Dear Friends,
This week we have the delightful surprise of an extra choral evensong midweek. The Choir of Sidney Sussex College in the University of Cambridge, directed by David Skinner, is visiting New York and will sing at Saint Thomas Church on Wednesday, July 13, at 5:30pm. The service will be livestreamed, but if you are in the city at that time, please take advantage of being in church for this beautiful service. Choral Evensong in the Anglican tradition is one of our gifts to the Church. When Archbishop Cranmer merged Vespers and Compline he was not trying to make things easier for the clergy; far from it, the requirement for clergy to say the office remains a part of Church of England Canon Law to this day. No, more importantly, he wanted the daily office to be truly the prayer of the Church. From the days of the first Book of Common Prayer in English, beautiful music has been composed to adorn it. However, at the heart of Evensong is the recitation of the psalter. This became common practice in the early days of the monastic life of the Church when the Desert Fathers continued to use the psalms that were sung in the Synagogues, and of course, in the former Temple in Jerusalem. Although the canticles are beautiful, the responses and prayers meaningful, and the bible readings thoughtful, the psalms open up for us so many themes, emotions, and subjects. I like to think of the psalms as placeholders of memory. Now, if you are a mathematician or a linguist you may wonder why I am misusing the term ‘placeholder’ for placeholders are often used in math, in computer programming and in sentence construction to represent something other and, of themselves, are not significant – you may think, therefore, that I am saying that the psalms are not significant in their own right. What I think I am reflecting is that the psalms are bound up in something bigger and more complex.
When I worked in an English cathedral, we had a Liturgy and Music Caucus that met once a term. It was a meeting to which every group associated with the Cathedral – choir, ushers, acolytes, Sunday school, youth group, Eucharistic ministers, prison visitors, soup kitchen etc. would send two representatives. We had no agenda and it was (dangerously some thought) an opportunity for people to say whatever they wanted about liturgy and music and share thoughts, reflections and ideas. It was, to my knowledge, the only meeting at the Cathedral that allowed children and young people to have an equal voice to adults and, often, the children would have a way of looking at the liturgy and music and spirituality of the place that we adults could not comprehend. Once, a chorister had a brilliant idea: “I think there should be a big folder of prayers in the Lady Chapel – prayers for all kinds of feelings,” he said. “It would be really useful,” he continued, “you know, those times when you know what you want to pray about, but you don’t have the right words? That’s what I mean.” It was brilliant and, in some senses, this is exactly what the psalms do – they give us the words that we sometimes cannot find and, importantly, we must remember that they are songs – and by singing, we add a whole new dimension to the words. There are so many different kinds of psalms, and the beauty of the monthly cycle is that we sing them regardless of how we are feeling! There are so many different themes:
Psalms about the environment: Ps 19 “The heavens declare the glory of God : and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”
Psalms about war: Ps 2 “Why do the heathen so furiously rage together : and why do the people image a vain thing?”
Agricultural Psalms: Ps 65 “The folds shall be full of sheep : the valleys also shall stand so thick with corn, that they shall laugh and sing.”
Psalms in distress. Ps 69 “Save me, O God : for the waters are come in, even unto my soul.”
Cursing Psalms: Ps 58: “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; smite the jaw-bones of the lions, O Lord : let them fall away like water that runneth apace; and when they shoot their arrows let them be rooted out.”
Psalms for the Royal Family: Ps 72 “Give the King thy judgements, O God : and thy righteousness unto the King’s son.”
Psalms when one is sick: Ps 41 “The Lord comfort him, when he lieth sick upon his bed : make thou all his bed in his sickness.”
Psalms for pilgrimage: Ps 122 “I was glad when they said unto me : We will go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand in thy gates : O Jerusalem.”
Psalms when depressed: Ps 77 “When I am in heaviness, I will think upon God : when my heart is vexed, I will complain.”
Psalms for the dying: Ps 31 “Into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth.”
Psalms of protest: Ps 73 “And why? I was grieved at the wicked : I do also see the ungodly in such prosperity.”
Psalms in stillness: Ps 62 “My soul truly waiteth still upon God for of him cometh my salvation.”
Psalms for the sinner: Ps 51 “Wash me throughly from my wickedness : and cleanse me from my sin.”
Psalms that tell history: Ps 105 “Israel also came into Egypt : and Jacob was a stranger in the land of Ham.”
and Psalms of praise: Ps 96 “Sing unto the Lord, and praise his Name : be telling of his salvation from day to day.”
One of the great gifts that we give to our choristers is the chance to sing the psalms regularly. As they get to know the words, they open up to our children a whole new world that so few schoolchildren ever experience. So, next time you are in the area and you see that choral evensong is about to be sung, climb the Fifth Avenue steps and immerse yourself in some of the oldest songs in the world.
Congratulations to our dear friend John Dunlap, who has been appointed by Pope Francis to be Lieutenant to the Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta. It is the first time in its 1000-year history that the Knights of Malta has a non-European as its leader. Like the Venerable Order of St. John, the Order of Malta is dedicated to the Lord’s the sick and poor, and its charitable work is exemplary. Unusually, it has Permanent Observer status at the United Nations. A reception was held at the UN Mission last week at which a number of Saint Thomas folk who are members of the Order of St. John were invited – our ecumenical cooperation continues to be fruitful.
Carl,
Your Priest and Pastor
