OPENING VOLUNTARY O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright (Wie schön leuchtet)
Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890)
See the text and tune at ELW
See the text and tune at ELW
This hymn is undeniably Lutheran. Written by the revered German Lutheran pastor and hymnodist Philipp Niccolai (1556-1608), it is often honored with the title "Queen of the Lutheran Chorales."
The hymn appears in many denominational hymnals, but is probably not sung very often outside of Lutheran churches. I never sang it before coming to St. Mark's sixteen years ago. I knew the tune from having studied some organ works and from its famously being quoted in Mendelssohn's "There Shall a Star Come Out of Jacob."
Even in the little Lutheran church where I was baptized and confirmed, I don't think it was ever sung.
The hymn appears in many denominational hymnals, but is probably not sung very often outside of Lutheran churches. I never sang it before coming to St. Mark's sixteen years ago. I knew the tune from having studied some organ works and from its famously being quoted in Mendelssohn's "There Shall a Star Come Out of Jacob."
Even in the little Lutheran church where I was baptized and confirmed, I don't think it was ever sung.
Now I look forward to Epiphany (and Sundays after Epiphany) every year just for the chance to sing it again!
We know that this non-season is still a time of light and Jesus being manifested to the world. We have heard the beatitudes read a thousand times! Today, try to hear them as the people on the mountain heard them - Jesus is revealing the heart of his message: the Kingdom of God is already here and it is for the "lowly and pure in heart." (See the Prayer of the Day)
We know that this non-season is still a time of light and Jesus being manifested to the world. We have heard the beatitudes read a thousand times! Today, try to hear them as the people on the mountain heard them - Jesus is revealing the heart of his message: the Kingdom of God is already here and it is for the "lowly and pure in heart." (See the Prayer of the Day)
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| View of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of the Beatitudes |
Gade's setting is a gentle one with fresh, but not startling, harmonies. The solo melody is accompanied by chords that give dignity to the melody.
GATHERING HYMN Rejoice! Ye Pure in Heart (Marion) ELW 873
HYMN OF THE DAY Oh, Praise the Gracious Power (Christpraise Ray) ELW 651
Thomas Troeger (1945-2022) wrote this hymn for the ordination of Judith Ray, ordained as a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in 1984. Her surname is included in the title of the tune by Carol Doran (b. 1936).
Take note of the refrain which begins with an ascending line to the word "cross" - a musical way to "lift high the cross."
Take note of the refrain which begins with an ascending line to the word "cross" - a musical way to "lift high the cross."
MUSICAL OFFERING Prayer of St. Francis Allen Pote
"Give us. . .perseverance in striving for peace. . ." is our petition in the Prayer of the Day.
In today's gospel reading Jesus tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers. . ."
We can't be sure that St. Francis wrote the prayer that has been famously attributed to him. Francis lived c. 1182-1226 and the words are not found in his preserved writings. The poem prayer doesn't appear in print until 1912 (according to Wikipedia).
I can't help but think Francis would have embraced this prayer - and that we should embrace it too. The editors of Evangelical Lutheran Worship included it under the prayers for Spiritual Life on page 87, along with prayers from other pillars of the church.
In today's gospel reading Jesus tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers. . ."
We can't be sure that St. Francis wrote the prayer that has been famously attributed to him. Francis lived c. 1182-1226 and the words are not found in his preserved writings. The poem prayer doesn't appear in print until 1912 (according to Wikipedia).
I can't help but think Francis would have embraced this prayer - and that we should embrace it too. The editors of Evangelical Lutheran Worship included it under the prayers for Spiritual Life on page 87, along with prayers from other pillars of the church.
COMMUNION HYMN Look Who Gathers at Christ's Table (Copeland) ACS 977
This hymn imagines the assembly gathered for worship, bringing their whole lives with them - their joy and their pain. . . There might be some who feel unworthy because of their sin, but Jesus assures them they are welcome: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17) (From Sundays and Seasons)
This hymn imagines the assembly gathered for worship, bringing their whole lives with them - their joy and their pain. . . There might be some who feel unworthy because of their sin, but Jesus assures them they are welcome: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17) (From Sundays and Seasons)
SENDING HYMN To Be Your Presence (Engelberg) ELW 546
CLOSING VOLUNTARY Trumpet Rondeau
Jean Joseph Mouret (1682-1738), arr. Rick Parks
Jean Joseph Mouret (1682-1738), arr. Rick Parks
COMING EVENT! PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR!
Sources:
Wikipedia
Sundays and Seasons
Evangelical Lutheran Worship
Wikipedia
Sundays and Seasons
Evangelical Lutheran Worship
St. Francis with birds, from Art in the Christian
Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library,
Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54969 [retrieved January 28, 2023]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenarpoetry/4081925516/.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lac_de_Tiberiade_vu_du_mont_des_Beatitudes.JPG#/media/File:Lac_de_Tiberiade_vu_du_mont_des_Beatitudes.JPG
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