November 27, 2011

8:30 Introit/Response: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

This is an English metrical paraphrase of the “Cherubic Hymn” that comes from the Liturgy of St. James, which is sung as the bread and wine are brought in procession to the altar in the Orthodox Church. It sets the mood as we wait for the Lord to come, as Paul Westermeyer writes: “With silence, in fear and trembling, [the church] ponders the Lord of lords in human vesture and with the cherubim sings ‘Alleluia.’”

8:30 Offertory: Comfort, Comfort You My People

Written as a paraphrase of Isaiah 40, this hymn was initially intended to be used during the fest of St. John the Baptist, but is often now sung during Advent. The hymn emphasizes the comfort, peace, and pardon that Christ brings.

Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates

Based on Psalm 24:7-10, the hymn was written by Georg Weissel, who served as pastor of a church in Germany until his death in 1635. The text shifts its point of view between stanzas; the first stanza serves as a paraphrase of the Psalm. The second stanza exhorts Christians to open their hearts for Christ, while the third stanza implores Christ to abide within our hearts.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

One of the best known Advent hymns, this text finds its origins in the early church and its practices. In the ninth century, a series of seven Advent antiphons (a short song sung before or after a psalm or canticle) were sung at Vespers before and after the Magnificat (Mary’s song, #600). Each of the antiphons began with “O” followed by a biblical title for the Messiah: “Wisdom;” “Lord;” “Root of Jesse;” “Key of David;” “Dayspring;” “King;” and “Emmanuel.” The last two Presbyterian hymnals have only included three of the stanzas. As a means of anticipating Jesus’ coming, we will sing a stanza after the Gospel reading each Sunday in Advent.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

While we generally associate this hymn with Advent, Charles Wesley wrote and included it in his Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord (1745). Another hymn with roots in the Hebrew Scriptures, this one draws from Isaiah 9:6 (“For to us a child is born…”) and Haggai 2:7 (“desire of every nation”). Geoffrey Wainwright and Robin A. Leaver write, “Christ’s redemptive and liberating rule is seen here stereoscopically in all its stages, from prophecy through the Incarnation to present sovereignty and final triumph; it bears individual, communal, and ultimately cosmic dimensions.”

10:55 Anthem: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

This is an English metrical paraphrase of the “Cherubic Hymn” that comes from the Liturgy of St. James, which is sung as the bread and wine are brought in procession to the altar in the Orthodox Church. It sets the mood as we wait for the Lord to come, as Paul Westermeyer writes: “With silence, in fear and trembling, [the church] ponders the Lord of lords in human vesture and with the cherubim sings ‘Alleluia.’” Katherine Davis was a prolific composer, writing some eight hundred hymns choral pieces and arrangements; she also penned “The Little Drummer Boy” under the pseudonym “John Cowley” in the early twentieth century.