Tag: Corpus Christi

19Jun

Celebration for the Second Sunday after Pentecost 2022 (Corpus Christi Sunday)

Sunday after Corpus Christi 2022
  1. Opening Acclamation from John 6: “I am the bread of life.”
  2. Prelude: “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing”, for organ, by unknown performer. Public domain.
  3. First Reading: Isaiah 65:1-9, King James Bible.
  4. Psalm 22:19-28.
  5. Motet: Sebastian de Vivanco (1551-1622), “O quam suavis est”, performed by Ars Musica, available in Public Domain at Archive.org.  Translation: “O how sweet is thy spirit, Lord, thou who, in order to demonstrate thy sweetness to thy children, send down from heaven the sweetest bread unsurpassed, filling the hungry with good things, sending away empty the disdainful rich!”
  6. Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-29, World English Bible.
  7. Motet: “Pange Lingua (de Vézelay) – fr Jean-Baptiste de la Sainte Famille”, performed by unknown performers, used in accordance with Creative Commons license. The text is a medieval hymn for the feast of Corpus Christi written by St. Thomas Aquinas. First stanza in English: “Sing, my tongue, the Saviour’s glory, Of His Flesh, the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our Immortal King, Destined, for the world’s redemption, From a noble Womb to spring…” (This is a long text; for the full Latin version and two translations into English, check out this page from Wikipedia).
  8. Gospel: Luke 8:26-39, World English Bible.
  9. The Lord’s Prayer: Chanted by unknown congregation, uploaded to YouTube by “LabourerFaith”, and used in accordance with Creative Commons License.
  10. Blessing: The Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6 (King James Version).
  11. Organ Postlude: Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566), “Pange Lingua” performed by organist Riyehee Hong at Santa Iglesia Cathedral, Murcia, Used in accordance with Creative Commons license.

Bible passages were recorded by Librivox, and are in the public domain.

06Jun

Celebration of the Word for the Sunday after Corpus Christi, 2021

Sunday After Corpus Christi 2021
  1. Opening Acclamation from John 6: “I am the bread of life.”
  2. Prelude: “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing”, for organ, by unknown performer. Public domain.
  3. First Reading: Genesis 3:8-15, King James Bible.
  4. Psalm 130: Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) “Out of the Deep” performed by the Tudor Consort (Creative Commons license), available at Wikimedia Commons.  Text: “Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord. Lord, Hear my voice. O, Let Thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If Thou Lord, will be extreme to mark what is done amiss: O Lord, who may abide it. For there is mercy with thee; therefore shalt thou be feared. I look for the LORD; my soul doth wait for him; in his word is my trust. My soul fleeth unto the Lord before the morning watch; I say, before the morning watch. O Israel, trust in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his sins.“
  5. Second Reading: Second Corinthians 4:13-5:1, World English Bible.
  6. Motet: “Pange Lingua (de Vézelay) – fr Jean-Baptiste de la Sainte Famille”, performed by unknown performers, used in accordance with Creative Commons license. The text is a medieval hymn for the feast of Corpus Christi written by St. Thomas Aquinas. First stanza in English: “Sing, my tongue, the Saviour’s glory, Of His Flesh, the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our Immortal King, Destined, for the world’s redemption, From a noble Womb to spring…” (This is a long text; for the full Latin version and two translations into English, check out this page from Wikipedia).
  7. Gospel: Mark 3:20-35, World English Bible.
  8. The Lord’s Prayer: Chanted by unknown congregation, uploaded to YouTube by “LabourerFaith”, and used in accordance with Creative Commons License.
  9. Blessing: The Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6 (King James Version).
  10. Organ Postlude: Juan Bautista Cabanilles (1644-1712), “Pange Lingua 5º tono punto” performed by organist Riyehee Hong at Santa Iglesia Cathedral, Murcia, Used in accordance with Creative Commons license.

Bible passages were recorded by Librivox, and are in the public domain.

04Jun

Divine Communication

I recall seeing a photo of a priest giving communion to a boy, with the caption announcing “Father M. communicates members of the choir.”  This is one of those anachronisms, along with “bewailing our manifold sins and wickedness” and “we are very members incorporate in the mystical body” that endeared me to old style Anglicanism.  

I find it most interesting that an archaic use of the word “communicate” is to participate in communion.  The Latin root “communicare” means to “make common”, something that can be applied both to disseminating information and to disseminating the sacramental bread and wine.

In communion God does indeed speak to us. When we communicate, or eat the body and blood of Christ, God speaks into our hearts.  He tells us of His great love—of His “goodness and favor towards us” (another great phrase from the old prayer book).  

Communion is like an appointment.  Whenever people of faith gather in Jesus’ name, he comes to us and is in our midst.  Jail cell visits are an image that comes to mind.  We leave the prison yard of this world, go to the booth (a church or fellowship group), and God sits down at the other side of the barrier.  The bread and wine are like an intercom.  

Someday we will be sprung from prison into a life of true freedom—freedom from death, fear, sorrow, and all other mortal travails.  For now, though, we are happy to receive the message from the other side.  

God indeed communicates with us, and what a message it is!  As St. John gasps in his first epistle, “Behold what manner of love is this! That we’ve been allowed to be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1, my own slight paraphrase)

14Jun

Celebration of the Word for the Sunday after Corpus Christi, 2020

Corpus Christi 2020
  1. Prelude: Antonio Cabezon (1510-1556), “Pange Lingua” performed by organist Riyehee Hong at Santa Iglesia Cathedral, Murcia, Used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
  2. Opening Acclamation from John 6: “I am the bread of life.”
  3. First Reading: Exodus 19:2-8, World English Bible.
  4. Psalm: Old 100th. Washington National Cathedral Singers, performed in 2015, used in accordance with Creative Commons license. The organ overpowers the singing at times, so here is the text: “All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Serve him with joy, his praises tell, come now before him and rejoice! Know that the Lord is God indeed; he formed us all without our aid. We are the flock he surely feeds, the sheep who by his hand were made. O enter then his gates with joy, within his courts his praise proclaim! Let thankful songs your tongues employ. O bless and magnify his name! Because the Lord our God is good, his mercy is forever sure. His faithfulness at all times stood and shall from age to age endure.”
  5. Second Reading: Romans 5: 1-8, World English Bible.
  6. Motet: William Byrd (1539/40-1623), “O quam suavis est”, performed by Ars Musica, available in Public Domain at Archive.org.  Translation: “O how sweet is thy spirit, Lord, thou who, in order to demonstrate thy sweetness to thy children, send down from heaven the sweetest bread unsurpassed, filling the hungry with good things, sending away empty the disdainful rich!”
  7. Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:23, World English Bible.
  8. The Lord’s Prayer: Chanted by unknown congregation, uploaded to YouTube by “LabourerFaith”, and used in accordance with Creative Commons License.
  9. Blessing: The Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6 (King James Version).
  10. Organ Postlude: Matías Aliaga López (1825-1865), “Pange Lingua” performed by organist Riyehee Hong at Santa Iglesia Cathedral, Murcia, Used in accordance with Creative Commons license.

Bible passages were recorded by Librivox, and are in the public domain.