Introit and organ prelude: André Raison (c.1640-1719) – Messe du 3º Ton – “Kyrie eleison” (Lord, Have Mercy), performed by Jean-Patrice Brosse (orgue) and Ensemble Vox Cantoris; uploaded to YouTube by “Pau NG” and used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
First Reading: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16, King James Bible.
Psalm 22:23-31, King James Version.
Hymn: “The God of Abraham Praise”, sung in a live service in 2017 at the shrine of the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
Second Reading: Roman 4:13-25, World English Bible.
Organ interlude: Henry Coleman (1888-1965): Excerpt from “The Word of God”, Posted by “Chordis & Organo, and used in accordance with Creative Commons License.
Gospel: Mark 8:31-38, World English Bible.
The Lord’s Prayer: From Luke.
Blessing: The “Aaronic blessing” from Numbers 6.
Organ Postlude: Johann Gottfried Walther (1684-1748) “Herzlich tut mich verlangen / O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” performed by Jens Engel, uploaded to YouTube by him, and 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.
Hymn: “Holy God, Holy Almighty, Holy Immortal One, Have Mercy” (Trisagion), From OrthodoxMusicOnline, used in accordance with Creative Commons license.
First Reading: Genesis 9:8-17, King James Bible.
Anthem: Henry Purcell (1659-1695) “Remember Not O Lord Our Offenses”, unknown choir, available in public domain at Archive.org.
Psalm 25: 1-10, King James Version.
Anthem: Psalm 25 v 6, sung by Northern Presbytery Choir, uploaded to YouTube by Sean McPherson, used in accordance with Creative Commons License.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22, World English Bible.
Organ interlude: Henry Coleman (1888-1965): Excerpt from “The Word of God”, Posted by “Chordis & Organo, and used in accordance with Creative Commons License.
Gospel: Mark 1:9-15, World English Bible.
The Lord’s Prayer: Chanted by unknown congregation, uploaded to YouTube by “LabourerFaith”, and used in accordance with Creative Commons License.
Blessing: From Romans.
Organ Postlude: Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (1583 – 1643) “Canzona Post Il Comune”, performed by Joshua Sobel, uploaded to YouTube by him, and 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.
“Jesus is the answer!” So proclaims numerous road signs, Facebook posts, and bumper stickers. For those posting such things, it is an expression of their faith, of their confidence in Jesus. It a touchstone of peace and happiness for them and perhaps also for many who see it–but not for everyone. To a great many others, this statement provokes rather a sense of bewilderment, and begs a follow up question: “If Jesus is the answer, then what is the question?”
This thought brings to my lips a smile as I recall the analogous situation in Douglas Adams’ humorous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which a planet-sized super computer named “Deep Thought” was constructed and directed to come up with “the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything”. The program ran for millions of years, and finally returned an answer: “42”. Unfortunately neither the Deep Thought nor his designers knew what the ultimate question happened to be. The pan-dimensional beings seeking this answer were then forced to construct another planet-sized super computer to figure out the ultimate question.
Ash Wednesday is a Christian celebration that reminds us of the question for which Jesus is the answer. Or, more accurately, we are reminded of the problem for which Jesus is the solution; That is, the problem of death:
“Remember, o man, dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return.”
Thus intones the priest in many a ceremony as ashes are imposed upon
the foreheads of penitent Christians, these words echoing God’s curse in
Genesis 3, pronounced upon humankind as punishment for sin.
Death is literally the bane of our existence. It destroys all that we hold dear. Try as we might to banish it from our thoughts, death catches us all. We recoil from it as we simultaneously yearn for permanence and significance. The idea of the extinction of our consciousness into an eternal nothing is difficult for us to fully grasp, for “God has set eternity in the hearts of men.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Death is universal. We all die, because of our sin. Death is universal because sin is universal.
Fortunately, Ash Wednesday is merely the prelude to Easter. Whereas Ash Wednesday reminds us of our mortality, in essence saying, “Ye are dead”, Easter tells us: “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
The good news of Christianity is that God has set eternity in our hearts for a reason. It isn’t a dreadful taunt, or a meaningless musing. Jesus, the Christ, has died our death, in order that we might live his life. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
As the old Easter canticle proclaims:
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.”
(This comes from 1 Corinthians 15)
Jesus’ resurrection from death foretells our own liberation from it, and not only in the future, in an eternity after physical death. We may be liberated from its shadow, and its dread, and its power over us even in this life.
In the light of this good news, St Paul exults in his first letter to
the Corinthians: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory?”
As John Donne, the 16th century poet we recently profiled, elaborated so eloquently:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. (Sonnet X)
“I feel like I shouldn’t have given up anything for Lent”, a patient said to me the other day. In the midst of a global pandemic, Lent seems to have taken on a new life. As state and local bodies take drastic actions to curb the transmission of COVID-19, we all suddenly find ourselves in a state of government enforced deprivation and fasting.
Many of us are all but confined to our homes. Travel is restricted, and spring vacations canceled. Schools are closed. Churches are closed. Restaurants, theaters, bowling alleys, and museums are all closed. In grocery stores, masked customers flit about nervously looking for supplies that have sold out, such as eggs or toilet paper. Some people are lucky enough to have work that is deemed “essential”, while others are furloughed and applying for unemployment. The social fabric seems to be ripping apart. Accustomed to a land of plenty, we Americans now find ourselves struggling with privations that are alien to us.
Meanwhile, by coincidence, a large segment of faithful Christians are observing Lent. Lent was conceived as a season of fasting, discipline, and self-sacrifice leading up to Christianity’s holiest and most joyful commemoration, namely Easter. The point of the fasting is to get past ourselves and our own desires, and to intensify our realization of our need for God and his work in our lives.
Whether voluntary or involuntary, this time of deprivation can either be a miserable mess, or it can be something we can see through eyes of faith as a kind of blessing. The meaning of Lent, and of the tribulations brought on by the COVID-19 Pandemic, can best be summarized in a statement passed along to me by a friend: “When we come to the end of ourselves, we see the beginning of God’s faithfulness.”
Today is the Friday before Palm Sunday, and it is a day that as far as I know has no particular name on a church calendar. It is just another day in Lent, that season of fasting and penitence that in many traditions of Christianity precedes Easter. In exactly one week we will have one of those days which does have a famous name, “Good Friday”, which will commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus. The great pageants and commemorations coming in the next week will be a liturgical—and potentially emotional—roller coaster for Christians around the globe.
Palm Sunday looks back to “The Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem, just before his death, when adoring crowds waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna!” as Jesus entered the city. In many churches these ceremonies take on almost a cheerful and festive tone, a kind of foretaste of Easter. The rest of Holy Week reverts back to the solemnity of Lent, with Good Friday being a focal point—we look back through the corridor of time to Jesus lifting his bloodied head one last time as he hangs from those dreadful crossed planks; He cries out in a loud voice as he slumps into death, and the land is covered in an eerie blackness. By Easter Sunday, the tomb of Jesus is empty and churches explode into full-on celebration. Even fairly dormant mainline Protestant churches will, for one glorious day, be overflowing with people. Some of their left-leaning pastors will even deign to choke out an orthodox sermon for the occasion.
A part of me is glad for the coming of Easter. Austerity, discipline, and penitence are not always fun. I am sitting here at what could be “happy hour”, sipping tea in place of my usual Manhattan or Gin and Tonic, because one of my own Lenten observances is to give up alcohol; in just over a week I’ll permit myself to enjoy those libations again.
Lent is, of course, a voluntary observance. It’s not something you’ll find in the Bible. You can have Christianity without it, and many people do. Still, I appreciate Lent. It may not be “fun”, but it is spiritually enriching. I embrace it willingly, and even look forward to it. I feel that I get an enhanced sense of clarity and perspective, even joy, from the increased attention to my spiritual well-being. Even though the Christian life is a 24 hr/day, 365 day-per-year endeavor, I yet find it useful to have seasons that focus our energies in particular ways.
By not drinking that Manhattan, my mind is almost forced to obey the command of Colossians 3:2: “Set your affections on things above.” It must be something akin what a runner feels when training—All that exercise and giving up sweets has had its benefits.
So, I will raise my glass of ice tea to you as a toast. There’s still some time to fast and pray, if you feel so moved, before the dawn of Easter.
“Jesus is the answer!” So proclaims numerous road signs, Facebook posts, and bumper stickers. For those posting such things, it is an expression of their faith, of their confidence in Jesus. It a touchstone of peace and happiness for them and perhaps also for many who see it–but not for everyone. To a great many others, this statement provokes rather a sense of bewilderment, and begs a follow up question: “If Jesus is the answer, then what is the question?”
This thought brings to my lips a smile as I recall the analogous situation in Douglas Adams’ humorous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which a planet-sized super computer named “Deep Thought” was constructed and directed to come up with “the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything”. The program ran for millions of years, and finally returned an answer: “42”. Unfortunately neither the Deep Thought nor his designers knew what the ultimate question happened to be. The pan-dimensional beings seeking this answer were then forced to construct another planet-sized super computer to figure out the ultimate question.
Ash Wednesday is a Christian celebration that reminds us of the question for which Jesus is the answer. Or, more accurately, we are reminded of the problem for which Jesus is the solution; That is, the problem of death:
“Remember, o man, dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return.”
Thus intones the priest in many a ceremony as ashes are imposed upon the foreheads of penitent Christians, these words echoing God’s curse in Genesis 3, pronounced upon humankind as punishment for sin.
Death is literally the bane of our existence. It destroys all that we hold dear. Try as we might to banish it from our thoughts, death catches us all. We recoil from it as we simultaneously yearn for permanence and significance. The idea of the extinction of our consciousness into an eternal nothing is difficult for us to fully grasp, for “God has set eternity in the hearts of men.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Death is universal. We all die, because of our sin. Death is universal because sin is universal.
Fortunately, Ash Wednesday is merely the prelude to Easter. Whereas Ash Wednesday reminds us of our mortality, in essence saying, “Ye are dead”, Easter tells us: “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
The good news of Christianity is that God has set eternity in our hearts for a reason. It isn’t a dreadful taunt, or a meaningless musing. Jesus, the Christ, has died our death, in order that we might live his life. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
As the old Easter canticle proclaims:
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.”
(This comes from 1 Corinthians 15)
Jesus’ resurrection from death foretells our own liberation from it, and not only in the future, in an eternity after physical death. We may be liberated from its shadow, and its dread, and its power over us even in this life.
In the light of this good news, St Paul exults in his first letter to the Corinthians: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
As John Donne, the 16th century poet we recently profiled, elaborated so eloquently:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
(Sonnet X)
Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury who presided over the conversion of the English realm from Roman Catholicism to Protestantism, penned what is the first official English Language ceremony, the “Great Litany”, in 1544. He drew upon litanies in the old “Sarum Rite” as well as the litany of Martin Luther. The Litany is a collection of prayers and petitions, and is generally used in the penitential seasons of Lent and Advent.
The text of the litany is posted below. Here are two small portions of that Litany, sung in a beautiful setting by Thomas Tallis (1505-1585), who is considered by many the “father of Anglican music.” An organist at Waltham Abbey, he later became a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and was a teacher of William Byrd.
We will hear the Gentlemen of the Choir of Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, NYC. Here are the opening sentences, an invocation of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
Now I’ll move to the end. The sublime concluding phrases here remind me of the somber ending to Tallis’ great work “The Lamentations of Jeremiah.”
The entire Litany in its appropriate context within a communion service, is available online for a period of time at the website for this church.
The Text of the Litany (From the Book of Common Prayer, 1928). Responses from the congregation/choir are in italics.
O GOD the Father, Creator of heaven and earth; Have mercy upon us.
O God the Son, Redeemer of the world; Have mercy upon us.
O God the Holy Ghost, Sanctifier of the faithful; Have mercy upon us.
O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, one God; Have mercy upon us.
REMEMBER not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our forefathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins: Spare us, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever. Spare us, good Lord.
FROM all evil and mischief; from sin; from the crafts and assaults of the devil; from thy wrath, and from everlasting damnation, Good Lord, deliver us.
From all blindness of heart; from pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness, Good Lord, deliver us.
From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, Good Lord, deliver us.
From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord, deliver us.
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment, Good Lord, deliver us.
By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation, Good Lord, deliver us.
By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost, Good Lord, deliver us.
In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment, Good Lord, deliver us.
WE sinners do beseech thee to hear us, O Lord God; and that it may please thee to rule and govern thy holy Church universal in the right way; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee so to rule the heart of thy servant, The President of the United States, that he may above all things seek thy honour and glory; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to bless and preserve all Christian Rulers and Magistrates, giving them grace to execute justice, and to maintain truth; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to illuminate all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, with true knowledge and understanding of thy Word; and that both by their preaching and living they may set it forth, and show it accordingly; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to send forth labourers into thy harvest; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to bless and keep all thy people; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give to all nations unity, peace, and concord; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give us an heart to love and fear thee, and diligently to live after thy commandments; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give to all thy people increase of grace to hear meekly thy Word, and to receive it with pure affection, and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to bring into the way of truth all such as have erred, and are deceived; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand; and to comfort and help the weak-hearted; and to raise up those who fall; and finally to beat down Satan under our feet; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to succour, help, and comfort, all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to preserve all who travel by land, by water, or by air, all women in child-birth, all sick persons, and young children; and to show thy pity upon all prisoners and captives; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to defend, and provide for, the fatherless children, and widows, and all who are desolate and oppressed; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to have mercy upon all men; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn their hearts; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so that in due time we may enjoy them; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please thee to give us true repentance; to forgive us all our sins, negligences, and ignorances; and to endue us with the grace of thy Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to thy holy Word; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.
Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us. Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us.
O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world; Grant us thy peace.
O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world; Have mercy upon us.
O Christ, hear us. O Christ, hear us.
Lord, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.
