11am Choral Eucharist, Sunday, April 8th, 2018
Second Sunday of Easter
Prelude: “O Filii et Filliae”, Setting by: Jean Francois Dandrieu (1682-1738)
Processional Hymn: 206 Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! O sons and daughters
Gloria: S280, Powell
First Reading: 1 John 1:1-2:2
Psalm: Psalm 98, Musical Setting By: Peter Hallock
Choir: Sing to the Lord a new song. Hallelujah!
Choir and People: Sing to the Lord a new song. Hallelujah!
Choir: 1 Sing to the Lord a new song,*
for he has done marvelous things.
2. With his right hand and his holy arm*
has he won for himself the victory.
Choir and People: Sing to the Lord a new song. Hallelujah!
Choir: 3. The Lord has made known his victory;*
his righteousness has he openly shown
in the sight of the nations.
4. He remembers his mercy and faithfulness
to the house of Israel,*
and all the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
Choir and People: Sing to the Lord a new song. Hallelujah!
Choir: 5. Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands;*
lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.
6. Sing to the Lord with the harp,*
with the harp and the voice of song.
Choir and People: Sing to the Lord a new song. Hallelujah!
Before the Gospel: Alleluia 7
Choir: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Choir and People: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Choir: “Proclaim the forgiveness of sins to all nations.” Alleluia!
“You are witnesses of these things.” Alleluia!
-Luke 24:47-48
Choir and People: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 24:36-49
Offertory Anthem: “Praise Him!” By: Craig Courtney, Debbie Robinson and Janet Inman Haigh, Sopranos
Choir: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him for His mighty acts.
Praise Him in the firmament of His power.
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him!
I will extol the Lord, my God,
and I will bless His name forever,
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.
The Lord is righteous and holy.
The Lord is gracious and kind;
full of compassion, slow to anger;
His tender mercies are over all His works;
He is good to all.
Praise God in His sanctuary...
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow...
–Text based on the Doxology
and also Psalms 150 and 145
Doxology: Hymn 380, stanza 3
Holy: S125, Proulx
Communion Anthem: “’Tis the spring of souls today”, Tune: Gaudeamus Pariter
Choir: ‘Tis the spring of souls today; Christ hath burst his prison,
and from three days’ sleep in death as a sun hath risen;
all the winter of our sins, long and dark, is flying
from his light, to whom we give laud and praise undying.
Now the queen of seasons, bright with the day of splendor,
with the royal feast of feasts, comes its joy to render;
comes to glad Jerusalem, who with true affection
welcomes in unwearied strains Jesus’ resurrection.
Neither might the gates of death, nor the tomb’s dark portal,
nor the watchers, nor the seal hold thee as a mortal:
but today amidst thine own thou didst stand, bestowing
that thy peace which evermore passeth human knowing.
Meditation: “Alleluia! O Sons and Daughters, Let us Sing” , By: Flor Peeters (1903-1986)
Communion Hymn: 209 We walk by faith, and not by sight
Recessional Hymn: 210 The day of resurrection! (Ellacombe)
Postlude: ”All’ Offertorio”, By: Domenico Zipoli, Organist: Carlton Niven, Student of Ashley Sosis
Music Notes
By: Ashley Sosis
Happy Easter! By wishing you a Happy Easter, I’m not forgetting that Easter was last Sunday and not today. Easter is a Season not a single day. So I could wish you Happy Easter every day until 11:59pm on May 19th! You’ll also notice that our Alleluias are added back into our services, and since it is the season of Easter there are quite a few more than other church seasons that offer them. Say them with gusto!
Our Communion Anthem is a hymn that is often overlooked in the Easter Season repertory. Matched to a rhythmic, carol-like tune, its text takes on a quality of festal joy in keeping with the spirit of the words and of this “queen of seasons” and “royal feast of feasts”. The tune, Gaudeamus Pariter, first appeared in Johann Horn’s Ein Gesangbuch der Bruder in Behemen und Mehern (Nuremberg, 1544).
If you’re paying attention, you may have noticed something about that hymn. It appears in our hymnal as Hymn 200 with one big difference—I left out the opening stanza, which gives the hymn its familiar title. “Come, ye faithful, raise the strain of triumphant gladness! God hath brought his Israel into joy from sadness: loosed from Pharoh’s bitter yoke Jacob’s sons and daughters, led them with unmoistened foot through the Red Sea waters.”
I always thought that this stanza did not match the others. Certainly, the material is from the old testament and not the new. It also does not have the quasi-secular “Spring” material that the other stanzas have. There may be two different explanations for this. Perhaps stanza one is a metaphor for Christ bringing sinners out of bondage from sin. Or, perhaps this particular text was written to be included in the Easter Vigil liturgy, which includes multiple readings which detail salvation history, including this reading. What do you think?