Friday 30th July, 2010
The Eighth Sunday After Trinity
Evensong
The First Reading1
Then a Lesson of the Old Testament, as is appointed.
Proverbs 24:21-33
(24v24) He that saith unto the wicked, Thou
(24v26)
(24v27) Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
(24v28) Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive
(24v29) Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.
(24v30) I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; (24v31) And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns,
(24v32) Then I saw,
(24v33)
Magnificat
And after that Magnificat2 (or the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary) in English, as followeth.3
Magnificat.
S. Luke 2. 29
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Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), Christ Church Cathedral Choir |
Magnificat (Second Service)
MY soul
doth magni'fy the ' Lord
1 Sam 2:1:
and my spirit hath re'joiced in
' God my ' Saviour.
2 For he 'hath re'garded :
the 'lowliness of ' his 'handmaiden
Ps 123:2
Lk 1:38.
3 For be'hold, from ' henceforth :
all gene'rations shall ' call me 'blessed.
Lk 1:42
4 For he that is mighty hath ' magnified 'me :
and ' holy ' is his ' Name.
5 And his mercy is on ' them that ' fear him
Ps 103:10-12:
through'out all
'gene'rations.
6 He hath showed ' strength with his ' arm
1 Sam 2:4:
he hath scattered the proud in the imagi'nation ' of their ' hearts
1 Sam 2:3.
7 He hath put down
the mighty ' from their ' seat :
and hath ex'alted the ' humble and ' meek
1 Sam 2:8
Mt 5:1-12.
8 He hath filled
the ' hungry with ' good things
1 Sam 2:5
Mk 6:41-44
Jas 2:14-17:
and the rich he hath ' sent ' empty a' way
1 Sam 2:7.
9 He re'membering his 'mercy :
hath ' holpen
his ' servant 'Israel;
10 As he promised to 'our fore'fathers :
Abraham and his ' seed ' for ' ever.
Gen 17:8.
Glory be to the Father, and ' to the ' Son : and
' to the ' Holy ' Ghost;
As it was the beginning, is now, and ' ever ' shall be :
world without ' end. ' A'men.
Cantate Domino
Or else this Psalm:4 Except it be on the nineteenth day of the month, when it is read in the ordinary course of the Psalms.
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Psalm 98
O SING unto the Lord a
' new ' song :
for ' he hath done ' marvellous ' things.
2.
With his own right hand, and with his ' holy ' arm :
hath he ' gotten him'self the
' victory.
3. The Lord declared ' his sal'vation :
his righteousness hath he
openly shewed ' in the ' sight of the ' heathen.
4. He hath remembered his
mercy and truth toward the ' house of ' Israel :
and all the ends of the world
have seen the sal'vation of ' our ' God.
5. Shew yourselves joyful unto the Lord,
' all ye ' lands :
sing, re'joice, and ' give ' thanks.
6. Praise the Lord up'on
the ' harp :
sing to the harp ' with a ' psalm of ' thanksgiving.
7. With
trumpets ' also and ' shawms :
O shew yourselves joyful be'fore the ' Lord the
' King.
8. Let the sea make a noise, and all that
' therein ' is :
the round
world, and ' they that ' dwell there'in.
9. Let the floods clap their hands,
and let the hills be joyful together be'fore the ' Lord :
for he is ' come to
' judge the ' earth.
10. With righteousness shall he ' judge the ' world : and the
' people ' with ' equity.
Glory be to the Father, and ' to the ' Son : and
' to the ' Holy ' Ghost;
As it was the beginning, is now, and ' ever ' shall be :
world without ' end. ' A' men.
Footnotes
1 "First Reading". The Rubric at Morning Prayer spells out that this "reading" may be, and prior to the complaints of the Puritan party at the Savoy Conference in 1661 routinely was, chanted. In the Prayer Book of 1552, the Rubric was:
AND to the end the people may the better hear in such places where they do sing, there shall the lessons be sung in a plain tune, after the manner of distinct reading, and likewise the epistle and gospel.
This singing in a plain tune is more properly called "saying". The direction that it should be "read" in the 1662 Book means that the exact style of singing is no longer stipulated, and could include ordinary speech. This was done, with some reluctance, at the insistence of the Puritan party at the Savoy Conference in 1661, reminding us once again how far they had departed from Cranmer's intentions.
IT has been hastily imagined by some in modern days that our great liturgical revisionists of the sixteenth century designed to abolish the immemorial custom of the Church of God, alike in Jewish and Christian times, of saying the Divine Service in some form of solemn musical recitative, and to introduce the unheard-of custom of adopting the ordinary colloquial tone of voice. ....
The Rubrical directions, "read" "say" "sing," expressed in the old technical language, are substantially what they were before. The first of these words, "legere," was the most general and comprehensive; merely expressing recitation from a book, without defining the "modus legendi," or stating whether the recitation was to be plain or inflected.
The usual modes of recitation are expressed in the words "say" and "sing;" the former ("dicere") pointing to the simpler, the latter ("cantare") to the more ornate mode. Thus the old "legere" might signify (and often did) ornate singing; and it might signify (and often did) plain monotone; and it is observable that the words "say" and "sing" are often employed interchangeably in the old rubrics, when their specific distinctions do not come into prominence.
Although the 1662 Rubric leaves choice of singing style more open, John Cosin, writing in 1619, had given very compelling reasons for maintaining the practice of chanting plainly rather than floridly.
AND this is the reason that in places where they sing, all our prayers are sung in a plain and audible tone. Reading hath not the force to affect and stir up the spirit, which a grave manner of singing has; and singing, if it be not tempered with that gravity which becomes the servants of God in the presence of His holy angels, is fuller of danger than of edification; therefore hath our Church most prudently appointed the lessons and prayers so to be sung as may make most for the dignity and glory of God's high and holy service, and be also a means to inflame men s affections, to stir up their attentions, and to edify their understandings; which is answerable to St. Augustine's desire, lib. x. Confess., cap. 33, when he wished for the FIRST restitution of that custom which Athanasius was wont to use, lectorem [tam] modico vocis flexu jubebat sonare, ut pronuncianti vicinior foret quam canenti [who obliged the reader of the psalm to give utterance to it with so slight an inflection of voice, that it was more like speaking than singing.].
This plain chanting is not a bare monotone. There are conventions for slight modulations mid sentence, and at the end of a sentence. These create an intensely spiritual atmosphere that dramatically heightens our attention to the Scripture, and ensures that we hear it as God's holy word and not just a nice story.
2 "Magnificat". This is the first word of the Song of Mary, as given in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible, Magnificat anima mea Dominum.
Its position after the first Lesson, a reading from the Old Testament, is significant — the Magnificat is itself in the form of an Old Testament song, the Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2), indicating the fulfilment of prophecy.
IT is also to be observed of this, as of the other Canticles, that it is sung to the praise of the Personal Word, as revealed in the Written Word; to the praise of God in Christ, revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures as well as in the New.
IN the person of Christ, the types and predictions of the Law and the Prophets were finally accomplished. The recitation therefore of this Hymn with propriety succeeds the first Lesson, which is taken out of the Books of the Old Testament, and generally contains some circumstance of history or prophecy, that has a direct relation to the events of the Gospel.
AND very fitly doth the Church appoint sacred hymns after the lessons. For who is there that hearing God speak from heaven to him for his soul's health can do less than rise up and praise Him? And what hymns can be fitter to praise God with for our salvation, than those which were the first gratulations wherewith our Saviour was entertained into the world?
AFTER the first Lesson at Evening Prayer, two other Hymns are appointed, both of them taken out of canonical Scripture: the first is the Song of the Blessed Virgin, called the Magnificat, from its first word in Latin. It is the first Hymn recorded in the New Testament, and from its ancient use among the primitive christians, has been continued in the offices of the reformed churches abroad, as well as in ours.
For as the holy Virgin, when she reflected upon the promises of the Old Testament, now about to be fulfilled in the mysterious conception and happy birth, of which God had designed her to be the instrument, expressed her joy in this form; so we, when we hear in the Lessons like examples of his mercy, and are told of those prophecies and promises which were then fulfilled, may not improperly rejoice with her in the same words, as having a proportionable share of interest in the same blessing.
The song is set on the lips of Mary, Jesus's mother, at her visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John, later known as the Baptist. It is based heavily on the Song of Hannah, mother of the prophet Samuel, who like Elizabeth was unable to have children until God granted her insistent prayers. Understandably, then, a small number of manuscripts give this canticle to Elizabeth. But the vast majority give it to Mary. John Shepherd notes evidence that this was Luke's intention.
BETWEEN this Hymn of the Virgin, and the Song of Hannah, recorded in the first Book of Samuel, there is a conformity of expression and sentiment, not less remarkable than the similarity of circumstances under which they were uttered. The chief difference seems to be, that Hannah's Song is conceived in a higher and more exalted strain, in terms corresponding with the sublime effusions of the ancient Prophets; while Magnificat more resembles the simple, but expressive language of the evangelical writers. This consonance of character and circumstance in the two Hymns, points out a relation between the persons of the child Samuel and the child Jesus; of whom it is testified by their respective historians, in a similar correspondence of language, that they "increased in wisdom and stature," and "in favour both with God and man." 1 Sam. ii. 26. Luke ii. 52.
Despite its place in the Holy scriptures, the Puritan party wanted the Magnificat removed for the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. How much we would have lost by complying with this strange request, is clear from Bishop Sparrow's reply.
THE objections are these: That the first of these was the Virgin Mary's hymn for bearing Christ in her womb; the latter old Simeon's [Nunc Dimittis], for seeing and holding in his arms the blessed Babe, neither of which can be done by us now, and therefore neither can we say properly these hymns.
The answer may be, that bearing Christ in the womb, suckling Him, holding Him in our arms, is not so great a blessing "As the laying up His Holy Word in our hearts," "by which Christ is formed in us;" and so there is as much thanks to be returned to God for this as for that. He that doth the will of God, taught in His Word, may as well say, "My soul doth magnify the Lord," as the holy Virgin, for Christ is formed in him, as well as in the Virgin's womb: " Whosoever doth the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother and sister and mother."
THE Hymn of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be traced in use in the Daily Service of the Church as far back as the beginning of the sixth century. At that time (a.d. 507) it appears in the rulle of St. Cssarius of Arles, in the office of Lauds. In the Eastern Church it is also a Lauds Canticle. But Atnalarius [a.d. 820] speaks of its use in his time as a Canticle at Vespers; and in the Armenian Church it is used at Compline as well as at Lauds. The English Church has used it at Vespers for at least eight hundred years; and its present position is analogous to that which it occupied in the ancient Service. There are English versions of it, of as early a date as 1390—1400. Several attempts were made by the Puritans to banish it from the Prayer Book, but happily without success. On the other hand, especial reverence was shown towards this Canticle and the Benedictus in the ceremonial of the ancient Church of England, by the use of incense while they were being sung.
NB If using incense, note that the Anglican tradition is to have a standing pot releasing a gentle perfume. Swinging censers or censing objects and/or people is not customary, being of more recent origin. See Incense.
THE Mother of our Lord, and the Church, "which is the Mother of us all" (cf. Gal 4:26), have always been closely linked together in the mind of Christianity. The "Elect Lady" (2 John 1), and the Woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," who, "being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered," and who "brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne" (Rev 12:1-5), have seemed, from the different points of view taken by different ages, to represent now one and then the other, the Mother of our Lord, and the Mother of us all.
This community of characteristics is in accordance with the general teaching of the New Testament respecting the mystery of the communion between our Lord Himself and those who are made members of His Body by new birth. And for this reason, "The Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary" has a peculiar fitness as the daily song of the Church of Christ, since God has honoured it with so great honour, in having made it the means by which the work of the Incarnation is made effectual to the salvation of souls. The Blessed Virgin Mother offered up her thanksgiving to God because He had remembered His mercy and His ancient covenant, by making His Son incarnate through her; and the Church offers up her thanksgiving to Him, because, through her, the mystical body of Christ is being continually brought forth to His greater glory.
3 "As followeth". There is no direction here as to the singing of the Magnificat, but Archbishop Cranmer left us his own.
IN mine opinion, the song that shall be made thereunto should not be full of notes, but as near as may be for every syllable a note; so that it may be sung distinctly and devoutly, as be the Matins and Evensong, Venitie, the Hymns, Te Deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, and all the Psalms and Versicles; and in the Mass, Gloria in Excelsis, Gloria Patri, the Creed, the Preface, the Pater Noster, and some of the Sanctus and Agnus.
4 "This Psalm". Added as an alternative for the 1552 Prayer Book.
WHEN the first Lesson treats of some great and termporal deliverance granted to the peculiar people of God, we have the ninety-eighth psalm for variety; which, though made on occaiion of some of David's victories, may yet be very properly applied to ourselves, who, being God's adopted children, are a spiritual Israel, and therefore have all imaginable reason to bless God for the same, and to call upon the whole creation to join with us in thanksgiving.
BETWEEN Cantate Domino and Magnificat, there is a degree of resemblance not much inferior to that which we have already noticed, between Magnificat and the Song of Hannah. This resemblance, however, is confined to the first four verses of Cantate which approach so near to the general turn of sentiment in Magnificat, as to induce a belief that the latter was borrowed from the introductory part of the former; the prediction of the Psalmist being applied by the Virgin to its proper accomplishment in the Gospel dispensation.
Cantate Domino is rarely used as an Hymn after the first Lesson; and yet, where that treats of any extraordinary instance of divine protection and mercy, Cantate seems more proper than Magnificat. It is upon this ground, no doubt, that Cantate has been frequently enjoined to be used, instead of Magnificat, in our occasional forms of thanksgiving.
