FOUR PRAYERS FOR CHURCH CHOIRS

Going over some old papers, I found these prayers which I composed about fifty years ago. To my knowledge they have never been used, so I'm pleased to make them available now to any choir that might be interested. At the time I was working on the prose rhythms of the Book of Common Prayer, so these prayers are composed rather in the manner of the BCP's Collects, which are themselves based on much older Latin prayers from the medieval Sacramentaries. 

I.

Bless, Lord, we beseech thee, our voices to thy faithful service; that singing thy praise in the concord of harmony they may join our hearts in the consonance of love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

II.

Almighty and most merciful Father, who hast made us to know the song of thy holy Angels; grant us so to praise thee in this life, that in the next we may sing in the choir of their company; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

III.

Bless, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, the music of thy faithful children; that they that sing to thy praise may be instruments of thy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

IV.

Almighty and everlasting God, who gavest us skill to sing of thy glory; give us grace, we beseech thee, to know whereof we sing, and faithfully to embrace the same; that saved at the last by thy redeeming love, we may raise our songs in the day of thy Kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Image: Magdalen College Choir, Oxford

AND AFTER THIS OUR EXILE

-> (sung version here) <-

Salve Regina, Mater misericordiæ,

vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevæ,

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes

in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos

misericordes oculos ad nos converte;

Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,

nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail, O Queen, Mother of mercy,

our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To thee we cry, Eve’s exiled children;

to thee we sigh, mourning and weeping 

in this valley of tears.

Turn, then, thou who plead'st for us, 

thine eyes of mercy upon us;

and after this our exile show us 

Jesus, the blessed fruit of thy womb.

O grave and merciful, 

Gentle Virgin Mary.

I have come to love this old (twelfth century) Marian hymn, sung in the clip above by the Benedictines of Santo Domingo de Silos. It was often sung at evening Hours, and at funerals, especially those of priests. And, of course, T. S. Eliot refers to it in 'Ash Wednesday' part III with the last line 'and after this our exile'  . My translation is perhaps a little free: I wanted to avoid too much syrupy sentimentality. Some purists might object to 'grave' for 'pia'; but 'pious' has been degraded almost beyond recovery, and in the memory of 'pius AEneas' there is a kind of gravity respectful of the Divine. Likewise, 'gentle' seemed reasonable for 'dulcis': rather than the Sulpician 'sweet' it was Horace's 'dulce loquentem, dulce ridentem' that came to mind. 

The image is a detail of Michelangelo's last Pietà, the Rondanini Pietà in Milan's Castello Sforzesco, which I have always found profoundly moving.

THE STRANGER

What was it like, there in that crowded room,

windows and doors barred, and all ears alert

for tramp of feet in unison, sword-clack,

shuffling mobs with stones in ready pouches?

A nervous song, a blessing over bread,

the bitter herbs of skull-place and of Egypt,

and then, a stranger: how did he get in?

a gut-clutch: fear, suspicion, and mistrust

Until he took the cup and said Baruch

Atah Adonai Elohenu, Melech Haolam,

borei p’ri hagafen — the windrush of the voice?

How strange they had not known him until then:

was it the breath of heaven changed his features

or that from now on each unknown is he?

RK



A note on the artwork: the above is a Roman meal listed as "Priscilla's banquet" (thanks to James Tabor's blog); I chose it because any version of Jesus among the disciples in the upper room has given rise to a quantity of  art so appalling that it fully justifies Jewish and Muslim strictures on representation (if not for the same reasons).