthly pow'rs" so we weren't hitting it without context--and then on the last note of the last line--"His kingdom is forevER"--launching immediately into the intro of a praise song called "King of Kings."
Another reason to not sing all the stanzas all the time is that the congregation could get weary of it. Some Sundays I present our Hymn of the Month merely as an instrumental during communion, offertory, prelude, or postlude. I hope the musical variations will bring different aspects of the text to light, as words drift in and out of the congregation's minds, both staving off boredom and illustrating text.
Finally, we don't necessarily sing the version in the Episcopal hymnal. In fact, we don't even have hymnals (which I much regret, but the church has other things to deal with right now). So while I'm picking the version or translation, I'm also studying all the original stanzas and beginning to assign them to different parts in the service during the coming month. Then we just pubish the desired stanzas each week, print format for the traditional service, Power Point for the contemporary service.
I have no idea if people in the congregation are actually holding on to the bulletin insert from the beginning of the month, the insert that prints the hymn in its entirety, but if they are, then they have a bird's eye view of the hymn to work with at home.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Sean's Question 1: Origins of Hymn of the Month
Sean asked a number of questions in the Comment section of the last post. I thought they each were worth answering in a separate post.
By the way, Sean, since you're one of about three people who reads and comments on this blog, I'm curious: Are you a church musician? Do you have a web site you'd like me to feature one of these days?
OK, here we go:
“How did you first start the hymn of the month idea?”
The summer after graduating from college, I had a few weeks in an apartment with nothing to do before the next gig. I decided to memorize hymns. Every day I would walk to the college library with a list of favorite hymns and then I would research their first appearances to get as close to the original lyrics as possible. Every afternoon I would order the hymns by date of writing and happily memorize them, stanza by stanza, in strict chronological sequence. Why deny my congregations this pleasure just because they have only a few minutes per week instead of hours per day?
The next year, as a first-year graduate student in Massachusetts, the church I served as organist requested an extended prelude once per month to prepare the congregation for communion. I thought the congregation might as well understand what they were hearing, so began little synopses in the bulletin each month, describing the prelude music, especially how the tunes and organ colorings illustrated the text.
Later, as a choir director, with a ton of music to teach every week and very little time to allow the words we were singing to sink in, I found it helpful to have a “theme” hymn just for the choir, to help focus their attention during a season.
Finally, at this most recent church, I’ve had the joy of considering what hymns could best minister to the congregants if they were deeply in the congregants’ minds—and what hymns would best help the congregants minister to God. They’re not all my absolute favorites—my personal favorites being rather too complex and often in different languages—typical of any trained musician—but they’re well-loved and quite good enough to live in hearts through a life-time. Many of them already have survived many centuries, so they’re likely good for a few more years….
Most of the hymns chosen for this congregation come from Hymns and Tunes Recommended for Ecumenical Use (ask the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada for this list), and then I chose which version of each we’ll use and what month it would fit best, including which hymn it best follows. Twelve to twenty months, meaning twelve to twenty hymns, is probably enough to plan ahead.
Hal Hopson has written One Hundred Plus Ways to Improve Hymnsinging: A Practical Guide for All Who Nurture Congregational Singing—do you know this book? I’ve only skimmed it, but it’s chockful of good ideas. You could spend the rest of your life and ministry implementing his ideas.
By the way, Sean, since you're one of about three people who reads and comments on this blog, I'm curious: Are you a church musician? Do you have a web site you'd like me to feature one of these days?
OK, here we go:
“How did you first start the hymn of the month idea?”
The summer after graduating from college, I had a few weeks in an apartment with nothing to do before the next gig. I decided to memorize hymns. Every day I would walk to the college library with a list of favorite hymns and then I would research their first appearances to get as close to the original lyrics as possible. Every afternoon I would order the hymns by date of writing and happily memorize them, stanza by stanza, in strict chronological sequence. Why deny my congregations this pleasure just because they have only a few minutes per week instead of hours per day?
The next year, as a first-year graduate student in Massachusetts, the church I served as organist requested an extended prelude once per month to prepare the congregation for communion. I thought the congregation might as well understand what they were hearing, so began little synopses in the bulletin each month, describing the prelude music, especially how the tunes and organ colorings illustrated the text.
Later, as a choir director, with a ton of music to teach every week and very little time to allow the words we were singing to sink in, I found it helpful to have a “theme” hymn just for the choir, to help focus their attention during a season.
Finally, at this most recent church, I’ve had the joy of considering what hymns could best minister to the congregants if they were deeply in the congregants’ minds—and what hymns would best help the congregants minister to God. They’re not all my absolute favorites—my personal favorites being rather too complex and often in different languages—typical of any trained musician—but they’re well-loved and quite good enough to live in hearts through a life-time. Many of them already have survived many centuries, so they’re likely good for a few more years….
Most of the hymns chosen for this congregation come from Hymns and Tunes Recommended for Ecumenical Use (ask the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada for this list), and then I chose which version of each we’ll use and what month it would fit best, including which hymn it best follows. Twelve to twenty months, meaning twelve to twenty hymns, is probably enough to plan ahead.
Hal Hopson has written One Hundred Plus Ways to Improve Hymnsinging: A Practical Guide for All Who Nurture Congregational Singing—do you know this book? I’ve only skimmed it, but it’s chockful of good ideas. You could spend the rest of your life and ministry implementing his ideas.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
"Be Thou My Vision" 2: Men, Men, Men!
Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou mine Inheritance now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart;
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
Today we focus on the second and fourth stanzas (see above) because one leads to another. Although we proclaim Christ's salvation for male and female, the language of "sonship" here conveys an important theological truth for both sexes: in Christ we share His inheritance, the inheritance of the first-born Son, which is freely given to all. The exclusive language of Psalm 2:7-8 ("The LORD said to me, 'You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession."), exclusive because it speaks of Christ, becomes the inclusive language of Galatians 3:26, 28-29: "...for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ... There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's , then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." Because the Son inherits, all of us inherit.
In "Be Thou My Vision," instead of our inheriting the nations, we inherit God Himself. "The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot. The [property] lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage" (Psalm 16:5-6).
Lord God of Abraham, we cannot quite grasp what it means for us to inherit this promise--the promise of fully dwelling with You. May Your Spirit begin to probe in us what it may mean to live in the light of this inheritance; while we serve as stewards of earthly treasures, help us consider what it means for You to be our greatest treasure.
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou mine Inheritance now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart;
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
Today we focus on the second and fourth stanzas (see above) because one leads to another. Although we proclaim Christ's salvation for male and female, the language of "sonship" here conveys an important theological truth for both sexes: in Christ we share His inheritance, the inheritance of the first-born Son, which is freely given to all. The exclusive language of Psalm 2:7-8 ("The LORD said to me, 'You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession."), exclusive because it speaks of Christ, becomes the inclusive language of Galatians 3:26, 28-29: "...for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ... There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's , then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." Because the Son inherits, all of us inherit.
In "Be Thou My Vision," instead of our inheriting the nations, we inherit God Himself. "The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot. The [property] lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage" (Psalm 16:5-6).
Lord God of Abraham, we cannot quite grasp what it means for us to inherit this promise--the promise of fully dwelling with You. May Your Spirit begin to probe in us what it may mean to live in the light of this inheritance; while we serve as stewards of earthly treasures, help us consider what it means for You to be our greatest treasure.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
"Be Thou My Vision" 1: With That Missing Third Stanza
So the first Sunday of the month, I always print the full hymn text as we will eventually sing it. Even though we may not sing all stanzas every Sunday, individuals are offered the chance to take that first insert home and work on memorizing the whole thing.
Of course YOU aren't surprised by the third stanza about battles and fighting and such, since as the people who read hymn blogs, you know almost everything there is to know about hymns already; but the congregation sure was surprised, since mention of Christian-as-warrior, even though it doesn't mean we should literally take up swords to hack our enemies, is removed from most P.C. hymnals. But you knew that.
Here's a little review:
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought by day or by night;
waking or sleeping, Thy presence my Light.
Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my Battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou mine Inheritance now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart;
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright Heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Of course YOU aren't surprised by the third stanza about battles and fighting and such, since as the people who read hymn blogs, you know almost everything there is to know about hymns already; but the congregation sure was surprised, since mention of Christian-as-warrior, even though it doesn't mean we should literally take up swords to hack our enemies, is removed from most P.C. hymnals. But you knew that.
Here's a little review:
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought by day or by night;
waking or sleeping, Thy presence my Light.
Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my Battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise;
Thou mine Inheritance now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart;
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright Heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Monday, July 16, 2007
"All Creatures of Our God and King" 2: St. Francis Not a Nature Lover
(Note: The following didn't actually publish in my church's bulletin, because I decided not to play the hymn that Sunday.)
This hymn from St. Francis was a brilliant departure from the pantheism (nature-worship) of his day--instructive for us in a day when paganism is alive and well in parts of the United States, and when we ourselves feel a proper yearning to be in closer harmony with the nature God made.
The original lyrics included addresses not merely to Mother Earth but to Brother Fire and Sister Water, from a Christian perspective. G.K. Chesterton’s marvelous biography, St. Francis of Assisi, brings this into focus ([San Franciso: Ignatius Press, 1986], 81-87; first published in 1923):
“St. Francis was not a lover of nature. … The phrase implies accepting the material universe as a vague environment, a sort of sentimental pantheism.… Now for St. Francis nothing was ever in the background. … He wanted to see each tree as a separate and almost a sacred thing, being a child of God and therefore a brother or sister of man. …
“Though in some ways [All Creatures of Our God and King] is as simple and straightforward as a ballad, there is a delicate instinct of differentiation in it. … It was not for nothing that he called fire his brother, fierce and gay and strong, and water his sister, pure and clear and inviolate. … St. Francis was…the founder of a new folk-lore; but he could distinguish his mermaids from his mermen….
“[When he was going blind, he was told the solution was to cauterize his eye.] When they took the brand from the furnace, he rose as with an urbane gesture and spoke as to an invisible presence: ‘Brother Fire, God made you beautiful and strong and useful; I pray you be courteous with me.’
“If there be any such thing as the art of life, it seems to me that such a moment was one of its masterpieces. Not to many poets has it been given to remember their own poetry at such a moment, still less to live one of their own poems. … For Francis there was no drug; and for Francis there was plenty of pain. But his first thought was one of his first fancies from the songs of his youth. He remembered the time when a flame was a flower, only the most glorious and gaily coloured of the flowers in the
garden of God; and when that shining thing returned to him in the shape of an instrument of torture, he hailed it from afar like an old friend,calling it by the nickname which might most truly be called its Christian name.”
Creator Spirit, as we sing this hymn, minister to us; help us to properly name the many creatures You have made and to understand and rejoice in Your purposes for them. By our seeing all nature in Your light, help us to minister to creation, to care for it in the way You desire; may we have patience with its limitations and happiness in its strengths. May we become living testimonies to the care and delight You take in creation, in all the particular, different things, and to the hope we have in Christ of Your restoring it in the new heavens and new earth. Alleluia, alleluia!
This hymn from St. Francis was a brilliant departure from the pantheism (nature-worship) of his day--instructive for us in a day when paganism is alive and well in parts of the United States, and when we ourselves feel a proper yearning to be in closer harmony with the nature God made.
The original lyrics included addresses not merely to Mother Earth but to Brother Fire and Sister Water, from a Christian perspective. G.K. Chesterton’s marvelous biography, St. Francis of Assisi, brings this into focus ([San Franciso: Ignatius Press, 1986], 81-87; first published in 1923):
“St. Francis was not a lover of nature. … The phrase implies accepting the material universe as a vague environment, a sort of sentimental pantheism.… Now for St. Francis nothing was ever in the background. … He wanted to see each tree as a separate and almost a sacred thing, being a child of God and therefore a brother or sister of man. …
“Though in some ways [All Creatures of Our God and King] is as simple and straightforward as a ballad, there is a delicate instinct of differentiation in it. … It was not for nothing that he called fire his brother, fierce and gay and strong, and water his sister, pure and clear and inviolate. … St. Francis was…the founder of a new folk-lore; but he could distinguish his mermaids from his mermen….
“[When he was going blind, he was told the solution was to cauterize his eye.] When they took the brand from the furnace, he rose as with an urbane gesture and spoke as to an invisible presence: ‘Brother Fire, God made you beautiful and strong and useful; I pray you be courteous with me.’
“If there be any such thing as the art of life, it seems to me that such a moment was one of its masterpieces. Not to many poets has it been given to remember their own poetry at such a moment, still less to live one of their own poems. … For Francis there was no drug; and for Francis there was plenty of pain. But his first thought was one of his first fancies from the songs of his youth. He remembered the time when a flame was a flower, only the most glorious and gaily coloured of the flowers in the
garden of God; and when that shining thing returned to him in the shape of an instrument of torture, he hailed it from afar like an old friend,calling it by the nickname which might most truly be called its Christian name.”
Creator Spirit, as we sing this hymn, minister to us; help us to properly name the many creatures You have made and to understand and rejoice in Your purposes for them. By our seeing all nature in Your light, help us to minister to creation, to care for it in the way You desire; may we have patience with its limitations and happiness in its strengths. May we become living testimonies to the care and delight You take in creation, in all the particular, different things, and to the hope we have in Christ of Your restoring it in the new heavens and new earth. Alleluia, alleluia!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
"All Creatures of Our God and King" 1: The "Alleluia" Refrain
OK! Thank you, Adam and Sean, for your encouragement. I would be happy to publish some of the Hymn Notes appearing weekly in the church bulletin. We've been doing this only two months now, although of course I've had the idea and done similar things at other churches for many years.
On the first week of each month, the congregation receives an insert with the full lyrics. They are encouraged to take these home and memorize them.
On successive weeks, they may receive some historical background or devotional material about the hymn.
Here's the second week of "All Creatures of Our God and King," as it appeared in the bulletin in June:
The songs of God’s people were never meant to rest in the church building, but to bubble up from our hearts throughout our moments and days. We pray that the Hymns of the Month may help us reflect on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through two millenia of congregational song, and to dwell on some of the words and tunes the Spirit inspired in our brothers and sisters before us, so that the Spirit may have opportunity again to bless God, others, and ourselves through these phrases in our own hearts in this time. As an example of how different hymns may be sung in different moments of our lives, we will sometimes sing them at different points in the Sunday morning service.
The refrain of this hymn of the month (“O praise Him, alleluia”) makes it particularly appropriate for use before and after the gospel reading.
“Alleluia” survives as a transliteration of the Hebrew “Hallelujah”, meaning “Praise Jah[weh]!” It appears numerous times in Psalms 113-118 and four times in Revelation 19, where it serves less as an injunction to praise than as a mighty summation of all the intensity of praise in heaven. This word’s continued use from the Old Testament temple worship to the New Testament’s revelation of heavenly worship, from the liturgies of first-century Christians to twenty-first-century Christians, allows us to join our voices with the company of heaven and to participate in the worship of all believers through time and space.
Please encourage one another in worship this morning, and yourselves throughout the week, by singing “Alleluia” with loudness and might.
On the first week of each month, the congregation receives an insert with the full lyrics. They are encouraged to take these home and memorize them.
On successive weeks, they may receive some historical background or devotional material about the hymn.
Here's the second week of "All Creatures of Our God and King," as it appeared in the bulletin in June:
The songs of God’s people were never meant to rest in the church building, but to bubble up from our hearts throughout our moments and days. We pray that the Hymns of the Month may help us reflect on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through two millenia of congregational song, and to dwell on some of the words and tunes the Spirit inspired in our brothers and sisters before us, so that the Spirit may have opportunity again to bless God, others, and ourselves through these phrases in our own hearts in this time. As an example of how different hymns may be sung in different moments of our lives, we will sometimes sing them at different points in the Sunday morning service.
The refrain of this hymn of the month (“O praise Him, alleluia”) makes it particularly appropriate for use before and after the gospel reading.
“Alleluia” survives as a transliteration of the Hebrew “Hallelujah”, meaning “Praise Jah[weh]!” It appears numerous times in Psalms 113-118 and four times in Revelation 19, where it serves less as an injunction to praise than as a mighty summation of all the intensity of praise in heaven. This word’s continued use from the Old Testament temple worship to the New Testament’s revelation of heavenly worship, from the liturgies of first-century Christians to twenty-first-century Christians, allows us to join our voices with the company of heaven and to participate in the worship of all believers through time and space.
Please encourage one another in worship this morning, and yourselves throughout the week, by singing “Alleluia” with loudness and might.
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