Christe Redemptor Omnium: paraphrase, rather than strict translation, can be found in the old English Hymnal as Come thou Redeemer of the earth, the Office Hymn for Christmas Eve.
Don't recognise the tune you link to: it isn't in either the EH or NEH, which give a choice of a more complex chant or Puer nobis nascitur.
This is the hymn as it appears in the current translation of the RC Breviary
Hymn
O Christ, the Father’s only Son,
Whose death for all redemption won,
Before the worlds, of God Most High,
Begotten all ineffably.
The Father’s Light and Splendour thou,
Their endless Hope to thee that bow;
Accept the prayers and praise today
That through the world thy servants pay.
Salvation’s Author, call to mind
Thou took’st the form of humankind,
When of the Virgin undefiled
Thou in man’s flesh becam’st a Child.
Thus testifies the present day
Through every year in long array,
That thou, salvation’s source alone,
Proceedest from the Father’s throne.
All honour, laud, and glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born, to thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete.
For those of a liturgical turn of mind .... can I point you in the direction of Universalis.
For a paltry tenner you get the entire Roman Lectionary, Missal and Breviary. You can install it on more than one device and can copy and paste sections into other programs or construct booklets.
Its my constant companion.
I'm sorry for my lack of response. The past few days have presented a few challenges that have taken up much of my time and energy.
Thank you, all, for your efforts and suggestions. I very much appreciate it.
@TheOrganist Thank you for the EH reference. This and the text kindly provided by @Alan29 are both adaptable to contemporary English. I might work on this.
The Mirfield text is already usable but the rhyming pattern is ABAB rather than the usual Ambrosian AABB and seems odd when sung. That having been said, the Latin seems not to rhyme at all, so I wonder whether it even matters in this particular instance. I'll think a little more about it.
The Sarum Hymnal is a blessed resource for the Sarum version of tunes. Are there other parts available online?
PDFs of various parts are to be found under "Office", "Mass" and "Other Documents". The two parts of "The Sarum Hymnal" are under the last of these headings.
Re: Remembrance Sunday.
Has anyone heard mention of Conscientious Objectors?
Those in WWI who were tied to posts at the front, those who in WWII who were sent to remote prison camps or those who set up alternative services like ambulance units, or later on in countries where there was Compulsory Military Service - either for everyone or for those who were selected by some lottery system.
Alright, I considered making this a separate thread and then decided that it probably did not have legs for that. It is a case of my boring life*. I started doing some liturgical calendar mathematics this morning after noting Luke's very careful timing of the birth narrative. We all know that liturgical pregnancies take exactly 9 calendrical months which is why the Annunciation is on the 25 March. Which makes Elizabeth's pregnancy at six months because that is what the Angel Gabriel says. So John the Baptist's conception around 25th September which fits quite timely with Rosh Hashanah being the date Zechariah was in burning incense. Rosh Hashanah marks the Jewish New Year and the date God is believed to have created Eden/the world. Now I just noticed this. My knowledge of Jewish festivals is limited but I do know that they have changed over the centuries and that they have different symbolisms at different times so I am not reading too much into it but do find it a curiosity.
*From a George Macleod aphorism "If you think that is a coincidence then you must have a very boring life"
And then there's the Conception of Our Lady (whether Immaculate or otherwise I prefer not to discuss) on 8th December, followed by Her birth on 8th September...though none of that's actually in the Bible IIRC...
I expect there are lots of other examples to find...a handy little project for filling in the long hours of lockdown 3 (or however many we've reached so far).
@Cyprian I think you'll have to explain. Where isn't it and when is it there in stead?
If somewhere it's in early April, that will still be the 25th March but because those putting it there are Old Calendrists. It would be for the same reason as why the UK tax year runs from the 6th April.
@Cyprian I think you'll have to explain. Where isn't it and when is it there in stead?
If somewhere it's in early April, that will still be the 25th March but because those putting it there are Old Calendrists. It would be for the same reason as why the UK tax year runs from the 6th April.
There are actually a few places where the Annunciation isn't celebrated on 25th March.
The most widespread example that I know of is in the Armenian Rite, where the 25th December date was never adopted for Christmas and has no particular liturgical significance, even today. Armenian Christians (Orthodox and Catholic alike) keep the original date of the 6th of January and Annunciation is 7th April. This isn't to do with a Julian/Gregorian shift but is the actual calendar date. (For instance, in places where the Armenian churches keep the Julian calendar, Christmas is 19th January and Annunciation is 20th April by the Gregorian calendar.)
The symbolism is that, as Adam was created on the 6th day of Creation, so we celebrate the coming of the New Adam into the world on the 6th day of the new year. This was also the Byzantine date for Christmas before the 25th December date was adopted in the 4th century.
The 25th of March date for Annunciation was gradually adopted over the centuries and eventually imposed by the Council of Trullo in response to some of the Christological heresies that were around at the time. The idea was that to place the Annunciation nine months before Christmas would emphasise the biological reality of the Incarnation - that Christ truly became human and went through a normal human gestation period, and that this was not some sort of illusion (Docetism) or something else.
Before that, there wasn't really any strong emphasis on the biological aspect as far as the date went, and the Annunciation was celebrated in various places somewhere towards the end of Advent*, as a natural transition from the season of waiting and expectation to the full celebration of the Incarnation at Christmas.
Today, in the Ambrosian Rite the 6th Sunday of Advent is celebrated as the Annunciation, and the same is true in the restored Gallican tradition followed by some Western Orthodox.
I read somewhere recently that one of the Syriac rites also celebrates it in the approach to Christmas but I haven't looked into that in any depth.
*(Incidentally, this is why the Annunciation Gospel is still appointed for the Ember Wednesday before Christmas in the Roman Rite, and probably why some traditions still have the Annunciation readings late in Advent.)
It is undoubtedly the case that 6th January was the earliest festival in commemoration of the appearing of Christ as a major figure in salvation history and that festival commemorated the Baptism of Christ. My understanding is that the date chosen had something to do with water festivals in the Nile.
Other events were added in particular the recognition of Christ by the visit of the Magi.
While in the East the major event commemorated on 6th January is the Baptism of Christ ,the West concentrates then on the visit of the Magi.
Indeed it was the West which later added a special festival in honour of the birth of Christ and the visits of the angels and the shepherds.
Leaving aside in one way the Julian and Gregorian calendar about dates ,we know that the pre Christian Romans started the year in March and Christians started the year on 25th of that month. It is only since the reforms of pope Gregory XIII in the 1580s that the New Year started om 1st January and the 6th January would be the sixth day of the New Year.
Perhaps,however,some other Mediterranean societies started the New Year in January ?
It is undoubtedly the case that 6th January was the earliest festival in commemoration of the appearing of Christ as a major figure in salvation history and that festival commemorated the Baptism of Christ. My understanding is that the date chosen had something to do with water festivals in the Nile.
Other events were added in particular the recognition of Christ by the visit of the Magi.
While in the East the major event commemorated on 6th January is the Baptism of Christ ,the West concentrates then on the visit of the Magi.
Indeed it was the West which later added a special festival in honour of the birth of Christ and the visits of the angels and the shepherds.
Leaving aside in one way the Julian and Gregorian calendar about dates ,we know that the pre Christian Romans started the year in March and Christians started the year on 25th of that month. It is only since the reforms of pope Gregory XIII in the 1580s that the New Year started om 1st January and the 6th January would be the sixth day of the New Year.
Perhaps,however,some other Mediterranean societies started the New Year in January ?
It appears (based on a wikipedia dive following a vaguely recalled memory of January being named for Janus, god of beginnings and endings) that starting the year in January is pre-Christian Roman, at least in some respects dating from around 450BCE.
In some respects diving in even deeper that Wikipedia leads to masses of confusing information.
The Roman year started in Martius (March) with the first few months having special names, eventually leaving September (seventh month) and so on with no special name.
Julius Caesar added two extra months January (Janus) and February ( the month of febrile and feverish time of clearing in getting ready for Martius)
What we don't really know is when did Martius actually begin within the pattern of a solar year.
All these dates,hours,days,weeks and months are all arbitrary divisions of time. Most calendars were devised for religious and liturgical purposes,but were usually based on the equinox and solstice times.
Thus for the Persians the year began around the vernal equinox and for the Egyptians around the summer solstice.
For the Jews Passover takes place around the time of the vernal equinox.Christians followed this time for their Easter and the Annunciation with the birth of Christ being nine months later round about the winter solstice.
It is more than possible that the Roman month of Martius started round about the time of the present month of January.
All these dates, hours, days, weeks and months are all arbitrary divisions of time. Most calendars were devised for religious and liturgical purposes, but were usually based on the equinox and solstice times.
I'd say that dates, hours, weeks and months were arbitrary divisions of time, but not days. Days are a natural phenomenon, easily observable. Hours, minutes, seconds etc are all human inventions. Seasons are natural but are too imprecise and variable to be of much use.
All these dates, hours, days, weeks and months are all arbitrary divisions of time. Most calendars were devised for religious and liturgical purposes, but were usually based on the equinox and solstice times.
I'd say that dates, hours, weeks and months were arbitrary divisions of time, but not days.
I wouldn’t say months are arbitrary. They’re tied to the lunar cycle, though with some adjustments—at least in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—to try to fit the lunar cycle with the solar cycle.
All these dates, hours, days, weeks and months are all arbitrary divisions of time. Most calendars were devised for religious and liturgical purposes, but were usually based on the equinox and solstice times.
I'd say that dates, hours, weeks and months were arbitrary divisions of time, but not days.
I wouldn’t say months are arbitrary. They’re tied to the lunar cycle, though with some adjustments—at least in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—to try to fit the lunar cycle with the solar cycle.
I probably should have said our present months were arbitrary. The adjustments you refer to help make them so.
I agree that days in the sense of light and darkness are not arbitrary but just as the New Year might be counted from Winter Solstice or Spring Equinox etc some societies counted the beginning of the new day from the appearance of the first star in the evening. Others counted the beginning of the new day from the middle of the night. The Romans had a fixed number of hours for the day but the length of time of each hour depended on the amount of daylight during the day.
I agree that days in the sense of light and darkness are not arbitrary but just as the New Year might be counted from Winter Solstice or Spring Equinox etc some societies counted the beginning of the new day from the appearance of the first star in the evening. Others counted the beginning of the new day from the middle of the night. The Romans had a fixed number of hours for the day but the length of time of each hour depended on the amount of daylight during the day.
This YouTube link about different ways of telling time in different languages seems relevant.
There are actually a few places where the Annunciation isn't celebrated on 25th March.
The most widespread example that I know of is in the Armenian Rite, where the 25th December date was never adopted for Christmas and has no particular liturgical significance, even today. Armenian Christians (Orthodox and Catholic alike) keep the original date of the 6th of January and Annunciation is 7th April. This isn't to do with a Julian/Gregorian shift but is the actual calendar date. (For instance, in places where the Armenian churches keep the Julian calendar, Christmas is 19th January and Annunciation is 20th April by the Gregorian calendar.)
The symbolism is that, as Adam was created on the 6th day of Creation, so we celebrate the coming of the New Adam into the world on the 6th day of the new year. This was also the Byzantine date for Christmas before the 25th December date was adopted in the 4th century.
The 25th of March date for Annunciation was gradually adopted over the centuries and eventually imposed by the Council of Trullo in response to some of the Christological heresies that were around at the time. The idea was that to place the Annunciation nine months before Christmas would emphasise the biological reality of the Incarnation - that Christ truly became human and went through a normal human gestation period, and that this was not some sort of illusion (Docetism) or something else.
Before that, there wasn't really any strong emphasis on the biological aspect as far as the date went, and the Annunciation was celebrated in various places somewhere towards the end of Advent*, as a natural transition from the season of waiting and expectation to the full celebration of the Incarnation at Christmas.
Today, in the Ambrosian Rite the 6th Sunday of Advent is celebrated as the Annunciation, and the same is true in the restored Gallican tradition followed by some Western Orthodox.
I read somewhere recently that one of the Syriac rites also celebrates it in the approach to Christmas but I haven't looked into that in any depth.
*(Incidentally, this is why the Annunciation Gospel is still appointed for the Ember Wednesday before Christmas in the Roman Rite, and probably why some traditions still have the Annunciation readings late in Advent.)
Thank you @Cyprian. I'm impressed with your knowledge. That's fairly arcane. You've taught me a number of things I didn't know before.
The Annunciation is also the gospel for the Sunday before Christmas - last Sunday in Advent - in the CofE but that's a recent change and for a quite different reason. The four Sundays of Advent now follow the themes Patriarchs, Prophets, John the Baptist and Mary the Mother of the Lord, with the suggestion that the four outside candles on the Advent wreath do as well. This, though, only applies to the current lectionary. It wasn't the case with the 1662 BCP.
I've been called a liturgy nerd to my face many times before so I'm well aware that my interests are somewhat niche.
You've taught me a number of things I didn't know before.
I learnt things I didn't know before when I was looking it up. My own jurisdiction celebrates Annunciation on Advent VI (we keep old Advent, with 6 Sundays), which was new to me when I was first received into it, and it piqued my interest. So I did some exploring.
On the point about the Syriac tradition, Wikipedia tells me that "Annunciation" is actually their name for the whole season leading up to Christmas, rather than any equivalent of the name "Advent". I don't know if they have a specific feast of the Annunciation within that but my church has one parish in Spain that uses the West Syriac rite, and I've never been in touch with them before. This might be a good opportunity to make contact.
The Annunciation is also the gospel for the Sunday before Christmas - last Sunday in Advent - in the CofE but that's a recent change and for a quite different reason. The four Sundays of Advent now follow the themes Patriarchs, Prophets, John the Baptist and Mary the Mother of the Lord, with the suggestion that the four outside candles on the Advent wreath do as well. This, though, only applies to the current lectionary. It wasn't the case with the 1662 BCP.
Ahh. Thank you for this. I had known of the Gospel on Advent VI but hadn't been aware this was a recent introduction. I think I made an assumption about a connection that wasn't there - unless perhaps the liturgical commission deliberately made this change knowing of the history.
The Christmas cycle of Readings moves on towards the manifestation of Christ at the moment of his baptism in the Jordan which commemoration now in the Roman and in the Anglican rites concludes, in the main, the Christmas Season.
In the Roman Rite before the changes ( and possibly also in the Anglican rite )the Gospel of the Fourth Sunday of Advent came from St Luke and is about John preparing the Way of the Lord, in a sense pointing forward beyond the birth of Jesus to his manifestation before the people in general.
Each end is also a beginning and the end of the ecclesiastical year points us forward also to the future and ultimately to the 'end times' And Advent refers to the Second coming as well as being a commemoration of the First.
In the revised rites within the Roman Communion I have not heard of the idea of the Patriarchs,Prophets,John Baptist and Mary being linked with the candles on the Advent wreath which is now fairly standard within many denominations of Western Christianity.(I think that Advent wreaths began to become known in UK in the 1970s but I might be wrong).
In the Revised Lectionary in the Roman Communion the Gospel passage read on Advent IV speaks in some way about the birth of Christ YearA Virgin will conceive Matthew 1 18-25 Year B Annunciation Luke 1 26- 38 and Year C Visitation Luke 1 39 - 44.
The Christmas cycle of Readings moves on towards the manifestation of Christ at the moment of his baptism in the Jordan which commemoration now in the Roman and in the Anglican rites concludes, in the main, the Christmas Season.
In the Roman Rite before the changes ( and possibly also in the Anglican rite )the Gospel of the Fourth Sunday of Advent came from St Luke and is about John preparing the Way of the Lord, in a sense pointing forward beyond the birth of Jesus to his manifestation before the people in general.
Each end is also a beginning and the end of the ecclesiastical year points us forward also to the future and ultimately to the 'end times' And Advent refers to the Second coming as well as being a commemoration of the First.
In the revised rites within the Roman Communion I have not heard of the idea of the Patriarchs,Prophets,John Baptist and Mary being linked with the candles on the Advent wreath which is now fairly standard within many denominations of Western Christianity.(I think that Advent wreaths began to become known in UK in the 1970s but I might be wrong).
In the Revised Lectionary in the Roman Communion the Gospel passage read on Advent IV speaks in some way about the birth of Christ YearA Virgin will conceive Matthew 1 18-25 Year B Annunciation Luke 1 26- 38 and Year C Visitation Luke 1 39 - 44.
My RC understanding of the advent wreath/candles is that they just mark the four Sundays in a non-specific way, with only the central fifth candle "standing for" Christ. The whole thing is a fairly recent, and to my mind rather naff innovation.
The Advent wreath has been around in Austria for a long, long time though the four candles were usually red in colour or sometimes all white. Nowadays the colours in RC churches in Austria often reflect the liturgical colours of purple and rose, but I have never seen a 'Christ' candle. It shows how ideas grow and develop (just like Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer).
My RC understanding of the advent wreath/candles is that they just mark the four Sundays in a non-specific way, with only the central fifth candle "standing for" Christ. The whole thing is a fairly recent, and to my mind rather naff innovation.
Agreed. I'm glad ours is lighted before people arrive and is simply there, not connected to any ceremonial. Three purples and a rose, by the way, and no central white candle.
Yes, Advent wreaths in one form or another date back to the 16th Century. In the US at least, it was primarily Lutherans, though perhaps also German-speaking Catholics, who brought them, and they spread from there. It’s their use in church rather than just in homes, along with candles in the liturgical colors and the Christ candle, that is more recent. Assigning meaning to each candle (other than the Christ candle) is very recent, and those meanings can vary. The meanings that seem to be “sticking” among various denominations here in the US are Hope, Peace, Love and Joy.
@Forthview in the 1662 BCP the gospel for Advent IV was Jn 1:19-28.
In the CofE like Christingle, Advent wreaths have come in within my lifetime. Christingle came from the Moravians and is popularised by the Children's Society. I don't know where the Advent wreath came from.
When I had to look this up a few years ago, it was pretty clear that the four candles had come first and then people had thought 'well, we're Christians; so they ought to symbolise something'. The obvious one in the past might have been the Four Last Things, Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. Lighting candles in honour of death and hell, though, doesn't feel right.
There are a number of models, Hope, Peace, Love and Joy being one of them. The CofE's book Times and Seasons, which is part of the Common Worship suite does not prescribe identifying the candles with Patriarchs, Prophets, John the Baptist and Mary the Mother of the Lord, but does recommend that model and provides prayers to fit it.
In the CofE, the fifth one in the middle always represents Jesus the right of the World and is not lit until after midnight on Christmas Eve. It's also usually white and higher than the other four. There's no colour prescribed for the other four, but either red or three red and one mauve are the most usual.
Don't know about the Advent Wreath but we had a specific Advent Candleholder at home when I was growing up, with 4 candles, 3 purple and 1 rose. It was given to my parents by their first Swedish au pair before I was born, so very early 1950s.
In the CofE like Christingle, Advent wreaths have come in within my lifetime. Christingle came from the Moravians and is popularised by the Children's Society.
Interestingly, while the Christingle caught on in the CofE, it didn’t make it across the Atlantic with the Moravians who came here. I’d never heard of it until encountering it on the Ship, and I grew up near the center of the Southern (US) Province of the Moravian Church, where Moravian influences are strong and fairly well-known. Perhaps it comes from the same roots as the Lovefeast, which is well-known around here. The beeswax candles that are firmly associated with the Christmas Lovefeast do seem to share a common origin with the Christingle.
In the CofE, the fifth one in the middle always represents Jesus the right of the World and is not lit until after midnight on Christmas Eve. It's also usually white and higher than the other four. There's no colour prescribed for the other four, but either red or three red and one mauve are the most usual.
Interesting, in my experience in the US, the four candles are almost always in the color(s) of the season—at least if the church in question uses liturgical colors. So they’re either violet/purple (Catholics and Presbyterians in my experience) or blue (Episcopalians, Lutherans and Methodists, in my experience). Interestingly, many churches that use blue in Advent will still use a rose candle on the third Sunday. And Presbyterians will generally use a rose candle on the third Sunday as well, even though rose won’t be used otherwise.
As for the central, white Christ candle, in my experience here, it’s lit for any services after sundown (or maybe a little earlier) on Christmas Eve—those services being viewed as belonging to Christmas rather than Advent.
In the CofE, the fifth one in the middle always represents Jesus the right of the World and is not lit until after midnight on Christmas Eve. It's also usually white and higher than the other four. There's no colour prescribed for the other four, but either red or three red and one mauve are the most usual.
I can remember when Advent wreaths were unheard of in the C of E. I'm not sure when they became popular but it could be as recent as the late 1980s. As for the colours, four red and (maybe) one white were common until ecclesiastical suppliers started selling sets with three purple and one pink ('rose') to match the traditional colours of the vestments. Churches, probably the majority, which had never possessed a set of pink vestments were left floundering about when to light the pink candle – many people thinking it represented the BVM on Advent 4. But those who got it right (Gaudete Sunday, Advent 3) often went on to acquire a set of rose-coloured vestments to match. Clever commercial move by Hayes and Finch et al!
In German speaking lands the Advent wreath is found everywhere, in homes particularly, but also in schools ,in public buildings and in offices. I suppose it is a bit like the Christmas tree which is found everywhere and is embedded in popular culture and may be only vaguely related to christianity.
In the UK my impression is that the Advent wreath is to be found mainly in churches - one rarely sees it in a home. On the other hand many homes will have something similar to the Advent wreath hung on the door of the house.
What I like about the Advent wreath is that it is a custom which unites Christians of many 'persuasions' and its meaning will be interpreted slightly differently by each community.
For RCs anyway it is paraliturgical, i.e. not part of the official liturgy.
I thought the Advent wreath was just a domestic folk custom, like Christmas trees, used in people's homes, and other spaces as part of marking the season.
I thought the Advent wreath was just a domestic folk custom, like Christmas trees, used in people's homes, and other spaces as part of marking the season.
It isn't anything liturgical, is it?
You would be hard-pressed to find a Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist or other mainline Protestant church around here that doesn’t have one during Advent. Lots of Baptist churches too.
In some churches, the candles will be lit before the service with little or no ado. In others, they will be lit during the service, possibly with, say, a reading and a prayer or song. Often, a family or other grouping will be invited to light the candles on a given Sunday.
If I recall correctly, Catholic custom is a blessing of the wreath before the first candle is lit on Advent I, but no other ceremony of any kind when the candles are lit.
FWIW, I’m about to turn 60, and I can’t remember an Advent with an Advent wreath in both home and church.
I thought the Advent wreath was just a domestic folk custom, like Christmas trees, used in people's homes, and other spaces as part of marking the season.
It isn't anything liturgical, is it?
@Forthview's term paraliturgical might be best. I have regularly seen churches with advent wreathes accompany the lighting of the candle with prayers-- and once with a hymn following, before the regular liturgy takes place. As nowadays many people are familiar with it in its domestic character, I suppose that this use in churches is meaningful to them. I have been a guest at Sunday family dinners in observant homes where the lighting of the Advent candle(s) was an event for the children, which they seemed to like-- I was told that in one place it was the parents' strategy for getting the children comfortable with religious practices (or, as we say in workshopland, maximizing and integrating the faith/praxis interface in a diurnal context).
I suppose I think of Advent wreaths in much the same way I do christingles. We had neither of these things in the Anglican Province of the West Indies in my childhood so I have no particular formational attachment to them, and can happily take them or leave them.
When I returned to the C of E in my teenage years, I encountered them for the first time. There was shock in the church youth group that I didn't know what a christingle was.
The Advent wreath was a new thing to me, but it was just something that was in the church to mark the season during Advent, much like the Christmas tree was in the church at Christmas, or lilies at Easter. It was a nice thing to have but it didn't feature in the services in any way.
That some churches do make them quasi-liturgical is new information for me.
The Dragonlets' RC primary school was following the hope, joy etc theme.
At my MOTR childhood church, and normally at St Quacks, a child came and lit the new candle at the start of the service, followed by a short prayer reflecting the theme for that Sunday. It's a nice way to get them involved a bit. This year the candles have just been lit prior to the service starting.
When did the Blue Peter (for those outside the UK, a long-running children's tv show) Advent wreath first appear? They showed you how to make it at home so presumably some people had home wreaths - I think all the candles were white.
When did the Blue Peter (for those outside the UK, a long-running children's tv show) Advent wreath first appear? They showed you how to make it at home so presumably some people had home wreaths - I think all the candles were white.
But I think they lit their candles for the four episodes of the show before Christmas, and since it was (then, in the 1960s) a twice weekly show, that would only be two of the weeks of Advent.
Christingles Make the Baby Jesus Cry. Or if not him at least the poor buggers who prepare them. I'd never heard of them until a couple of parishes back, and couldn't see the point. However I reluctantly acquiesced. After sticking bloody candles into about 400 oranges I swore I would never ever again condone or attend such a shenanigans.
Though there may be a market for plastic oranges with ready-inserted plastic battery operated candles, I guess.
Okay I lied. It wasn't the Baby Jesus crying. It was me. My hands ached and stank of oranges for about three weeks afterwards.
Christingles Make the Baby Jesus Cry. Or if not him at least the poor buggers who prepare them. I'd never heard of them until a couple of parishes back, and couldn't see the point. However I reluctantly acquiesced. After sticking bloody candles into about 400 oranges I swore I would never ever again condone or attend such a shenanigans.
Though there may be a market for plastic oranges with ready-inserted plastic battery operated candles, I guess.
Okay I lied. It wasn't the Baby Jesus crying. It was me. My hands ached and stank of oranges for about three weeks afterwards.
I'm not a great fan of Christingles, either. Our Place used (before Ye Plague) to host a well-attended Christingle Service for our affiliated Scouts/Cubs/Beavers etc., which took place on the last day of their Autumn session, a week or so before Christmas.
O! the mess! Bits of orange, bits of cocktail stick, bits of candle, squashed sweets - all strewn about the church, the porch, the pavement...the little pagans seemed to delight in making as much of a joke of the thing as possible. About the only up-side to the business was the fact that they made the blasted Christingles themselves beforehand.
Comments
Don't recognise the tune you link to: it isn't in either the EH or NEH, which give a choice of a more complex chant or Puer nobis nascitur.
Hymn
O Christ, the Father’s only Son,
Whose death for all redemption won,
Before the worlds, of God Most High,
Begotten all ineffably.
The Father’s Light and Splendour thou,
Their endless Hope to thee that bow;
Accept the prayers and praise today
That through the world thy servants pay.
Salvation’s Author, call to mind
Thou took’st the form of humankind,
When of the Virgin undefiled
Thou in man’s flesh becam’st a Child.
Thus testifies the present day
Through every year in long array,
That thou, salvation’s source alone,
Proceedest from the Father’s throne.
All honour, laud, and glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born, to thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete.
Not what I would call contemporary!
There are tunes here - some very mangled versions of chant.
https://hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/NonEnglish/christe_redemptor_omnium.htm
For a paltry tenner you get the entire Roman Lectionary, Missal and Breviary. You can install it on more than one device and can copy and paste sections into other programs or construct booklets.
Its my constant companion.
Thank you, all, for your efforts and suggestions. I very much appreciate it.
@TheOrganist Thank you for the EH reference. This and the text kindly provided by @Alan29 are both adaptable to contemporary English. I might work on this.
The Mirfield text is already usable but the rhyming pattern is ABAB rather than the usual Ambrosian AABB and seems odd when sung. That having been said, the Latin seems not to rhyme at all, so I wonder whether it even matters in this particular instance. I'll think a little more about it.
The Sarum Hymnal is a blessed resource for the Sarum version of tunes. Are there other parts available online?
Thank you so much.
PDFs of various parts are to be found under "Office", "Mass" and "Other Documents". The two parts of "The Sarum Hymnal" are under the last of these headings.
Has anyone heard mention of Conscientious Objectors?
Those in WWI who were tied to posts at the front, those who in WWII who were sent to remote prison camps or those who set up alternative services like ambulance units, or later on in countries where there was Compulsory Military Service - either for everyone or for those who were selected by some lottery system.
There is a verse in Shirley Erena Murray's "Honour the Brave" hymn for ANZAC Day:
https://progressivechristianityaotearoa.com/2014/11/29/hymn-for-anzac-day-shirley-murray/
which I know is sung in Aotearoa~New Zealand and Australia (on the 25th of April) but even then this verse is omitted sometimes
I'm just asking if it's happening not wanting to talk about whether or not it should
*From a George Macleod aphorism "If you think that is a coincidence then you must have a very boring life"
And then there's the Conception of Our Lady (whether Immaculate or otherwise I prefer not to discuss) on 8th December, followed by Her birth on 8th September...though none of that's actually in the Bible IIRC...
I expect there are lots of other examples to find...a handy little project for filling in the long hours of lockdown 3 (or however many we've reached so far).
In some traditions.
If somewhere it's in early April, that will still be the 25th March but because those putting it there are Old Calendrists. It would be for the same reason as why the UK tax year runs from the 6th April.
Of course, @Enoch , I'll be happy to oblige.
There are actually a few places where the Annunciation isn't celebrated on 25th March.
The most widespread example that I know of is in the Armenian Rite, where the 25th December date was never adopted for Christmas and has no particular liturgical significance, even today. Armenian Christians (Orthodox and Catholic alike) keep the original date of the 6th of January and Annunciation is 7th April. This isn't to do with a Julian/Gregorian shift but is the actual calendar date. (For instance, in places where the Armenian churches keep the Julian calendar, Christmas is 19th January and Annunciation is 20th April by the Gregorian calendar.)
The symbolism is that, as Adam was created on the 6th day of Creation, so we celebrate the coming of the New Adam into the world on the 6th day of the new year. This was also the Byzantine date for Christmas before the 25th December date was adopted in the 4th century.
The 25th of March date for Annunciation was gradually adopted over the centuries and eventually imposed by the Council of Trullo in response to some of the Christological heresies that were around at the time. The idea was that to place the Annunciation nine months before Christmas would emphasise the biological reality of the Incarnation - that Christ truly became human and went through a normal human gestation period, and that this was not some sort of illusion (Docetism) or something else.
Before that, there wasn't really any strong emphasis on the biological aspect as far as the date went, and the Annunciation was celebrated in various places somewhere towards the end of Advent*, as a natural transition from the season of waiting and expectation to the full celebration of the Incarnation at Christmas.
Today, in the Ambrosian Rite the 6th Sunday of Advent is celebrated as the Annunciation, and the same is true in the restored Gallican tradition followed by some Western Orthodox.
I read somewhere recently that one of the Syriac rites also celebrates it in the approach to Christmas but I haven't looked into that in any depth.
*(Incidentally, this is why the Annunciation Gospel is still appointed for the Ember Wednesday before Christmas in the Roman Rite, and probably why some traditions still have the Annunciation readings late in Advent.)
Other events were added in particular the recognition of Christ by the visit of the Magi.
While in the East the major event commemorated on 6th January is the Baptism of Christ ,the West concentrates then on the visit of the Magi.
Indeed it was the West which later added a special festival in honour of the birth of Christ and the visits of the angels and the shepherds.
Leaving aside in one way the Julian and Gregorian calendar about dates ,we know that the pre Christian Romans started the year in March and Christians started the year on 25th of that month. It is only since the reforms of pope Gregory XIII in the 1580s that the New Year started om 1st January and the 6th January would be the sixth day of the New Year.
Perhaps,however,some other Mediterranean societies started the New Year in January ?
It appears (based on a wikipedia dive following a vaguely recalled memory of January being named for Janus, god of beginnings and endings) that starting the year in January is pre-Christian Roman, at least in some respects dating from around 450BCE.
The Roman year started in Martius (March) with the first few months having special names, eventually leaving September (seventh month) and so on with no special name.
Julius Caesar added two extra months January (Janus) and February ( the month of febrile and feverish time of clearing in getting ready for Martius)
What we don't really know is when did Martius actually begin within the pattern of a solar year.
All these dates,hours,days,weeks and months are all arbitrary divisions of time. Most calendars were devised for religious and liturgical purposes,but were usually based on the equinox and solstice times.
Thus for the Persians the year began around the vernal equinox and for the Egyptians around the summer solstice.
For the Jews Passover takes place around the time of the vernal equinox.Christians followed this time for their Easter and the Annunciation with the birth of Christ being nine months later round about the winter solstice.
It is more than possible that the Roman month of Martius started round about the time of the present month of January.
I'd say that dates, hours, weeks and months were arbitrary divisions of time, but not days. Days are a natural phenomenon, easily observable. Hours, minutes, seconds etc are all human inventions. Seasons are natural but are too imprecise and variable to be of much use.
I probably should have said our present months were arbitrary. The adjustments you refer to help make them so.
This YouTube link about different ways of telling time in different languages seems relevant.
https://youtu.be/eelVqfm8vVc
The Annunciation is also the gospel for the Sunday before Christmas - last Sunday in Advent - in the CofE but that's a recent change and for a quite different reason. The four Sundays of Advent now follow the themes Patriarchs, Prophets, John the Baptist and Mary the Mother of the Lord, with the suggestion that the four outside candles on the Advent wreath do as well. This, though, only applies to the current lectionary. It wasn't the case with the 1662 BCP.
I've been called a liturgy nerd to my face many times before so I'm well aware that my interests are somewhat niche.
I learnt things I didn't know before when I was looking it up. My own jurisdiction celebrates Annunciation on Advent VI (we keep old Advent, with 6 Sundays), which was new to me when I was first received into it, and it piqued my interest. So I did some exploring.
On the point about the Syriac tradition, Wikipedia tells me that "Annunciation" is actually their name for the whole season leading up to Christmas, rather than any equivalent of the name "Advent". I don't know if they have a specific feast of the Annunciation within that but my church has one parish in Spain that uses the West Syriac rite, and I've never been in touch with them before. This might be a good opportunity to make contact.
Ahh. Thank you for this. I had known of the Gospel on Advent VI but hadn't been aware this was a recent introduction. I think I made an assumption about a connection that wasn't there - unless perhaps the liturgical commission deliberately made this change knowing of the history.
In the Roman Rite before the changes ( and possibly also in the Anglican rite )the Gospel of the Fourth Sunday of Advent came from St Luke and is about John preparing the Way of the Lord, in a sense pointing forward beyond the birth of Jesus to his manifestation before the people in general.
Each end is also a beginning and the end of the ecclesiastical year points us forward also to the future and ultimately to the 'end times' And Advent refers to the Second coming as well as being a commemoration of the First.
In the revised rites within the Roman Communion I have not heard of the idea of the Patriarchs,Prophets,John Baptist and Mary being linked with the candles on the Advent wreath which is now fairly standard within many denominations of Western Christianity.(I think that Advent wreaths began to become known in UK in the 1970s but I might be wrong).
In the Revised Lectionary in the Roman Communion the Gospel passage read on Advent IV speaks in some way about the birth of Christ YearA Virgin will conceive Matthew 1 18-25 Year B Annunciation Luke 1 26- 38 and Year C Visitation Luke 1 39 - 44.
My RC understanding of the advent wreath/candles is that they just mark the four Sundays in a non-specific way, with only the central fifth candle "standing for" Christ. The whole thing is a fairly recent, and to my mind rather naff innovation.
Agreed. I'm glad ours is lighted before people arrive and is simply there, not connected to any ceremonial. Three purples and a rose, by the way, and no central white candle.
In the CofE like Christingle, Advent wreaths have come in within my lifetime. Christingle came from the Moravians and is popularised by the Children's Society. I don't know where the Advent wreath came from.
When I had to look this up a few years ago, it was pretty clear that the four candles had come first and then people had thought 'well, we're Christians; so they ought to symbolise something'. The obvious one in the past might have been the Four Last Things, Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell. Lighting candles in honour of death and hell, though, doesn't feel right.
There are a number of models, Hope, Peace, Love and Joy being one of them. The CofE's book Times and Seasons, which is part of the Common Worship suite does not prescribe identifying the candles with Patriarchs, Prophets, John the Baptist and Mary the Mother of the Lord, but does recommend that model and provides prayers to fit it.
In the CofE, the fifth one in the middle always represents Jesus the right of the World and is not lit until after midnight on Christmas Eve. It's also usually white and higher than the other four. There's no colour prescribed for the other four, but either red or three red and one mauve are the most usual.
Interesting, in my experience in the US, the four candles are almost always in the color(s) of the season—at least if the church in question uses liturgical colors. So they’re either violet/purple (Catholics and Presbyterians in my experience) or blue (Episcopalians, Lutherans and Methodists, in my experience). Interestingly, many churches that use blue in Advent will still use a rose candle on the third Sunday. And Presbyterians will generally use a rose candle on the third Sunday as well, even though rose won’t be used otherwise.
As for the central, white Christ candle, in my experience here, it’s lit for any services after sundown (or maybe a little earlier) on Christmas Eve—those services being viewed as belonging to Christmas rather than Advent.
I can remember when Advent wreaths were unheard of in the C of E. I'm not sure when they became popular but it could be as recent as the late 1980s. As for the colours, four red and (maybe) one white were common until ecclesiastical suppliers started selling sets with three purple and one pink ('rose') to match the traditional colours of the vestments. Churches, probably the majority, which had never possessed a set of pink vestments were left floundering about when to light the pink candle – many people thinking it represented the BVM on Advent 4. But those who got it right (Gaudete Sunday, Advent 3) often went on to acquire a set of rose-coloured vestments to match. Clever commercial move by Hayes and Finch et al!
In the UK my impression is that the Advent wreath is to be found mainly in churches - one rarely sees it in a home. On the other hand many homes will have something similar to the Advent wreath hung on the door of the house.
What I like about the Advent wreath is that it is a custom which unites Christians of many 'persuasions' and its meaning will be interpreted slightly differently by each community.
For RCs anyway it is paraliturgical, i.e. not part of the official liturgy.
It isn't anything liturgical, is it?
In some churches, the candles will be lit before the service with little or no ado. In others, they will be lit during the service, possibly with, say, a reading and a prayer or song. Often, a family or other grouping will be invited to light the candles on a given Sunday.
If I recall correctly, Catholic custom is a blessing of the wreath before the first candle is lit on Advent I, but no other ceremony of any kind when the candles are lit.
FWIW, I’m about to turn 60, and I can’t remember an Advent with an Advent wreath in both home and church.
@Forthview's term paraliturgical might be best. I have regularly seen churches with advent wreathes accompany the lighting of the candle with prayers-- and once with a hymn following, before the regular liturgy takes place. As nowadays many people are familiar with it in its domestic character, I suppose that this use in churches is meaningful to them. I have been a guest at Sunday family dinners in observant homes where the lighting of the Advent candle(s) was an event for the children, which they seemed to like-- I was told that in one place it was the parents' strategy for getting the children comfortable with religious practices (or, as we say in workshopland, maximizing and integrating the faith/praxis interface in a diurnal context).
I suppose I think of Advent wreaths in much the same way I do christingles. We had neither of these things in the Anglican Province of the West Indies in my childhood so I have no particular formational attachment to them, and can happily take them or leave them.
When I returned to the C of E in my teenage years, I encountered them for the first time. There was shock in the church youth group that I didn't know what a christingle was.
The Advent wreath was a new thing to me, but it was just something that was in the church to mark the season during Advent, much like the Christmas tree was in the church at Christmas, or lilies at Easter. It was a nice thing to have but it didn't feature in the services in any way.
That some churches do make them quasi-liturgical is new information for me.
At my MOTR childhood church, and normally at St Quacks, a child came and lit the new candle at the start of the service, followed by a short prayer reflecting the theme for that Sunday. It's a nice way to get them involved a bit. This year the candles have just been lit prior to the service starting.
Seems to be 1965: https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/1965-blue-peter-advent-crown/512389702820097/
Though there may be a market for plastic oranges with ready-inserted plastic battery operated candles, I guess.
Okay I lied. It wasn't the Baby Jesus crying. It was me. My hands ached and stank of oranges for about three weeks afterwards.
Then it is at least 1964 because he says "It is different from the one I saw last year". Secondly they refer to it as an Advent Crown.
I'm not a great fan of Christingles, either. Our Place used (before Ye Plague) to host a well-attended Christingle Service for our affiliated Scouts/Cubs/Beavers etc., which took place on the last day of their Autumn session, a week or so before Christmas.
O! the mess! Bits of orange, bits of cocktail stick, bits of candle, squashed sweets - all strewn about the church, the porch, the pavement...the little pagans seemed to delight in making as much of a joke of the thing as possible. About the only up-side to the business was the fact that they made the blasted Christingles themselves beforehand.