Mood:  bright

For December 26, St. Stephen Protomartyr:

Benedictus antiphon: And Stephen, full of grace and power, worked signs among the people.

Magnificat antiphon: Devout men buried Stephen and mourned greatly over him.

Responsories: You have crowned him with glory and honor, O Lord. . And have set him over the works of your hands. With glory and honor, O Lord. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. You have crowned him with glory and honor. O Lord. You have set, O Lord, upon his head a crown of precious stones.

You have set, O Lord, upon his head a crown of precious stones.  Upon his head. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. You have set, O Lord, upon his head a crown of precious stones.  Great is his glory in your salvation. Glory and great beauty shall you bestow on him. 

For December 27, the First Sunday after Christmas:

Magnificat and Benedictus antiphon: While all things were in quiet silence, and night was in the midst of her course, your almighty Word, O Lord, came down from your royal throne, alleluia.

Magnificat antiphon: The Child Jesus advanced in age and wisdom before God and men.

Responsories: The Word was made flesh, alleluia, alleluia. And dwelt among us, alleluia, alleluia. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.   The Word was made flesh, alleluia, alleluia. He himself shall say of me, alleluia. You are my Father, alleluia.

The Lord has made known, alleluia, alleluia. His salvation, alleluia. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. All the ends of the earth have seen, alleluia. The salvation of our God, alleluia.

(From the Benziger Roman Breviary, 1964) 

(Some optional material to supplement the Prayer Book office:)

Magnificat antiphons:

(December 24) When the sun has risen in the heavens, you shall see the King of kings proceeding from his Father, like a bridegroom from his chamber.

(December 25) This day Christ is born, this day the Savior has appeared, this day the angels sing on earth, the archangels rejoice. This day the just exult, saying, "Glory to God in the highest," alleluia.

Benedictus antiphon:

Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will, alleluia, alleluia. 

Responsories (between the readings):

The Word was made flesh, alleluia, alleluia. The Word was made flesh, alleluia, alleluia. And dwelt among us.  Alleluia, alleluia. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. The Word was made flesh, alleluia, alleluia.

The Lord has made known, alleluia, alleluia.  The Lord has made known, alleluia, alleluia. His salvation, alleluia. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. The Lord has made known, alleluia, alleluia. His salvation, alleluia.

(From the Benziger Roman Breviary, 1964)

Mood:  a-ok

[Here, for the record, is the Angelus, in its current form.]

V. The angel of the Lord announced unto Mary.
R. And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it unto me according to your Word.

V. And the Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.

V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: We beseech you, O Lord, pour your grace into our hearts, that as we have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and passion we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Psalm antiphons:

The Lord will come and will not delay, and he will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will manifest himself to all nations, alleluia.

Rejoice, O Jerusalem, with great joy, for your Savior will come to you, alleluia.

I will give salvation in Zion and my glory in Jerusalem, alleluia.

The mountains and all hills shall be made low, the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain. Come, O Lord, and do not delay, alleluia.

Magnificat antiphon: Before me, there was no God formed, and after me there shall be none. For every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess.

Benedictus antiphon: Upon the throne of David and his kingdom he shall sit forever, alleluia. 

Responsories (between the lesssons): Come to deliver us, O Lord, God of might.  Come to deliver us, O Lord, God of might. Show you face and we shall be saved. O Lord, God of might. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Come to deliver us, O Lord, God of might.

Upon you, O Jerusalem, the Lord will shine.  Upon you, O Jerusalem, the Lord will shine. And his glory will appear over you. The Lord will shine. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Upon you, O Jerusalem, the Lord will shine.

(From the Benziger Roman Breviary, 1964)

Psalm antiphons:

Behold in the clouds of heaven, the Lord will come with great power, alleluia.

Behold the Lord shall appear and shall not lie. If he makes any delay, wait for him, for he will come and will not be slack, alleluia.

The mountains and the hills shall sing praise before God, and all the trees of the forest shall clap their hands, because the Lord, the ruler, will come into his eternal kingdom, alleluia, alleluia. 

Behold the Lord will come with power and will englighten the eyes of his servants, alleluia.

Magnificat antiphon: Come, O  Lord, visit us in peace, that we may rejoice before you with a perfect heart.

Benedictus antiphon: From heaven shall come the Lord, the ruler, and in his hand are honor and strength.

Responsory (between the lessons): Come to deliver us, O Lord God of might.  Come to deliver us, O Lord God of might. Show your face, and we shall be saved. O Lord God of might. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Come to deliver us, O Lord God of might.

 (The psalm antiphons, antiphons for the two canticles, and the responsories are taken from the Benziger Roman Breviary, 1964.)

Mood:  a-ok

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses

Luke 7:47  "Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven, hence she has shown great love...."

James 5:20 You should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul and cover a multitude of sins

1 Peter  4:8  Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins

(from the NRSV)

*   *   *

As I remember, Bible commentators have made the point that in Hebrew, sins are "covered." The Hebrew verb would be "kaphar,"  translated "cover," as well as "appease, forgive, pardon, reconcile." (The same root is found in yom ha-kippurim, "Day of Atonement," the last word being plural in form, suggesting that in atonement, the Deity is busily forgiving many offenses, an optiimistic view of the matter. "Atonement," by the way, is not from Latin at all, as I once imagined, but comes to us via English, i.e., at-one-ment, the reconciliation between ourselvers and Heaven). This idiom enters the New Testament via James, that somewhat Hebrew section of Christian scripture, and it also makes an appearance in 1 Peter. 

In scripture, "love covers all offenses," meaning, I believe, that a loving personality is forgiven; the meaning of love, in Proverbs (10:12) includes abandoning, not exercising, hatred. That love of which the OT wisdom tradition (of which the book of Proverbs is an important part) speaks, freely forgives all the offenses committed against itself. A loving personality does not carry a grudge, much less treasur ite, but deals with any injury through forgiveness. The readiness to forgive, to move past the failing of another and go forward with God's grace, is the horizontal dimension of love; the vertical dimension, between ourselves and Heaven, is shown in the NT story of "a woman in the city, who was a sinner" (Luke 7:37), who bathed Jesus' feet with her tears.  Jesus then declared the forgiveness of her sins (Luke 7:48) and added, remarkably, in dismissing her, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

The woman's tears may be a sign of contrition, sorrow for sin, or a witness to the absolute dead end that wrong choices had led her to. Turning to the Nazarene was a last, desperate gamble, that paid off magnificently.  Jesus' words of dismissal, that her faith had saved her, reminds us of Paul's glorious good news, that salvation comes through faith, and, it appears, in Paul's thinking, faith is that state which one reaches when all else, every pious striving, every act of devotion, fails to reconcile us to God. The peace sought by the "woman in the city, who was a sinner," comes from God through Christ, not from our own actions or righteousness. In desperation, having exhausted every other avenue and means, we turn to God in Christ and throw ourselves on the divine mercy. Then, through Christ, our missing the mark, repeatedly, is "covered," and we have peace with God, mentioned in Christ's words to the "woman in the city." 

An earlier translation of this story, in the KJV, rendered the crucial conjunction "hence" (for this reason, therefore) as "for" (because), with the resulting translation  "her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much" (reconstructed from Strong's Concordance). The Greek original that ties the two clauses together is "hoti," (because).

Now that poses a theological question, which, interestingly, the NRSV translators have resisted: a plain reading of the Lucan text strongly suggests that great love covers one's own sins.

Mood:  happy

Psalm antiphons: 

On that day, the mountains shall drop down sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk and honey, alleluia.

Be glad, O daughter of Zion, and rejoice exceedingly, O daughter of Jerusalem, alleluia.

Behold, the Lord shall come, and all his saints with him, and there shall be a great light on that day, alleluia.

All you who thirst, come to the waters, seek the Lord while he may be found, alleluia. 

Responsories (to be used between the readings)

Come to deliver us, O Lord God of hosts. Come to deliver us, O Lord God of hosts. Show us your face, and we shall be saved. O Lord God of hosts. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Come to deliver us, O Lord God of hosts.

Show us, O Lord, your mercy. Show us, O Lord, your mercy. And grant us your salvation. Your mercy. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Show us, O Lord, your mercy.

Mood:  chatty

A lovely Sunday, beginning with a lovely liturgy at the church: nice hymns, superb organ playing, and a fine homily, delivered without any notes, without the homilist's breaking a sweat (at least from where I was sitting). If a priest can make preaching look easy, chances are pretty good, I think, that he is in the correct profession. It is a pity the current Interim Rector is not in the running for a permanent position. A funny thing happened in the middle of the service -- they invited new members to stand up, be recognized and prayed over, and no one did, so the liturgy proceeded. We turned in our filled-out pledge cards: it occurs to me that pledging without knowing who the new Rector will be is a little like "buying a pig in a poke" (in a sack), a saying that was old when I heard as a little boy in the South. So promising to support the parish financially is a leap in faith, even more so than trying on "pre-owned" clothing (a venture that turned out very well, netting me a pair of Arizona Jeans that fit like a glove and two great shirts, one of them the only Perry Ellis I have ever owned.)

 As previously noted, the gospel reading was apocalyptic, and I was interested to see how apocalyptic (which is a noun as well as an adjective), would be handled during the homily. The priest who preached did a fine job, linking Mark 13 to the new movie, 2012, which, judging from the trailer, has impressive special effects. The priest assured us the world will not end in late 2012, as suggested by, if I remember correctly, the Mayan Calendar; he knows that because astronomers have told the public there is nothing out there coming our way that could cause the demise of our fragile planet,  which is  good to hear.   In my recollection, today's homily concluded approximately where the selection from Mark's gospel does: the end is not yet.

 The music that accompanies the liturgy is, I am guessing, chosen by the choirmaster, and this morning some of it seemed to relate to Veterans Day, last Monday (which just occurred to me), or, as I thought this morning, to the appalling killing at Fort Hood, the most recent unforeseen tragedy that has recently presented itself.  Veterans Day makes a lot more sense, so I now understand why the final hymn was "Onward, Christian Soldiers." The problem with that hymn is that "the foe" is never identified in the text of the hymn, so "the foe" could be understood as anyone the US goverment wishes to demonize, whether the Japanese in the 1940's, or communism during the fifties and sixties, or Muslims today. So I decided I could live perfectly happily without joining in singing the recessional hymn, which was the only jarring note in church this morning. I feel really very lucky to be in Providence, where there is such a fine parish, with such gorgeous music.