Holy Eucharist Rite II at 10:30 a.m. sung by the Adult Choir; sermon by The Rev’d Susan Pinkerton.

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Service Music:

Organ Voluntary    Trio: From heaven above to earth I come     Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Reflection on Richmond     June Nixon, 2015

Processional Hymn 76    On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry    Winchester New

Kyrie Eleison   from Litany of the Saints    adapt. Richard Proulx (1937-2010)

Sequence Hymn WLP 724    People, look East    Besançon Carol

Offertory Anthem   There is no rose (from A Ceremony of Carols)    Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Words: Anonymous, 14th century

There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu;
Alleluia.

For in this rose contained was
Heaven and earth in little space;
Res miranda.  (Thing of wonder)

By that rose we may well see
There be one God in persons three,
Paresforma.  (Equal in form)

The angels sungen the shepherds to:
Gloria in excelsis deo:  (Glory to God in the highest)
Gaudeamus.   (Let us rejoice)

Leave we all this worldly mirth,
And follow we this joyful birth;
Transeamus.  (Let us follow)

A Ceremony of Carols was written in 1942 when the English composer Benjamin Britten was 29 years old. It is one of the composer’s most popular and widely performed works, particularly at the Christmas season. A Ceremony of Carols was composed in part during five weeks that Britten spent travelling by ship from New York to England during the Second World War. During the voyage the ship stopped in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Britten purchased a book of medieval poetry. Poems from this book, along with Gregorian Chant and other poetry spanning 14th to 16th century England, were the inspiration for A Ceremony of Carols, which includes both a Christmas narrative as well as references to the re-birth of spring.

Sanctus   from Missa Emmanuel    Richard Proulx

Fraction Anthem    Agnus Dei   from Missa Emmanuel    Richard Proulx

Communion Motet    In dulci jubilo (1837)    Robert Pearsall (1795-1856)
Words: Heinrich Seuse, c. 1328, translated Pearsall

In dulci jubilo, (In sweet rejoicing,)
Let us our homage show!
Our heart’s joy reclineth
In praesepio; (in the manger;)
And like a bright star shineth
Matris in gremio. (in the mother’s lap.)
Alpha es et O! (You are the Alpha and Omega!)

O Jesu parvule, (O tiny Jesus)
I yearn for thee alway!
Hear me, I beseech thee,
O puer optime; (O best of children)
My prayer let it reach thee,
O princeps gloriae. (O prince of glory)
Trahe me post te. (Make me follow you)

O patris caritas! (O love of the Father)
O Nati lenitas! (O gentleness of the Son)
Deeply were we stained.
Per nostra crimina: (through our crimes)
But thou hast for us gained
Coelorum gaudia, (the joys of heaven)
O that we were there!

Ubi sunt gaudia, (where are joys)
Where, if that they be not there?
There are angels singing
Nova cantica; (new songs)
There the bells are ringing
In Regis curia (in the courts of the King).
O that we were there!

In dulci jubilo (“In sweet rejoicing”) is a traditional Christmas carol. Translations into English, such as J.M. Neale’s arrangement “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” have increased its popularity, and Robert Pearsall’s 1837 macaronic translation is a mainstay of the Christmas Nine Lessons and Carols repertoire. (Macaronic: alternating between two languages, often showing odd contrasts.)

Closing Hymn in Procession 72    Hark! the glad sound! the Savior comes    Richmond

Voluntary     Praeludium: From heaven above to earth I come     Johann Pachelbel

Cantor: John Nowacki
Assisting Pianist: Jacqueline Smith