Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound

Last evening I again attended the vigil Mass at the local Novus Ordo parish and made notes regarding the hymns.

The processional hymn was, as it was last week, the Anglican hymn Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days set to the tune St. Flavian.

At the offertory we sang Amazing Grace! by Anglican clergyman John Newton, set to the beloved tune New Britain. Some Catholics object to this hymn (for example, see this video by Michael Voris alleging that some words and phrases betray a Protestant understanding. Certainly, one can read the words of "Amazing Grace!" as teaching a Protestant -- specifically Calvinist -- doctrine of salvation, but then again, you can find plenty of individual words and phrases in St. Paul's and St. Augustine with which to condemn them as heretics if you start out looking for heresy. Equally, one can find in "Amazing Grace!" orthodox Catholic teaching regarding salvation. If you want to find hymns that are truly suspect as regards their theological assumption, you'll find a much richer target in some the "Catholic" hymns of the past forty years. Three weeks ago I wrote about the hymn "All My Days" by Dan Schutte which appears to reject a Christological reading of the Psalms going back to the earliest days of the Church in favor of a dubious individualistic reading.

The post-Communion hymn, "Gift of Finest Wheat" by Robert E. Kreutz was another example of unsingable "contemporary" Catholic hymnody. This train-wreck of a tune starts in 4/4 time, then after two measures switches to 3/4 time for a few measures, then back to 4/4 time for one measure, only to conclude in 3/4 times.

We concluded with the 18th century Catholic hymn "Grosser Gott" by Ignaz Franz in the 19th century Catholic translation Holy God We Praise Thy Name by C.A. Walworth. It is a paraphrase of the ancient Latin hymn Te Deum Laudamus.

Spring Ember Days

From the Daily Offices for the Week of the First Sunday in Lent in the Book of Divine Worship.

Collect for the First Sunday in Lent.

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Make speed to help thy servants who are assaulted by manifold temptations; and, as thou knowest their several infirmities, let each one find thee mighty to save; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of this week are the traditional spring Ember Days on which one or more of these collects are read at Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer:

I. For those to be ordained.

Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, who of thy divine providence hast appointed various orders in thy Church: Give thy grace, we humbly beseech thee, to all who are [now] called to any office and ministry for thy people; and so fill them with the truth of thy doctrine and clothe them with holiness of life, that they may faithfully serve before thee, to the glory of thy great Name and for the benefit of thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

II. For the choice of fit persons for the ministry.

O God, who didst lead thy holy apostles to ordain ministers in every place: Grant that thy Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may choose suitable persons for the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and may uphold them in their work for the extension of thy kingdom; through him who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

III. For all Christians in their vocation.

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of thy faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all members of thy holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve thee; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Show Me the Way to Go Home...

This past Sunday, First Sunday in Lent, at my local Novus Ordo parish we started and ended with beautiful old Anglican hymns. For the processional it was Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days by Claudia F. Hernaman (1873), set to the tune St. Flavian, and for the recessional Forty Days and Forty Nights by George H. Smyttan (1856), set to the tune Heinlein. They were especially moving sung in that order. The first has a simple upbeat tune that invites us to join in the experience of Jesus in the desert while marking the transition from the outside secular "hubbub" to the reflective sacred space of the temple of God. The second repeats the theme, but to a more somber tune, sending us out in a mood to keep a holy lent in spite of the many distractions we shall face through the week.

At the offertory is was a contemporary hymn, "Hosea" by Gregory Norbet, OSB, published by the Benedictine Monks of Weston Priory in Vermont. Can't say that I remember anything from it, however I made a note at the time -- "Not bad."

The post communion hymn, "Save Your People" by Jim Farrell, was based on the Psalm Dominus illuminatio (Ps 27; 26 in the Vulgate). The refrain, with it's line "show us the way to come home," is set to a simple pleasant melody and reminds me ever so much of--

Show me the way to go home.
I'm tired and I want to go to bed.
I had a little drink about an hour ago
And it went right to my head.

There's a verse too, not that it has much of a melody to sing it to.

...that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found...

From the Daily Offices for the Week of the Fifth Sunday in Lent in the Book of Divine Worship.

Collect for the Fifth Sunday in Lent.

O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men: Grant unto thy people that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Holy Week at Congregation of St. Athanasius, Archdiocese of Boston — Anglican Use

Congregation of St. Athanasius
Archdiocese of Boston — Anglican Use
All services will be at St. Lawrence Church, 774 Boylston St. (Rt 9), Chestnut Hill, Mass.

HOLY WEEK 2011

Palm Sunday, April 17th

11:30 a.m. Blessing & Distribution of Palms
Solemn Procession – The Reading of the Passion
Solemn Mass & Sermon

Maundy Thursday, April 21st COMMEMORATION OF THE LAST SUPPER

7:30p.m. Solemn Mass & Sermon
Watch at Altar of Repose
until 10:00 p.m.

Good Friday, April 22nd THE GOOD FRIDAY LITURGY

3:00 p.m. The Reading of the Passion – The Solemn Collects
Veneration of the Cross
Mass of the Pre-Sanctified

Holy Saturday, April 23rd

9:00 a.m. The Altar Service

10:45–11:30 a.m. Confessions (priests of Opus Dei)

8:30 p.m. THE GREAT EASTER VIGIL
Blessing of the Paschal Candle – The Prophecies
Renewal of Baptismal Vows
Solemn Mass & Sermon

Easter Day, April 24th

11:30 a.m. Solemn Procession
Solemn Mass & Sermon

Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him...

From the Daily Offices for the Week of the Fourth Sunday in Lent in the Book of Divine Worship.

Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Lent.

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which giveth life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls...

From the Daily Offices for the Week of the Third Sunday in Lent in the Book of Divine Worship.

Collect for the Third Sunday in Lent

Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

...changed into his likeless from glory to glory...

From the Daily Offices for the Week of the Second Sunday in Lent in the Book of Divine Worship.

Collect for the Second Sunday in Lent

O God, who before the passion of thy only-begotten Son didst reveal his glory upon the holy mount: Grant unto us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeless from glory to glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

"...as thou knowest their several infirmities, let each one find thee mighty to save.."

From the Daily Offices for the Week of the First Sunday in Lent in the Book of Divine Worship.

Collect for the First Sunday in Lent.

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Make speed to help thy servants who are assaulted by manifold temptations; and, as thou knowest their several infirmities, let each one find thee mighty to save; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of this week are the traditional spring Ember Days on which one or more of these collects are read at Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer:

I. For those to be ordained.

Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, who of thy divine providence hast appointed various orders in thy Church: Give thy grace, we humbly beseech thee, to all who are [now] called to any office and ministry for thy people; and so fill them with the truth of thy doctrine and clothe them with holiness of life, that they may faithfully serve before thee, to the glory of thy great Name and for the benefit of thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

II. For the choice of fit persons for the ministry.

O God, who didst lead thy holy apostles to ordain ministers in every place: Grant that thy Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may choose suitable persons for the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and may uphold them in their work for the extension of thy kingdom; through him who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

III. For all Christians in their vocation.

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of thy faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before thee for all members of thy holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve thee; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Collect for Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.