This Joyful Eastertide!

One of my absolute favorite things about the season!  A fantastic text and a glorious tune; we sang it at the Sequence this past Sunday:



This, from the YouTube page:

The words of this Easter carol was written by George R. Woodward (1848-1934) in 1894. The melody is Dutch and fist showed up in the 1680s.

The arrangement from 1901 is by the Irish composer Charles Wood. He studied with Stanford at the Royal College of Music in London, and he would himself become a Professor of Music there, where his pupils would include Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells.

Die deutsche Fassung stammt von Jürgen Henkys (1983). In wunderbarer Weise bringt es die Bilder des Osterevangeliums, den Ruf „denn nun ist er erstanden“ mit unserer eigenen Auferstehung in Beziehung. Die schwungvolle Melodie und die kraftvolle Aufwärtsbewegung beim „erstanden“ machen dieses Lied zu einem mitreißenden Osterjubel.

Happy Easter - Frohe Ostern !

This joyful Eastertide,
Away with sin and sorrow!
My Love, the Crucified,
Hath sprung to life this morrow.
Had Christ, that once was slain,
Ne'er burst his three-day prison,
Our faith had been in vain:
But now hath Christ arisen.

My flesh in hope shall rest,
And for a season slumber:
Till trump from east to west,
Shall wake the dead in number.
Had Christ etc.

Death's flood hath lost its chill,
Since Jesus cross'd the river:
Lover of souls, from ill
My passing soul deliver.
Had Christ etc.

(George Radcliffe Woodward, 1894)

Der schöne Ostertag!
Ihr Menschen, kommt ins Helle!
Christ, der begraben lag,
brach heut aus seiner Zelle.
Wär vorm Gefängnis noch der schwere Stein vorhanden,
so glaubten wir umsonst.
Doch nun ist er erstanden.

Was euch auch niederwirft,
Schuld, Krankheit, Flut und Beben –
er, den ihr lieben dürft, trug euer Kreuz ins Leben.
Läg er noch immer, wo die Frauen ihn nicht fanden,
so kämpften wir umsonst.
Doch nun ist er erstanden.

Muss ich von hier nach dort -
er hat den Weg erlitten.
Der Fluss reißt mich nicht fort, seit Jesus ihn durchschritten.
Wär er geblieben, wo des Todes Wellen branden,
so hofften wir umsonst.
Doch nun ist er erstanden.

(Jürgen Henkys, 1983)

The Cambridge Singers
Conducted by John Rutter

The score was created in Sibelius First (version 6.2), based on the edition in '100 carols for choirs' (Oxford University Press). Please note that Cambridge Singers sings the carol one semitone higher than reflected in the score.

And not only that!  We had this one, too, as the first hymn on the day:

1. He is risen, he is risen!
Tell it out with joyful voice:
he has burst his three days' prison;
let the whole wide earth rejoice:
Death is conquered, we are free,
Christ has won the victory.

2. Come, ye sad and fearful-hearted,
with glad smile and radiant brow!
Death's long shadows have departed;
Jesus' woes are over now,
and the passion that he bore,
sin and pain can vex no more.

*3. Come, with high and holy hymning,
hail our Lord's triumphant day;
not one darksome cloud is dimming
yonder glorious morning ray,
breaking o'ver the purple east,
symbol of our Easter feast.

4. He is risen, he is risen!
He hath opened heaven's gate:
we are free from sin's dark prison,
risen to a holier state;
and a brighter Easter beam
on our longing eyes shall stream.


Words: Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895), alt. Music: Unser Herrscher, Joachim Neander (1650-1580)

And this lovely thing, for Communion; people can sing the refrain - just "Alleluia, alleluia!" - as they walk forward, without needing the hymnal.  Beautiful and tuneful:




And this, for the final hymn; sung to the Christmas chant tune, Puer Nobis:

#193 from The Hymnal 1982: Closing Hymn for the Second Sunday of Easter at St. Bartholomew's, an Episcopal church in New York City on May 1, 2011.

This hymn is an English translation of the 5th century Ambrosian hymn "Aurora lucis rutilat". The translation is based on John M. Neale's 19th century text. The tune, "Puer Nobis", is a tune used for different hymns. Its origins lie in the 15th century Trier manuscript, adapted by Michael Praetorius in the 17th century, and harmonized by George Woodward in the 20th.

Really, sometimes I think I could go just for the music.  Lucky us!

The Second Alleluia for the 3rd Sunday in Easter: Oportebat Pati Christum ("It behoved Christ to suffer")

Here's this chant, beautifully sung by the Benedictine Nuns of Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation, Le Barroux:




Here's the full chant score:

Here's a literal-ish translation of this text:

It was necessary for Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, and so to enter into his glory.

This Latin Vulgate/English translation of Luke 24:26 and Luke 24:46 shows how this text is a mashup of two different verses:

24

26

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and so, to enter into his glory?

nonne haec oportuit pati Christum et ita intrare in gloriam suam

24

46

And he said to them: Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead, the third day:

et dixit eis quoniam sic scriptum est et sic oportebat Christum pati et resurgere a mortuis die tertia

And this section of Luke, which follows on from the Year A reading for this Sunday describing the supper at Emmaus, is in fact read on this day; the action here, though, takes place back in Jerusalem:

Luke 24:36b-48

Jesus himself stood among the disciples and their companions and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

The collect for today is this one, also read on Wednesday of Easter Week:

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Hatchett's Commentary says, about the collect, that:

This is a revised version of the collect for the Monday in Easter Week of the 1928 Book, composed by the Rev. Dr. John W. Suter, St.  It is associated with the story of our Lord's appearance to the disciples at Emmaus after the resurrection , when He made Himself known "in the breaking of bread" (Lk 24:35).  The original form of the result clause read, "The we may behold thee in all thy works."  This collect is also appointed for the third Sunday of Easter.

The chant propers for the Easter season seem to have been shifted around quite a bit from the old, Tridentine, version.  Some of these chants were once used for the "Third Sunday after Easter," which I think means that the numbering system was different then as well.  I'll have to take a closer look at that at some point.

Here are a couple of images from a very interesting old chant book housed, I believe, in the Bamberg State Library in Germany.  This chant begins at the bottom of the first page here and continues at the top of the second:

The book itself is quite unusual!  Here's a side-view image of its binding, followed by - if I'm not mistaken - images of its front and back covers.

It looks to me like the book's covers are made of wood, and those are carved images.

I don't read German very well, so can't really follow what's being said there; I don't know what this book actually is - but I can make some guesses.   This page, at the (French) gregorien.info site, links to it and refers to it as "Bamberg, D-BAa lit. 7, Cantatorium de Seeon," which I think probably refers to "Kloster-Seeon," a one-time Benedictine monastery "in the municipality of Seeon-Seebruck in the rural district of Traunstein in Bavaria, Germany."


And, according to this page, "a ‘cantatorium’ is a book that contains the gradual and alleluia chants that a soloist would perform during the Mass."

More, I cannot tell you at this moment; if I do find out something else, I'll come back and post it, as always.

Here are all the chants for this Sunday's mass, from ChristusRex.org, and sung by the Sao Paolo
Benedictines:a

Hebdomada tertia paschæ
Dominica Introitus: Ps. 65, 1.2.3 Iubilate Deo (2m58.9s - 2798 kb) score
Alleluia: Lc. 24, 35 Cognoverunt discipuli (2m40.0s - 2504 kb) score
Alleluia: Lc. 24, 32 Oportebat (3m20.3s - 3132 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 145, 2 Lauda, anima mea (1m33.8s - 1468 kb) score
Communio:
(anno A) Lc. 24, 34 Surrexit Dominus (44.8s - 702 kb) score
                   (anno B)Ps. 95, 2 Cantate Domino (1m22.5s - 1292 kb) score
                   (anno C) Io. 21, 15.17 Simon Ioannis (1m23.7s - 1310 kb)

Here are posts for the some of the chants for this day on Chantblog:

• The Introit for the Third Sunday of Easter: Jubilate Deo
• Cognoverunt discipuli: The First Alleluia for the Third Sunday in Easter
• The Second Alleluia for the 3rd Sunday in Easter: Oportebat Pati Christum ("It behoved Christ to suffer")..

The second Alleluia for the Sunday after Easter: Post dies octo ("After eight days")

Post dies octo is the beautiful 2nd (or "Greater") Alleluia for the Sunday after Easter:


Post dies octo, jánuis clausis, stetit Jesus in médio discipulórum suórum from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

The text for this "Greater Alleluia" comes from John 20:26:

Allelúja.   Vs. Post dies octo, jánuis clausis, stetit Jesus in médio discipulórum suórum, et dixit: Pax vobis.  Allelúja.

Alleluia.  Vs. And after eight days, all the doors being shut, Jesus stood in the midst of his disciples and said: “Peace be with you.” Alleluia.

William Byrd (among others) set this text, labeled on this video as "Dominica in Albis, in Octava Paschae - Antiphona ad Magnificat" - i.e., the Antiphon upon Magnificat [at Vespers] for Dominica in Albis in the Easter Octave (that is, today, the Sunday after Easter).   Very pretty indeed!  Not sure who the singers are here, though.




(And sure enough, enter 4/12/2015 and click "Vesperae" at Divinum Officium, and you'll see it listed there as the Mag antiphon, both in Byrd's time and in our own.)


The readings for today, in Year B, are quite beautiful ones; the Gospel reading from John is read in all three years:

Acts 4:32-35

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.


Psalm 133 Page 787, BCP

Ecce, quam bonum!

1
Oh, how good and pleasant it is, *
when brethren live together in unity!
2
It is like fine oil upon the head *
that runs down upon the beard,
3
Upon the beard of Aaron, *
and runs down upon the collar of his robe.
4
It is like the dew of Hermon *
that falls upon the hills of Zion.
5
For there the LORD has ordained the blessing: *
life for evermore.

1 John 1:1-2:2

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

The Collect for the day is the same one as used on Thursday in Easter week:

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hatchett's Commentary says, about this collect, that:

This collect, new to this Book, is also appointed for use after the seventh lesson in the Great Vigil of Easter and as the collect of the day on the second Sunday of Easter.  It dates to the Gregorian sacramentary (no. 423).  The translation is a revision of that by William Bright in Ancient Collects (pp. 56-57).  In the Gregorian sacramentary and the Sarum missal it is provided for the Friday of Easter Week.  It might be compared with the collect for the third Sunday after Easter in earlier Prayer Books.  The 1549 version reads:

Almighty God, which showest to all men that be in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant unto all them that be admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, that they may eschew those things that be contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as be agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ.

That collect was the initial collect for one of the April Masses of the Leonine sacramentary (no. 75), and of the Mass for the second Sunday after the paschal octave in the Gelasian sacramentary (no. 546) and the supplement to the Gregorian (no. 1117).

Here's the full list of chant propers for the Second Sunday in Easter, from ChristusRex.org; the modern propers are identical to the historical (Tridentine) ones:

Hebdomada secunda paschæ
Dominica
Introitus: Quasi modo (3m38.5s - 3416 kb) score
Alleluia: In die resurrectionis (2m18.2s - 2162 kb) score
Alleluia: Post dies octo (2m11.9s - 2064 kb) score
Sequentia: Victimæ paschali (1m36.6s - 1510 kb) score
Offertorium: Angelus Domini (2m00.0s - 1876 kb) score
Communio: Mitte manum tuam, et cognosce (45.1s - 708 kb) score
Ite missa est (28.7s - 451 kb) score

Here are Chantblog posts on some of these:

• Dominica in albis (or, Quasi Modo) Sunday:  The Introit
• In die resurrectionis meae, the first Alleluia for the Sunday after Easter
• The second Alleluia for the Sunday after Easter: Post dies octo ("After eight days")
• The Easter Sequence: Victimae Paschali Laudes

The Eastertide Office hymns are here.


Here's Duccio's beautiful "The Incredulity of st.Thomas," from his "Maesta Altarpiece," created in 1308.

This is from the intro to the "Maesta Altarpiece" entry at Wikipedia:

The Maestà, or Maestà of Duccio is an altarpiece composed of many individual paintings commissioned by the city of Siena in 1308 from the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna.^[1] The front panels make up a large enthroned Madonna and Child with saints and angels, and a predella of the Childhood of Christ with prophets. The reverse has the rest of a combined cycle of the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ in a total of forty-three small scenes; several panels are now dispersed or lost. The base of the panel has an inscription that reads: "Holy Mother of God, be thou the cause of peace for Siena and life to Duccio because he painted thee thus." ^[2] Though it took a generation for its effect truly to be felt, Duccio's Maestà set Italian painting on a course leading away from the hieratic representations of Byzantine art towards more direct presentations of reality.

I can't get enough of Duccio these days....

The Seventh Sunday in Easter: Alleluia. Non vos reliquam orphanos ("I will not leave you orphans")

GREGORIAN ALLELUIA • Non Vos Relinquam (6221) from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.


The text for this chant comes from John 14:18 and John 16:22b; both verses come from Christ's "Farewell Discourse."

I will not leave you orphans. I am going, but I will come back to you, and your hearts will be full of joy.

Interestingly, it seems that Young's Literal Translation (1898) renders the first phrase as "I will not leave you bereaved" - and it seems the King James translators went that way, too, with the famous "I will not leave you comfortless."  I'm interested in knowing why, actually - and will try to find out.  "Orphanos" seems clear and straightforward enough, to me - but perhaps there's something else going on here.


This is the full chant score; as you can see, it's a very complex chant - fitting, for one of the last Sunday chants in the Easter season:

Here it is sung in monastic choir, by the São Paulo Benedictines:





This text is also the Antiphon upon Magnificat for First Vespers of Pentecost; to see it in context, use Divinum Officium and enter 6-7-2014, then click "Vesperae."   This is a very old usage, going back to the "pre Trident monastic" Roman Breviary.


This is a video of William Byrd's setting of the text, from 1607, sung by The Cambridge Singers.




Here, as "I will not leave you comfortless,"  it's sung beautifully in English by the "Mennonite Acapella" Oasis Chorale:




Here's an interesting little item about the liturgy during the "Ascentiontide" period at Full Homely Divinity's "Rogation and Ascension" page:

Traditionally, the Paschal Candle was extinguished following the reading of the  Gospel on Ascension Day. The gentle ascent and disappearance of the smoke from the smoldering wick was a poignant symbol of the departure of the Risen Lord from the earth.  Now, it is customary in many places to keep the Candle burning until Pentecost and to omit entirely any special ceremony of extinguishing it. There are credible reasons for this change. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that so little attention is given to the extinguishing of this Candle which was lit with major ceremony at the beginning of the Paschal Vigil and holds a place of such prominence in the church building throughout the season.

Like the Church at large, we at FHD are not of one mind on this practice. However, apart from the rites of the Church set forth by authority (i.e., The Book of Common Prayer), it is never our intent to prescribe, only to suggest. The rubric regarding the Paschal Candle in the American Prayer Book (p. 287) says "It is customary that the Paschal Candle burn at all services from Easter Day through the Day of Pentecost." At the risk of being accused of nitpicking, we note that "customary" is a relative term. Customs vary over both time and space and we are simply pointing out that this is one that is not universal. It has changed before and it could change again. Some of us see value in the old custom, and like it enough to keep it alive.

There are other liturgical customs for this day which have also fallen by the way. One such custom was the lifting up of a statue or picture of Christ. In some places, this was quite elaborate, with ropes or chains rigged to elevate the image. In some places, it disappeared behind a veil or into a representation of clouds, while in others it went through a hole in the ceiling. After the image vanished, the congregation would be showered with rose petals and other flowers, symbolizing the gifts which the ascended Christ gives to his Church:  When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people....that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.... (Ephesians 4:7,11)

In Germany, it was the custom for the priest to lift high a crucifix after the reading of the Ascension Gospel.  This custom has much to recommend it. It makes visible the symbolic link between the Cross and the Ascension which is implicit in Jesus' words when he says, And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. (John 12:32)   On the Cross, Jesus is glorified. When he ascends, he ascends to reign in glory. It could be a simple, yet effective, bit of liturgical drama to revive this custom. An extra acolyte, carrying a crucifix, could be added to the Gospel procession on Ascension Day. Or, if the parish owns a processional cross which has a figure of Christ on it, that should be carried at the head of the Gospel procession. It is important for this particular ceremony that the cross not be empty. While in many contexts an empty cross is an effective symbol, here the focus is on Christ himself, so a crucifix is needed. At the conclusion of the reading of the Gospel, instead of lifting the Gospel book and proclaiming "The Gospel of the Lord," the deacon or priest should exchange the book for the crucifix, and lift it high. It is still appropriate to say "The Gospel of the Lord," for the uplifted figure of Christ on the cross is indeed the Good News (Gospel) that we proclaim and celebrate. A processional crucifix would be especially dramatic as it would enable the Gospeller to lift the figure very high.

And don't forget to check out, and pray, FHD's Ascension-to-Pentecost "Novena to the Holy Spirit" at the bottom of the same page.


ChristusRex.org lists all the propers for today, which were the same in the Tridentine Rite:

Hebdomada septima paschæ
Dominica Introitus: Ps. 26, 7.8.9 et 1 Exaudi, Domine... tibi dixit (not available)
Alleluia: Ps. 46, 9 Regnavit Dominus (not available)
Alleluia: Io. 14, 18 Non vos relinquam (3m32.2s - 3316 kb)
Offertorium: Ps. 46, 6 Ascendit Deus (1m33.8s - 1469 kb MONO)
Communio: Io. 17, 12.13.15 Pater, cum essem (not available)

And these are posts on Chantblog for today's propers:

• The Introit for the Seventh Sunday of Easter: Exaudi, Domine  ("Lord, hear my voice")
• The Seventh Sunday in Easter: Alleluia. Non vos reliquam orphanos  ("I will not leave you orphans") 

Here's a rather amazing and beautiful painted Paschal Candle at the church of St. James, Spanish Place (Marylebone, London):

The Communion Song(s) for the Feast of the Ascension

There are three different Communion chants for the Feast of the Ascension - one for each year.  I'll post all of them here.

Year A's chant is Data est mihi ("All power is given to me"):



The text is this familiar one, from Matthew 28, containing the very last words of Matthew's Gospel:

¹⁸  [And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying:] All power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

¹⁹ Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Here's James MacMillan's Data est mihi, sung by the Westminster Choir conducted by Joe Miller; this piece comes from a collection called "The Strathclyde Motets."   This video was recorded "at the Choir's Homecoming Concert in Princeton, N.J. in January 2011":




The Communio for Year B is Signa autem eos ("These signs will accompany them"):


Signa autem eos, qui in me credunt, hæc sequéntur: dæmónia ejícient: super ægros manus impónent, et bene habébunt. from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

The text is taken from Mark 16:17-18, the last part of Mark's Gospel:

¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

(There are only two more verses after this, these:

¹⁹ So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

But of course, there's that footnote, too: "Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9–20.")


Psallite Domino ("Sing to the Lord") is the Communion song for Year C; here it's sung by the Congregation of St. Lazarus Autun:




This text comes, while taking some liberties, from Psalm (67/)68:

³³ to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
    behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
³⁴ Ascribe power to God,
    whose majesty is over Israel,
    and whose power is in the skies.

Here's a very nice polyphonic Psallite Domino:  this piece was composed by Sebastiaan Van Steenberge, performed by Koristen van Keizersberg (Director: Peter Maus), and recorded at Keizersberg Abbey in Leuven, Belgium in May 2008:

Here, from ChristusRex.org, are all the Mass Propers for Ascension, sung by the Sao Paulo Benedictines:

In Ascensione Domini
Dominica Introitus: Act. 1, 11; Ps. 46 Viri Galilæi (2m48.4s - 2635 kb) score here
Alleluia: Ps. 46, 6 Ascendit Deus (1m50.2s - 1725 kb) score here
Alleluia: Ps. 67, 18.19 Dominus in Sina (2m33.9s - 2409 kb) score here
Offertorium: Ps. 46, 6 Ascendit Deus (1m33.8s - 1469 kb MONO due to problems with my recording set) score here
Communio:
(anno A)Mt. 28, 18.19 Data est mihi (1m21.9s - 1283 kb) score here
(anno B)Mc. 16, 17.18 Signa (1m05.5s - 1027 kb)
(anno C)  Ps. 67, 33.34 Psallite Domino (59.0s - 925 kb MONO due to problems with my recording set) score here

You can read other posts about the day's propers on Chantblog as well:

• The Introit for the Feast of the Ascension: Viri Galilaei ("O men of Galilee")
• The 1st Alleluia and Offertory for Ascension:  Ascendit Deus ("God has gone up")
• The 2nd Alleluia for Ascension Day: Dominus in Sina ("The Lord is in Sinai")
• The Communion Song(s) for the Feast of the Ascension 
• The Sarum Ascension Office

Don't forget to read Full Homely Divinity's article on Ascension.


And here's a wonderful thing - a glorious piece I didn't know existed until just now!  It's Bach's Ascension Oratorio (AKA the Cantata for Ascension Day, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen - "Praise God in His Kingdoms"), first performed on May 19, 1735 in Leipzig.    Listen especially for Ach, bleibe doch, mein liebstes Leben here - which ultimately became the Agnus Dei in the B Minor Mass: 



The German and English words are here (and also here).

This is the list of movements and musicians from the YouTube page:

Johann Sebastian Bach
Ascension Oratorio, BWV 11
(Cantata, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11)

Part I
1 Chorus. Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen
2 Evangelista. Der Herr Jesus hub seine Hände auf
3 Recitativo. Ach, Jesu, ist dein Abschied
4 Aria. Ach, bleibe doch, mein liebstes Leben
5 Evangelista. Und ward aufgehoben zusehends
6 Chorale. Nun lieget alles unter dir

Part II
7 Evangelista. Und da sie ihm nachsahen
8 Recitativo. Ach ja! so komme bald zurück
9 Evangelista. Sie aber beteten ihn an
10 Aria. Jesu, deine Gnadenblicke
11 Chorale. Wenn soll es doch geschehen

Hannah Morrison, soprano
Meg Bragle, mezzo-soprano
Nicholas Mulroy, tenor
Peter Harvey, bass

Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

This depiction of the Ascension comes from Folio 13v of the Rabula Gospels (Mesopotamia, 6th century AD):

Surrexit Christus, et illuxit nobis ("Christ is risen, and has illumined us") and Exivi a Patre ("I came from the Father"): The First Alleluia(s) for the Sixth Easter Sunday

Beautifully chanted by an unknown singer.    There are two chants on this video:  the first is Surrexit Christus, and the second Exivi a Patre.  Surrexit is prescribed as the First Alleluia for Year A; Exivi for Year B; either can be used as the First Alleluia for Year C.




Although the chants are set one right after the other on the video, I'm separating the words and scores below, to emphasize that these are two completely separate chants:

Surrexit Christus, et illuxit nobis
Alleluia, alleluia. V. Surrexit Christus, et illuxit nobis, quos redemit sanguine suo. Alleluia.  

Alleluia, alleluia. Vs. Christ has risen and he has shone upon us whom he has ransomed with his own blood.   

ChristusRex.org says this text comes from John 14:18, but I don't see any evidence of this; to me it seems to be a composite of various ideas from various Scriptural sources, including Isaiah and perhaps the Gospels of Mark and John - although it's quite possible it's a direct quote from some extra-Biblical source.  Will continue to investigate.

Here's the chant score:

Exivi a Patre
Alleluia, alleluia.  V. Exivi a Patre, et veni in mundum: iterum relinquo mundum, et vado ad Patrem, alleluia.

Alleluia, alleluia.   V.  I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.

This text comes directly from John 16:28.   Here's the full chant score:

In the Extraordinary Form, Surrexit Christus and Exivi a Patre are the First and Second Alleluias for this Easter Sunday (i.e., they were in this configuration in the Tridentine Rite).  Today, though, there are three other chants used for the Second Alleluias - which I will discuss, no doubt, during future Easter season posts!

All of today's chants, though, for all three years - with the exception of the Introit and the Offertory (and also today's Surrexit Christus, as noted above) - come from  the Gospel of John.   Ascension is this Thursday, so citations from Christs' "Farewell Discourse" in John are very apropos.

In our current three-year Lectionary, we read from the Book of Acts, rather than from the Old Testament, on each Sunday after Easter.  I'm second to nobody in my love of and appreciation for the Old Testament - but I do like this development.  (In any case, there was no assigned Old Testament reading in the historic lectionay, so the addition of an OT reading is itself a happy development as far as I'm concerned.)

This week's reading from Acts is one of my all-time favorites:

Acts 17:22-31

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, `To an unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him-- though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For `In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said,

`For we too are his offspring.'

Since we are God's offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

And the Gospel reading is this short, beautiful passage:

John 14:15-21

Jesus said to his disciples, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

"I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

The "historic lectionary" prescribed a reading from John 16 for today - a passage that that includes the text of the chant Exvivi at Patre:

JESUS said unto his disciples, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.  Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.  These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.  At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.  I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.  His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.  Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.  Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?  Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

  Also prescribed was this passage from James:

BE ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass.  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

The historic lectionary marks this as Rogation Sunday as well (called Rogate here); the Rogation Days are the three weekdays prior to the Feast of the Ascension.  Here's an introductory bit from a citation at that link:

The Rogation Days, the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day, originated in Vienne, France (not Vienna, Austria), in 470 after a series of natural disasters had caused much suffering among the people. Archbishop Mamertus proclaimed a fast and ordered that special litanies and prayers be said as the population processed around their fields, asking God's protection and blessing on the crops that were just beginning to sprout. The Latin word rogare means "to ask", thus these were "rogation" processions. In an agricultural society, closely connected with the soil and highly vulnerable to the uncertainties of nature, this was an idea that took root quickly, and the custom spread around Europe and over to Britain. The Sunday before the Rogation Days came to be considered a part of Rogationtide (or "Rogantide") and was known as Rogation Sunday. The Gospel formerly appointed for that day was from John 16, where Jesus tells his disciples to ask, and ye shall receive.

Here's another Chantblog post, including video, of A Rogation Days processional hymn: Ardua spes mundi. 

The collect for today in the "historic lectionary" seems to have at least partly inspired the one for the current lectionary; see below for much more about the latter, though.

Here's the old Collect for today, followed by today's current one:

O LORD, from whom all good things do come: Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The website of Trinity Episcopal Church (Concord, MA) has this about this new collect:

In the past weeks we have been the beneficiaries of a series of prayers that have emphasized the incredible gifts that God has given us in the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Since Easter Day, our Collects have lovingly reminded us that, “…we have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ,”, “…that we may behold him in all his redeeming work,” that we, “…may follow where he leads, and, “…to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life.”  Now, we hear the crowning affirmation that, “…we may obtain God’s promises which exceed all that we can desire!”  Truly, as we approach the celebration of Ascension Day, we have been endowed with the gifts to go forth into the world in Christ’s name.  Our Collect is clearly inspired by the words from First Corinthians 2:9:  “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who have loved him,” which in turn could be viewed as a free translation of Isaiah 64:4.  The Collect has its roots in the Gallican missal.  It was originally positioned in the Sarum Rite for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity where it stayed through our 1928 BCP.  With further revisions, the Collect was relocated to its Easter position.  Marion Hatchett points out that in the Latin, there is a distinction between the two uses of the word “love.”  In the phrases, “…those who love,” and, “…that we, loving,” love is related to the verb “diligere” whose root is “to choose.”  The other use in, “…pour into our hearts such love,” stems from the familiar Latin “amor.”  The Result Clause holds out to us the extraordinary assurance that, “…we loving you in all things and above all things may obtain your promises which exceed all that we can desire.”  Perhaps in the coming days, we can all reflect and meditate on just what this passage means to us.  Clearly our basic desires are not materialistic; rather our goal is to belong to, and to be in a closer fellowship with God so that we may follow where he leads.

Here's the entire list of chants for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, from ChristusRex.org:

Hebdomada sexta paschæ Dominica
Introitus: Cf. Is. 48, 20; Ps. 65 Vocem iucunditatis (3m57.1s - 3708 kb) score

Alleluia I.:
                    (anno A) Io. 14, 18 Surrexit Christus et illuxit (2m40.8s - 2514 kb) score
                    (anno B) Io. 16, 28 Exivi a Patre (3m35.4s - 3368 kb) score
                    (anno C) Surrexit vel Exivi

Alleluia II.:
                    (anno A) Io. 14, 18 Non vos relinquam (3m32.2s - 3316 kb) score
                    (anno B) Io. 15, 16 Ego vos elegi (3m32.7 - 3326 kb) score
                    (anno C) Io. 14, 26 Spiritus Sanctus docebit vos (1m32.7s - 1450 kb) score

Offertorium: Ps. 65, 8.9.20 Benedicite, gentes (2m31.1s - 2364 kb) score

Communio:
                    (anno A) Io. 14, 18 Non vos relinquam orphanos (1m16.8s - 1202 kb) score
                    (anno B) Io. 15, 16 Ego vos elegi (58.6s - 918 kb) score
                    (anno C) Io. 14, 26 Spiritus Sanctus docebit vos (42.1s - 660 kb) score
 

And here are posts on Chant blog for some of these; it will take me a long time to get to all of them!

• Vocem iucunditatis  (The Introit for the Sixth Sunday in Easter) 
• Surrexit Christus, et illuxit nobis ("Christ is risen, and has illumined us") and Exivi a Patre ("I came from the Father"): The First Alleluia(s) for the Sixth Easter Sunday

 Here's Duccio's Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, c. 1310:

The First Alleluia for the Fifth Easter Sunday: Dextera Dei ("The Right Hand of God")

Here's this chant, sung by the monks of St. Benedict's Monastery in São Paulo (Brazil):




The text comes from Psalm (117/)118, vv. 15-16:

The right hand of God has wrought strength; the right hand of the Lord has exalted me.

(Although the Latin text of the Psalm actually reads "Dextera Domini," and not "Dextera Dei.")


Here's the full chant score:

It seems very likely to me that the text for this Alleluia was chosen as a continuity with the theme begun in the Introit, Cantate Domino ("Sing to the Lord").  Here's that text:

Sing to the Lord a new song, alleluia; for the Lord has accomplished wondrous deeds, alleluia; he has revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles, alleluia, alleluia. His right hand and his holy arm have given him victory.

All the chant propers for this Sunday - except the Communio - are the same today as they were in the older Tridentine rite.


Here's a nice "Dextera Domini" sung by the Jeune Choeur Saint Evode ("the St. Evode Youth Choir"), apparently related in some way to (or else singing with) the Choeur de la Cathédrale de Rouen [France];  the conductor is Loïc Barrois and the organist is Monika Beuzelin.    They are attributing this piece, I think, to "Concini," although I'm not sure who that is.  This piece includes the next verse of Psalm 118, too ("I shall not die, but live - and declare the works of the Lord"):

Dextera Domini fecit virtutem,
Dextera Domini exaltavit me:
non moriar, sed vivam,
et narrabo opera Domini.

Here are all the chants for today from ChristusRex.org:

Hebdomada quinta paschæ
Dominica Introitus: Ps. 97, 1.2 Cantate Domino (cum Gloria Patri) (4m35.5s - 4308 kb) score
Alleluia: Ps. 117, 16 Dextera Dei (2m02.2s - 1912 kb) score
Alleluia: Rom. 6, 9 Christus resurgens (3m10.5s - 2978 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 65, 1.2.16 Iubilate Deo universa terra (3m31.6s - 3306 kb) score
Communio:
                (anno A)Io. 14, 9 Tanto tempore (1m24.6s - 1324 kb) score
                        Io. 15, 5 Ego sum vitis vera (1m01.1s - 956 kb)

And here are Chantblog posts on some of these propers:

• The Introit for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: Cantate Domino ("Sing to the Lord")
• The First Alleluia for the Fifth Easter Sunday: Dextera Dei ("The right hand of God")

There is an entire Wikipedia listing - a long one! - about "The Hand of God"; this comes from the introduction:

The Hand of God, or Manus Dei in Latin, also known as Dextera domini/dei, the "right hand of God", is a motif in Jewish and Christian art, especially of the Late Antique and Early Medieval periods, when depiction of Jehovah or God the Father as a full human figure was considered unacceptable. The hand, sometimes including a portion of an arm, or ending about the wrist, is used to indicate the intervention in or approval of affairs on Earth by God, and sometimes as a subject in itself. It is an artistic metaphor that is generally not intended to indicate that a hand was physically present or seen at any subject depicted. The Hand is seen appearing from above in a fairly restricted number of narrative contexts, often in a blessing gesture (in Christian examples), but sometimes performing an action. In later Christian works it tends to be replaced by a fully realized figure of God the Father, whose depiction had become acceptable in Western Christianity, although not in Eastern Orthodox or Jewish art.^[1] Though the hand of God has traditionally been understood as a symbol for God's intervention or approval of human affairs, it is also possible that the hand of God reflects the anthropomorphic conceptions of the deity which may have persisted in late antiquity.^[2]

The largest group of Jewish imagery from the ancient world, the 3rd century synagogue at Dura-Europas, has the hand of God in five different scenes, including the Sacrifice of Isaac,^[3] and no doubt this was one of the many iconographic features taken over by Christian art from what seems to have been a vigorous tradition of Jewish narrative art. Here and elsewhere it often represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or voice of God,^[4] a use also taken over into Christian art.

The hand may also relate to older traditions in various other religions in the Ancient Near East.^[5] Like the hamsa amulet, the hand is sometimes shown alone on buildings, although it does not seem to have existed as a portable amulet-type object in Christian use. It is found from the 4th century on in the Catacombs of Rome, including paintings of Moses receiving the Law and the Sacrifice of Isaac.^[6]

There are numerous references to the hand, or arm, of God in the Hebrew Bible, some clearly metaphorical in the way that remains current in modern English, but others capable of a literal interpretation.^[7] They are usually distinguished from references to a placement at the right hand of God. Later rabbinic literature also contains a number of references. There are three occasions in the gospels when the voice of God is heard, and the hand often represents this in visual art.^[8] Gertrud Schiller distinguishes three functions of the hand in Christian art: as symbol of either God's presence or the voice of God, or signifying God's acceptance of a sacrifice.^[9]

Following are some examples of "Hand of God" art.

This is "Jews cross Red Sea pursued by Pharoah."  It's a "fresco from Dura Europos synagogue, 244-256 CE" (photo by Becklectic):

This is Ezekiel's "In the Valley of Dry Bones"; it's a fresco from Doura Europos (I assume again from the synagogue there) and from sometime in the 3rd Century.  DE was a  border city of the Roman Empire founded in 312 BC by Seleucus I and destroyed 256/257 AD by the Sassanid Empire.

Here's a translation from the German of this page, describing this fresco:

Ezekiel describes in chapter 37 a vision in which God brings the dead bones of the people back to life. It is strongly reminiscent of the creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2.  Here the idea of ​​a resurrection from the dead is first formulated.

Ezekiel (Ezekiel) connects the proclamation of the approaching final judgment (Ez 7) with visions that look back on past history and this "project": not only the "abominations" (Ezekiel 8) that the destruction of the First Temple (Ez 9) and caused pull the downfall of the monarchy (Ez 19), but also the victory of Nebuchadnezzar over Egypt (Ezek. 29-32). Yet unconnected with it now also occurs the idea of an otherworldly Raise Dead shows (Ez 37).

This really lovely piece - it includes a delightful "right hand of God" motif I've never seen before, as God reaches down to help Christ ascend to heaven! - is "Women at the Grave of Christ and Ascension of Christ (so-called „Reidersche Tafel“); Ivory; Milan or Rome, c. 400 AD]]":

This is the Binding of Isaac, a capital at the Visigothic church at San Pedro de la Nave (Spain).  The church was built at some point between 680 and 711 CE. 

This is "Moses receiving the Law" from the Paris Psalter ((BnF MS Grec 139), folio 422v).  According to this page, "Together with Basil I's Homilies of St Gregory Nazianzus, the Paris Psalter is considered a key monument of the so-called Macedonian Renaissance in Byzantine art during the 10th century."