Day: October 31, 2021

31Oct

Celebration of the Word for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost 2021

The last Sunday in October is honored in many Protestant churches as “Reformation Sunday”, recalling that on October 31, 1517 Martin Luther made public his 95 theses which, according to legend, he nailed to the door of the Castle church in Wittenburg, Germany. The opening hymn selected for today, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”, was written by Luther himself. Also, in honor of another holiday coming up that coincides with that date, I have chosen a special treat for the organ postlude in this virtual service.

23rd Sunday after Pentecost 2021
  1. Opening Acclamation: Psalm 46:1.
  2. Organ Prelude: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” performed at Uppsala Cathedral by Diane Bish, from “Hymns and Sacred Songs II”, used in accordance with Creative Commons License
  3. First Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-9, King James Bible.
  4. Hymn: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” sung by an unknown congregation. Public domain.
  5. Psalm 119:1-8, King James Bible.
  6. Motet: Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) “Beati Quorum Via”, based on Psalm 119:1, sung by the choir of St. John the Evangelist, Redhill, uploaded to YouTube by Ginette and Peter Nye, and used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
  7. Second Reading: Hebrews 9:11-14, World English Bible.
  8. Organ sequence: Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703) “Wir glauben all an einen Gott”, performed on the organ of Sta. Maria church, Montblanc, Tarragona, Catalunya, Spain. Uploaded to YouTube by “Bablung music”, and used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
  9. Gospel: Mark 12:28-34, World English Bible.
  10. The Lord’s Prayer: from Matthew 6.
  11. Blessing: 1 Timothy 1:17.
  12. Organ Postlude: Johan Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): “Toccata and Fugue in D minor.” Played by Fyodor Stroganov (organ). Recorded from a concert on 10/04/2015 at the Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul. The organizer is the Collegium musicum concert agency. Used in accordance with Creative Commons license.

The Bible passages were recorded by Librivox, and are in the public domain. Readings correspond to the Revised Common Lectionary. All audio files are given with attribution where known.