Uher Hymn: ALL GLORY BE TO GOD ON HIGH

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My hymn below is sung to the tune OLD 113TH which once was well known in Wesleyan and Methodist circles as the tune for "I'll praise my Maker while I've breath".  My text is appropriate for Christmastide and all feasts of the Incarnation and the Holy Family.  

ALL GLORY BE TO GOD ON HIGH

All glory be to God on high!

Peace, laud, and joy be our reply

To angels singing in the sky.

Praise Jesus Christ, true light from light.

Tender his love and great his might,

Christ Jesus, Saviour, our delight.

 

O Word and Wisdom, thee we name,

Jesus the Infant, God the same.

Praise and all worship to thy Name.

Son of blest Mary, spotless Lamb,

High Priest most holy, Great I AM,

Receive our lives into thy hand.

Praise God for Joseph, sainted man,

Brave Guardian of God’s saving plan,

Protector of the God-made-man.

Praise God for Mary Mother true,

Faithful to Jesus her life through,

Mother of God, our Mother too.

 

Lord Jesus Christ, most holy Lord,

With thy blest Spirit be adored

In God’s own glory here outpoured.

Joy now to hear thine infant cries!

Hope of the simple and the wise!

Love from all souls to thee arise!

© 2008 by Vincent William Uher III

WORDS: Vincent Wm Uher III

TUNE:  OLD 113th 

I'll Praise My Maker While I've Breath

[O Mensch, bewein] Strassburger Kirchenamt, 1525

88.88.88

Uher Hymn: Sing of Mary, Blest is She

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+ Enid Chadwick +

1.  Sing of Mary, blest is she!

Mother of the Saviour!
"Yes!" said she to Gabriel's plea,
"Yes!" to God forever.
"Yes!" for every woman born.
"Yes!" for every nation.
"Yes!" for all of the unborn.
"Yes!" for all creation.

2.  Sing of Joseph, vexed was he,

Troubled and perplex-ed

Till an angel in a dream

Peace to him directed.

"Take the Virgin as your wife.

Love her baby wholly.

Love the infant as your life.

He's God's Son most holy."

3.  Sing of Jesus, blest is he

In the Lord's Name coming,

Born in great humility

Every person loving,

Prince of Peace and Counsellor--

Wonderful the telling!--

Came to earth to save us all

And to share his blessing.

4.  Mary, Joseph join us now

And all saints in glory

As we tell his love for all

In the sacred story.

Angels, shepherds, and the kings

To Christ's side are running.

Let all people ready now

For his second coming.

5.  Glory be to God on high!

Glory in the highest!

Peace on earth, goodwill to all

From the Lord Most Highest.

Blessings come for everyone,

Graces to God's credit

From the Father with the Son

Through the Holy Spirit. 

Words: Copyright © 1996-2006 by Vincent Uher. 

Music: Tempus adest floridum (Piae Cantiones)

Meter: 76 76 D

Click above for larger version of hymn

Uher Hymn: Lo, How She Bring Life With Her

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John William Waterhouse

The following are three verses from a much longer hymn of mine upon the theme of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St Elisabeth especially appropriate at this time of year:

Lo, how she brings Life with her
Concealed beneath her heart,
Eve's daughter, brave and chosen,
God's partner to his art.
Her will knit with divine will
Desires his Word be done.
For God she weaves within her
The body of their Son.

All ages call her blessèd
Just as she once foretold.
Blest is she amongst women,
Her Child blest from of old.
Blest is she who believes God
Who carries God's true Word.
Her Son both God and human
Fulfils great Gabriel's word.

Our Saviour, God of mercy,
Remembers Abraham's fold.
Praise God who casts down tyrants.
Rejoice! Our God is bold.
So sing we with blest Mary
To magnify the Lord
Who raised up his handmaiden.
Oh, holy is the Lord!

Copyright © 2006 by Vincent William Uher III

This may be sung to the Bohemian Brethren tune Far Off Lands which can be found in The Hymnal 1940

It may also be sung to the lovely tune Wie lieblich ist der Maien

+ Ave Maria!

A Marian Prayer of St Gregory of Narek, Doctor of the Church (AD 1010)

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Grigor Narekats‘i (Gregory of Narek). 

Գիրք աղօթից (Book of Prayers). 

Constantinople: Tparan Astuatsatrean, 1763. 

Near East Section, African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress 

A Prayer to Mary

by Saint Gregory of Narek

Assist me by the wings of your prayers,

O you who are called the Mother of the living,

so that on my exit from this valley of tears

I may be able to advance without torment

to the dwelling of life

that has been prepared for us

to lighten the end of a life burdened by my iniquity.

Healer of the sorrows of Eve,

change my day of anguish into a feast of gladness.

Be my Advocate,

ask and supplicate.

For as I believe in your inexpressible purity,

so do I also believe in

the good reception that is given to your word.

O you who are blessed among women,

help me with your tears

for I am in danger.

Bend the knee to obtain my reconciliation,

O Mother of God.

Be solicitous for me for I am miserable,

O Tabernacle of the Most High.

Hold out your hand to me as I fall,

O heavenly Temple.

Glorify your Son in me:

may he be pleased to operate Divinely in me

the miracle of forgiveness and mercy.

Handmaid and Mother of God,

may your honour be exalted by me,

and may my salvation be manifested through you.

Amen.

Saint Gregory of Narek

Doctor of the Church

Anno Domini 1010

A Prayer of the Venerable Archbishop Sheen

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Here is an excellent eucharistic prayer by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen commended by Fr. Sebastian White, OP to the readers of Magnificat magazine:

Here is my body. Take it. Here is my blood. Take it. 

Here is my soul, my will, my energy, my strength, my property, my wealth—all that I have. It is yours. Take it! Consecrate it! Offer it with yourself to the heavenly Father.... Consecrate these trials of my life which would go unrewarded unless united with you; transubstantiate me so that like bread which is now your Body, and wine which is now your Blood, I too may be wholly yours.... My station in life, my routine duties, my work, my family—all these are but the species of my life which may remain unchanged; but the substance of my life, my soul, my mind, my will, my heart—transubstantiate them, transform them wholly into your service, so that through me all may know how sweet is the love of Christ. 

Amen.

Dies irae • All Souls Day

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Dies irae, dies illa

Day of wrath and doom impending,

David’s word with Sibyl’s blending!

Heaven and earth in ashes ending!

O what fear man’s bosom rendeth

When from heaven the Judge descendeth,

On whose sentence all dependeth!

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth,

Through earth’s sepulchers it ringeth,

All before the throne it bringeth.

Death is struck, and nature quaking,

All creation is awaking,

To its judge an answer making.

Lo! the book exactly worded,

Wherein all hath been recorded;

Thence shall judgment be awarded.

When the Judge His seat attaineth,

And each hidden deed arraigneth,

Nothing unavenged remaineth.

What shall I, frail man, be pleading?

Who for me be interceding,

When the just are mercy needing?

King of majesty tremendous,

Who dost free salvation send us,

Fount of pity, then befriend us!

Think, kind Jesu, my salvation

Caused Thy wondrous Incarnation;

Leave me not to reprobation.

Faint and weary Thou hast sought me,

On the Cross of suffering bought me;

Shall such grace be vainly brought me?

Righteous Judge! for sin’s pollution

Grant Thy gift of absolution,

Ere that day of retribution.

Guilty, now I pour my moaning,

All my shame with anguish owning;

Spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning!

Through the sinful woman shriven,

Through the dying thief forgiven,

Thou to me a hope hast given.

Worthless are my prayers and sighing,

Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,

Rescue me from fires undying.

With Thy favored sheep O place me,

Nor among the goats abase me,

But to Thy right hand upraise me.

While the wicked are confounded,

Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,

Call me with Thy Saints surrounded.

Low I kneel, with heart submission,

Crushed to ashes in contrition;

Help me in my last condition!

Ah! that day of tears and morning!

From the dust of earth returning,

Man for judgment must prepare him;

Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!

Lord all-pitying, Jesu Blest,

Grant them Thine eternal rest. Amen.

Words:   Thomas of Celano, 13th c.,

tr. William Josiah Irons, 1848.

John Eliot Gardiner conducts  The English Baroque Soloists and The Monteverdi Choir.  This performance was filmed at the  Palau de la Musica Catalana,  Barcelona in December of 1991.

About Blessed Miguel Pro, Priest and Martyr

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The Feast of Blessed Miguel Pro is on the 23rd of November.  ¡Viva Cristo Rey!

Too often this feast gets overlooked in the USA because of the secular national observance of Thanksgiving Day.   It is a blessing that this year the feast day of Blessed Miguel Pro falls on the Saturday before Thanksgiving Day.  

Christ the King, 

through the intercession of Blessed Miguel Pro, 

I beg you to answer my prayers. 

Give me the grace and the strength necessary 

to follow his heroic example, 

and to live my Catholic faith.  Amen.

On the Church's liturgical calendar the 21st of November is the Commemoration of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The 22nd of November is the Feast of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr. And then on Saturday we have the feast day  of Blessed Miguel Pro, Priest and Martyr.

“We ought to speak,

to shout out against injustices

With confidence and without fear.

We proclaim the principles of the Church, 

the reign of love,

without forgetting that it is also 

a reign of justice.”

Blessed Miguel Pro

A Prayer of Blessed Miguel Pro

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¡Viva Cristo Rey!

A Prayer of Blessed Miguel Pro

I believe, O Lord, 

but strengthen my faith…

Heart of Jesus, 

I love Thee;

but increase my love.

Heart of Jesus, 

I trust in Thee;

but give greater vigour to my confidence.


Heart of Jesus, 

I give my heart to Thee;

but so enclose it in Thee

that it may never be separated from Thee.

Heart of Jesus, 

I am all Thine;

but take care of my promise

so that I may be able to put it in practice

even unto the complete sacrifice of my life.

Amen.

Blessed Miguel Pro, pray for us.

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos

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Todays the feast of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos of New Orleans.  Please visit the website for the Seelos Shrine in New Orleans: http://seelos.org

The Joyful Ascetic

O God,
who made your Priest Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos 
outstanding in love, 
that he might proclaim the mysteries of redemption 
and comfort those in affliction, 
grant, by his intercession,
that we may work zealously for your glory
and for the salvation of mankind.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

A quotation from Mother Angelica

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"You see, God expects His people 

to do the ridiculous 

so He can do the miraculous." 

Mother Angelica

Eric Milner-White: Prayer of Confession

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O God our Father,

help us to nail to the cross of thy dear Son

the whole body of our death,

the wrong desires of the heart,

the sinful devisings of the mind,

the corrupt apprehensions of the eyes,

the cruel words of the tongue,

the ill employment of hands and feet;

that the old man being crucified and done away,

the new man may live and grow into the glorious likeness

of the same thy son Jesus Christ,

who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost,

one God, world without end.

Amen.

The Very Revd Eric Milner-White, OGS

An Anglican Office of Our Lady

Sometimes it is said by Roman Catholics that Anglicans have no Marian devotion. Although that may be true to say of some Anglicans, it is too broad a brush for the painting of the real picture.  

A great many Anglicans love the Blessed Virgin Mary, but the devotional life of Anglicans and Roman Catholics has developed very differently since the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.

As the Scottish Presbyterian theologian Elizabeth Templeton noted, Anglicanism is something of an ecclesiastical duck-billed platypus.  It contains many elements and approaches that seem to belong to different groups and religious beliefs.  

Among Anglicans in the period before the 1970's one could find many Anglicans who held a Marian devotion not unlike that of Roman Catholics.  Others held a devotion that in some ways was more like that of the Eastern Orthodox, and others held a very limited view of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  

There was no official Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Anglican national churches, but that did not mean that there were not Offices of Our Lady prayed at seminaries, certain university colleges, and in Anglican monastic communities.  

One such is example is "The Office of Our Lady" from Cambridge Offices and Orisons, 1921 arranged by Eric Milner-White and BTD Smith:

THE OFFICE OF OUR LADY

V.  O God, make speed to save us ;

R.  O Lord, make haste to help us.

V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ;

R.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Alelluia.

HYMN.

O GLORIOUS Maid, exalted far

Beyond the light of burning star,

From him who made thee thou hast won

Grace to be Mother of his Son.

That which was lost in hapless Eve

Thy holy Scion did retrieve :

The tear-worn sons of Adam's race

Through thee have seen the heavenly place.

Thou wast the gate of heaven's high Lord,

The door through which the Light hath poured.

Christians rejoice, for through a Maid

To all mankind is life conveyed !

Amen. 

[English Hymnal 215.]

Antiphon. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee : and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.

MAGNIFICAT.

  + MY soul doth magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

  For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden.

  For behold, from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessèd.

  For he that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is his Name.

  And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations.

  He hath shewed strength with his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

  He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek.

  He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich he hath sent empty away.

  He remembering his mercy hath hoplen his servant Israle : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever.

  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost : As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee : and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.

CHAPTER. (REV. xii. 1.)

THERE appeard a great wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

R.  Thanks be to God.

V.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love ;

R.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love.

V.  He set the royal crown upon her head ;

R.  And his banner over me was love.

V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ;

R.  He brought me into the banqueting house : and his banner over me was love.

V.  Behold the handmaid of the Lord ;

R.  Be it unto me according to thy Word.

V.  The Lord be with you.

R.  And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost didst prepare the body and soul of the glorious Virgin-Mother Mary to be a dwelling-place for thy Son ; Grant that we who rejoice in her commemoration may at her tender intercession be kept unspottèd, and made a pure temple for his dwelling ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

V.  The Lord be with you ;

R.  And with thy spirit.

V.  Let us bless the Lord ;

R.  Thanks be to God.