faith in the desert: January 2007 Archives

Holy God We praise thy name
Holy God, we praise Thy Name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee!
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in Heaven above adore Thee;
Infinite Thy vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.

Hark! the loud celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising,
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising;
Fill the heavens with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord.

Lo! the apostolic train
Join the sacred Name to hallow;
Prophets swell the loud refrain,
And the white robed martyrs follow;
And from morn to set of sun,
Through the Church the song goes on.

Holy Father, Holy Son,
Holy Spirit, Three we name Thee;
While in essence only One,
Undivided God we claim Thee;
And adoring bend the knee,
While we own the mystery.

Thou art King of glory, Christ:
Son of God, yet born of Mary;
For us sinners sacrificed,
And to death a tributary:
First to break the bars of death,
Thou has opened Heaven to faith.

From Thy high celestial home,
Judge of all, again returning,
We believe that Thou shalt come
In the dreaded doomsday morning;
When Thy voice shall shake the earth,
And the startled dead come forth.

Therefore do we pray Thee, Lord:
Help Thy servants whom, redeeming
By Thy precious blood out-poured,
Thou hast saved from Satan’s scheming.
Give to them eternal rest
In the glory of the blest.

Spare Thy people, Lord, we pray,
By a thousand snares surrounded:
Keep us without sin today,
Never let us be confounded.
Lo, I put my trust in Thee;
Never, Lord, abandon me.

Angela Messenger: The good old days...or were they?
When I went to Mass in 1963 with a Catholic friend, I was disappointed that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hear the priest or know what was going on up at the altar. You have to realize that I knew what was supposed to be going on because of having daily experience with the High Church Anglican liturgy. Furthermore, I knew much of the Latin for the parts of the Mass. And I did have a Missal with me. But when the mass is whispered or mumbled, who could hear enough to know what was happening when? I felt cheated. Almost as cheated as I feel now when the priest makes up the words as he goes along.

We didn't sing my favorite Epiphany hymns, but as the choir director said "It's our last chance to sing Christmas Carols". Listening to Benediction on EWTN, I was struck by the fact that the nuns chose for Benediction many of the same hymns we sang for Mass. The First Nowell, What Child is This, We Three Kings, (And we sang one that I am not sure really qualifies as a hymn, lovely though it is - Go, Tell it on the Mountains)

However, something that struck me at Christmas hit me even harder at mass today - where are the missing lyrics to "What Child is This?"
I just KNEW that there are different refrains for each verse. But my usually reliable Oremus Hymnal let me down, and even my Anglican hymnal simply repeats the usual:
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Enter the Internet. What Child Is This? has them all.
Source: Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer, Christmas Carols New and Old, First Series (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1871), Carol #14

1. What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

2. Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

3. So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

My favorite Epiphany hymns are rarely heard.
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, for example. See here the penultimate verse:
Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
vainly with gifts would his favor secure,
richer by far is the heart's adoration,
dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
Of course, this was another hymn written by Reginald Heber. Anglican Bishop Heber seemed to have a profound understanding of the mystery of the Incarnation, and I think that he would have made an excellent Catholic of the Roman sort, if only he had been born in another time and place.

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