This coming Sunday we celebrate the “birthday of the Church” when the Holy Spirit descended on the early Christians 50 days after Christ’s Resurrection. I have always loved the music of Pentecost, and the most abiding is probably the great Gregorian Chant “Veni Creator Spiritus”, used by composers of every faith and nation when their music needed an undergirding of creative, spirit-filled profundity.
My Organ Voluntary is Charles Callahan’s meditative Chant Prelude based on Veni Creator Spiritus, invoking the third person of the Trinity to infuse, energize and empower our worship.
The Chancel Choir’s Prelude was sung at our EDCC last Sunday, and it can actually be sung for any of four Sundays in Eastertide because of it’s promise of the Spirit. Everett Titcomb’s I Will Not Leave You Comfortless is the best known work by this Massachusetts native, and one of eight anthems written in 1934 for the major feast days of the Church year. Written in a simple ABA format, the outside sections begin with a floating D above middle C sung by the tenors and then shared by the sopranos handing it off to the tenors as section B segues into the return of the A section. The first section sets John 14: 18, and the remainder of the anthem is a cascade of joyful Alleluias. Section B is started forte by the Bass section, and their Alleluias are set in half notes to the tones of the great chant “Veni Creator Spiritus”, undergirding the more swiftly moving voices above them. This much-loved anthem beautifully portrays the joy and comfort given to the early church and to each of us by the Paraclete that dwells in us and serves as our advocate, helper, comforter, or "one called to one's aid". We can indeed rejoice!
On this last Sunday worshipping with our current clergy, our English as a Second Language class will bless us with two bible songs they have learned over the last few months: Jesus Loves Me at the Children’s Liturgy, and God is So Good at the Offertory. I can’t imagine two more beautiful messages to learn in a new language!
Our Anthem is a setting of Christopher Wordsworth’s 1862 Pentecost Poem “Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost” in which he praises LOVE as the greatest gift of the Spirit in a paraphrase of St. Paul’s immortal words in 1 Corinthians 13. The setting we will sing is by my mentor Richard DeLong, and it moves along in a lilting setting whose meter changes between 5/4, 3/2 and 2/2 and keeps the choir counting carefully! Sadly, there is no recording available of this brief but lovely work.
As we receive Communion, the Chancel Choir will sing Howard Helvey’s arrangement of a French Carol Quelle est Cette Odeur Agreeable, also known by the hymn tune name BERGERS [Shepherds]. Helvey has set this memorable French Tune to a 1920 Pentecost text by the English poet Bessie Porter Head, O Breath of Life. This century-old text is timeless, and profoundly meaningful at this time in our faith and in Grace Church: O Breath of life, come sweeping through us, revive your church with life and pow'r; O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us, and fit your church to meet this hour.
I pray that this celebration of Pentecost helps to fit us “to meet this hour” in the life of our treasured Family of Faith here at Grace Church. I give thanks every day for each of you and the opportunity to journey with you!
