O Come, Divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away!
French Carol, 16th century
The First Sunday in Advent: Happy New Year!
Advent marks the beginning of the new liturgical year—you’ll notice that today we have new Word and Song books in the pews, and that the general style and form of the music has shifted from the grander and more expansive praise hymns and songs to music that is a bit quieter, a bit more ancient, a bit more hushed and subdued.
We do not sing the great “Glory to God in the Highest!” acclamation of praise during Advent; instead, we choose to sing the ancient Greek “Kyrie Eleison” where we normally recite the same text in English: Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
We also choose to sing the ancient chanted “Agnus Dei” Gregorian Chant as the presider breaks the Eucharistic Bread. Many will know this well from their own childhoods, and all our parish second graders learn it for their First Communion each year. However, since I know there are folks who are unfamiliar with it and wonder about those strange Latin words that we are singing...
Just as when we sang in English, we sing the first line (“Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.”) twice, and the third time we end with the supplication, “grant us peace.” (It is number 320 in the hymnal.)
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What do you mean
We also choose to sing the ancient chanted “Agnus Dei” Gregorian Chant as the presider breaks the Eucharistic Bread
Who are the We ? Do you mean You? and why? - you say you are blogging to tell us why but nowhere do you say why.
Good point--the answer is, sadly, very prosaic: lately my blog entries are directly from my weekly bulletin column, which has a very limited word count! I seldom get to say as much as I'd like to. (And honestly, you're the first person who's asked for more!)
So, to elucidate a bit: In Advent the church's documents call us to a little more restraint and anticipatory quiet than at other times of year--certainly not as much restraint as Lent, but still they call for a deliberate holding back from the "full joy" of the Nativity celebrations. One of the ways we--myself and the liturgical staff at St. John's--choose to observe this is by using the same hymn at the opening every week, by singing (and thus drawing more attention to) the Penitential Rite, and by choosing acclamations and litanies that reflect the quiet anticipation of the season. For us, especially since so many of our parishioners know and appreciate it, the choice of an unaccompanied Latin chant at the breaking of the bread is a natural one.
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