Sunday, January 10, First Sunday After Epiphany
Sunday, January 10 is the first Sunday after Epiphany. Find the readings here.
Our Bishops released a call to prayer in response to the invasion of the Capitol on January 6. The Presiding Bishop has also issued a statement. Fr. Bret shares his thoughts in today's sermon. And Bishop Gates yesterday released this statement.
Dear Friends in Christ,
This week’s worship videos are now available:
Morning Prayer, Rite II
Morning Prayer, Rite I
It's good to be back from a mostly relaxing vacation — well, whenever I wasn't watching the news. But seeing each other at our noon coffee hour should make us all feel better:
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Here are Mark's music notes:
I’m so happy to see several new singers joining our “singing together apart” choir. The opening hymn is a Baptism hymn, also with roots in the Gospel story we hear today, that of Jesus being baptized in the Jordan by John. It was written in 1973 to meet the new demands of the liturgical renewal of the time which emphasized baptism of children and adults happening within the context of public worship, where previously it was nearly always a private family affair. The music is an early metrical Psalm tune from 1635, and was largely forgotten until the early 20th century when a pleasing harmony was created and it appeared in several of the most popular hymnals.
Organ music is based on the final hymn 496 “How Bright Appears the Morning Star.” We hear short settings by two Boston composers, both personal friends of mine. James Woodman is the organist at the Monastery of the Society of St. John, the Evangelist (SSJE) on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. (Incidentally they are broadcasting several services each week through their FaceBook page.) James is from Falmouth Foreside, near Portland Maine. He studied at Exeter, Princeton, and New England Conservatory. Leonardo Ciampa hails from Revere and studied organ under Yuko Hayashi. In addition to playing and composing he’s a published author on the Italian Bel Canto singing tradition from the early twentieth century. The compositions all contain some of the dancelike qualities associated with this Renaissance tune. The tune was remade in the Eighteenth Century as exhibited at Hymn 497, in a more “straightened out” version, harmonized by J. S. Bach, and used in 6 cantatas.