Some of us of various Christian denominations celebrated a transferred All Saints' Day today. Who are these saints? Who are these, like stars appearing?
Well, they're us.
I Sing a Song of the Saints of God
Text: Lesbia Scott
Music: John H. Hopkins
Tune: GRAND ISLE, Meter: Irr.
1. I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green;
they were all of them saints of God, and I mean,
God helping, to be one too.
2. They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
and his love made them strong;
and they followed the right for Jesus' sake
the whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
and one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
and there's not any reason, no, not the least,
why I shouldn't be one too.
3. They lived not only in ages past;
there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store,
in church, by the sea, in the house next door;
they are saints of God, whether rich or poor,
and I mean to be one too.
Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome.
This Sunday, our first at
St. Bart's since early June and the first since I have been Music Director and organist, we had the organ back, and the choir loft finished from renovation, and the nave's renovation finished, and most of our education wing finished, and boy did we celebrate: we went out into the world with that great old Anglican Sunday School hymn, "I sing a song of the saints of god", remembering that those saints can be found in all sorts of unexpected places. We also took the Beatitudes with us, from the Gospel. There was even a Baptism. All in all, it was a wonderful Sunday and for all of the heady stuff I wanted to write for tonight, somehow sharing this experience with you says more than any academic diary could have.
Thank you all for all the support I have had from this community while discerning my way forward as a sacred musician, and a person in general. I was thinking of all of you today.
At the Andover 18/II at St. Bart's this morning.
Another view, from Friday. Both pictures by GreenMoutainBoy02
I'll leave you all with the wonderful motet by Thomas Luis de Victoria which we sung today (not our performance, though ours was REALLY good), for All Saints' Day:
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In peace,
Bro. Commonmass