Connecting

With good thoughts about our prayerful progress — MM

O Clap Your Hands – Session Two – Music, Mercy, and the Mass

Prayer:  Lord, have mercy. Christ have mercy. Have mercy on us as we amble through life, often oblivious of our own sins and the afflictions of others.  Make us always thankful for your great mercy and generosity, and by your Holy Spirit, help us see our sinfulness, that we may daily be renewed by your saving grace.  Amen

The Ordinary of the Mass

Kyrie:  Lord, have mercy. Christ have mercy.

Gloria:  Glory to God in the highest

Credo:  I believe (Apostle’s Creed)

Sanctus:  Holy, holy, holy Lord

Benedictus:  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord

Agnus Dei:  Lamb of God. . . have mercy upon us.

Dona nobis pacem:  Grant us peace.

1.  Kyrie from Solemn Mass:  Jean Langlais (1907-1991):  Kryie by Jean Langlais

Why is there a plea for mercy at the beginning of the Mass?  Does the music convey mystery, guilt, shame, awe or fear? Does it remind us that while we seek forgiveness we also have assurance of pardon? why seek mercy if it has already been granted?

2. Miserere nostri, Domini by Palestrina (1525-1594):  Miserere nostri, Domine

Psalm 123: 3-4

How is this plea for forgiveness different from the Langlais Kyrie?  Do you ever feel that you haven’t been forgiven by God? Why? Do you ever feel that you are forgiven? Describe that feeling.

3.  Benedictus by Monteverdi (1567-1643):  Benedictus

Luke 19:28-40

How does this text strike you in the middle of the Communion service? Should it be sung then or not?

4.  Ego sum panis vivus by Juan Esquival de Barahona (1563-1614) – I couldn’t find this piece to provide a link for.

John 6:41, 58

Imagine that you have to explain Communion to someone who does not know what it is about.  Does the music help explain things or not?

5. Agnus Dei from Mass in E-flat by Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901):  Agnus Dei by Rheinberger

Does Rheinberger believe in forgiveness?  Can you hear it in the music?

Prayer:  God of sound and space, who creates and holds us together with bonds of love, guide and guard us on life’s pilgrimage, so that when we reach our ultimate destination we may be made worthy to sing Hosannas in your blessed and holy presence.  Amen.

Prayer through music

I so appreciate Pam’s postings of Glinda’s music selections for class and the poignant questions. I am blessed to have had choral training in high school and college for a bit. When I hear this music I return to those days of training first and listen to the voicing. But then I felt my body relax to the point of otherworldliness. An occasional bout of chill bumps made me wonder if I were losing the spiritual connection. . . but I decided that chill bumps are THE spiritual connection.

What is talent? I do not have innate musical ability but my soul longs for the ability to make music. I have had training in choral music, piano and bells. I will never “be a musician” no matter how much I practice. It is not my gift. But I am blessed to discern the beauty and the effect of music.

It’s good to know one’s talents — and accept the talent in others.

This music, playing amidst the majestic mountains, just takes my breath away. And makes me so grateful.

O Clap Your Hands: A Musical Tour of Sacred Choral Works (Session 1)

On Sunday, January 10, 2010, Glinda Blackshear began a series of classes for the Way of Prayer Sunday School Class based on the book, “O Clap Your Hands.”

Prayer: May the music that unites us bless us and direct our hearts heavenward, in sound and in silance.  Amen

1. Exsultate justi:  Viadana (c. 1560-1627) Psalm 33:1-3

Exsultate Justi by Viadana

Do you like this kind of music? Why or why not? What preconceptions do you bring to listening? Reflect on the way we make music reflects life and mirrors faith.  What are we doing to, for, and with God’s creation when we work with musical sounds? What would life be like if we could not, or did not?

2. Bogoroditse Devo from Vespers by Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) Luke 1:41-45

Bogoroditse Devo by Rachmaninoff

What is talent, and in what sense does it come from God? If not from God, from where? Is music a spiritual gift? (I Cor. 12) Do we live in a pagan age in which music is expressive of and servant to values Christians abhor?

3. Psalm 150: Gregorian Chant Mode II (anonymous) Psalm 150 (I could not find a video of this piece)

Does this music still speak to us today?  What values of 1500 years ago do we still hold dear? Do compositions mean the same now as they did when originally written? Should an old piece be made to adapt to keep its relevance to today? Is this also true of our worship and our faith?

4. Otche nash by Kedrov (1871-1940) Luke 11:1-4

Otche nash by Kedrov

“Liturgy” means “work of the people”. In Russian Orthodox churches there is a very real sense that the singing of the Lord’s Prayer is a common work of devlotion. What is “liturgical” music in today’s church? How can we experience “common works of devotion”?

Closing Prayer:  Lord, give us grace to find new ways to sing your priaise and to discover your hand in both ancient and modern music, for in Christ, you are the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Amen

Meditation #8 (Esther De Waal)

Wait. . .

be silent. . .

be attentive. . .

wait. . .

God is here.

Meditation #7 (Father Roger Schultz of Taize’)

When the time for silence comes, I ask you to take up your position for prayer and then, having asked for the help of the Holy Spirit, to be content to wait patiently, expectantly, lovingly, longingly.

Try to realize that tis is all you can do for yourself.  God must do the rest.

See yourself as the parched ground looking upwards waiting patiently for the rain to fall.  You can only wait.

Pray is Like . . . by Ann Lewin

Prayer is like watching for the

Kingfisher.  All you can do is

Be there where he is like to appear, and

Wait

Often nothing much happens;

There is space, silence and

Expectancy.

No visible signs, only the

Knowledge that he’s been there

And may come again.

Seeing or not seeing cease to matter,

You have been prepared

But when you’ve almost stopped

Expecting it, a flash of brightness

Gives encouragement.

Meditation #6 (St. Columbus)

God is everywhere—

utterly vast,

and everywhere near at hand,

according to his own witness of himself;

I am, he says,

a God at hand and not a God afar off.

The God we are seeking

is not one who dwells far away from us;

we have seen him within us.

Meditation #5 (Alan P. Tory)

There is a contemplative in all of us, almost strangled but still alive, who craves quiet enjoyment of the Now, and longs to touch the seamless garment of silence which makes us whole.

Meditation #4 (Isaac of Syria)

“The kingdom of heaven is mystically within you.”

These are the good things which are hidden within us

and which shine out from within us

by means of the life lived in stillness;

the person who are committed himself to God

in faith and prayer

will no longer be tormented

by concern for himself.