Around The Word Theology for the Curious Christian
  • Home
  • Columns
    • The Straight Path- Brian Flamme
    • Lifted Voice- Brian Hamer
    • The Double Edged Sword- Sean Kilgo
    • Master Metaphors of Philosophy
    • Public Square- Warren Graff
    • Top 5- Bob Hiller
    • Christ in the Old Testament- Brian Kachelmeier
    • Who Knows What- Bryan Wolfmueller
    • Neglected Theological Topics- Jared Melius
    • The Cross- Andrew Preus
    • The Science Corner
    • Theological Miscellany >
      • The Conscience
      • Miscellany
  • Devotions
    • Christ and the Church 30-Day Marriage eDevotion
  • Bible Studies
    • Special Bible Studies
    • Bible Study Archive
  • Support

Sacred Music of the Night

7/20/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping
that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.
— Antiphon to the Nunc Dimittis
 
During the Middle Ages, an elaborate system known as “The Liturgy of the Hours” developed to frame the prayer lives of the faithful at regular intervals each day:
​
Matins (morning) Midnight
Lauds (praise) 3:00 a.m.
Prime (the first hour) 6:00 a.m.
Terce (the third hour) 9:00 a.m.
Sext (the sixth hour) 12:00 Noon
None (the ninth hour) 3:00 p.m.
Vespers (evening) 6:00 p.m.
Compline (the completion of the day) 9:00 p.m.

​These non-Communion offices (also known as “Daily Office,” “Divine Office,” or “Canonical Hours”) “flow down from that liturgical mountain peak [of the Lord’s Supper], like streams seeking the lower places, the daily routine and grind of life” (David Kind, Oremus: A Lutheran Breviary, p. vii). Reformation revisions, along with a pesky dynamic known as reality, have generally reduced the rhythm of daily prayer to Matins, Vespers, and Compline. Most recent hymnals, including Lutheran Service Book (LSB), also include the orders of Morning and Evening Prayer, providing at least three evening services to highlight the gifts of the Gospel at eventide: Vespers, Evening Prayer, and Compline. The profound theological themes for eventide have not been lost on the great composers of the church, including the hymn, anthem, and solo that are highlighted in this installment of “Lifted Voice.”


Read More
2 Comments

Ubi Caritas: Sacred Music for the Liturgy of Christian Matrimony

7/1/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
[In the church Christians] find delight not in the baleful songs sung by
theatrical performers, songs which lead to sensual love, but in the chants of the Church.
-- St. Ambrose
​

​Wedding season is in full swing, which brings to the local parish a unique set of blessings and curses. On the positive side, the rite of Christian marriage brings the blessing of the lifelong union of husband and wife. On the negative side, however, the wedding rite is often cursed with a theatrical soloist singing another sensual and seductive rendition of “The Wedding Song” (“It is good to be together at the calling of your hearts,” etc.), against which St. Ambrose and a host of other fathers warned. One prominent Lutheran church musician from New York, Dr. Jane Schatkin Hettrick, perhaps put it best when she said that most weddings are “an orgy of bad taste.” In an effort to recover the solemnity and dignity of the Christian wedding, I would like to recommend three choral settings of the sequence hymn, Ubi Caritas, “Where Charity and Love Are [Found], God is There.”
​

Read More
1 Comment
    Picture

    Pr Brian Hamer

    Brian J. Hamer is Chaplain to Destroyer Squadron 23, Naval Base San Diego, via the LCMS Board for International Mission Services.

    Archives

    December 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All
    Brian Hamer
    Christmas Hymns
    Epiphany Hymns
    Hymns
    Liturgy
    Of The Father's Love Begotten

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.