Sunday 1st August, 2010
The Ninth Sunday After Trinity
Mattins
The First Reading
Then shall be read distinctly with an audible voice1 the First Lesson, taken out of the Old Testament, as is appointed in the Calendar, except there be proper Lessons assigned for that day : He that readeth so standing and turning himself, as he may best be heard of all such as are present.
Note, That before every Lesson the Minister shall say, Here beginneth such a Chapter, or Verse of such a Chapter, of such a Book : And after every Lesson, Here endeth the First, or the Second Lesson.
Find 1 Kings 10:1-25 in the KJV, or read below.
1 Kings 10:1-25
(10v2) And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
(10v3) And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not
(10v4) And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, (10v5) And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.
(10v6) And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
(10v7) Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen
(10v8) Happy
(10v9) Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.
(10v10) And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
(10v11) And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.
(10v12) And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.
(10v13) And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside
(10v14) Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold.
(10v15) Beside
(10v16) And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred
(10v17) And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
(10v18) Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.
(10v19) The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne
(10v20) And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.
(10v21) And all king Solomon's drinking vessels
(10v22) For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
(10v23) So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
(10v24) And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
(10v25) And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
Te Deum Laudamus
And after that, shall be said or sung,2 in English, the Hymn called Te Deum Laudamus, daily throughout the Year.
Te Deum Laudamus.
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Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), New College Choir (Oxford) | ||||
At YouTube |
Te Deum Laudamus (Second Service)
WE PRAISE
ˡ thee, O ˡ God :
we acknowledge ˡ thee to ˡ be the ˡ Lord.
2 All the earth doth ˡ worship ˡ thee :
the ˡ Father ˡ everˡlasting.
3 To thee all Angels3 ˡ cry aˡ loud :
the Heavens, and ˡ all the ˡ Powers thereˡin.
4 To thee ˡ Cherubin and ˡ Seraphin :
conˡ tinualˡ ly do ˡ cry,
5 Holy, ˡ Holy, ˡ Holy :
Lord ˡ God of ˡ Sabaˡoth;
6 Heaven and ˡ earth are ˡ full :
of the ˡ Majesty ˡ of thy ˡ glory.
Is 6:3
7 The glorious company of the Apostles
ˡ praise ˡ thee :
the goodly fellowship of the ˡ Prophets
ˡ praise ˡ thee.
8 The noble4 ˡ army of ˡ Martyrs :
praise ˡ—ˡ—ˡ thee.
Rev 7:9-17
9 The holy Church throughout all the world doth
acˡknowledge ˡ thee :
the Father ˡ of an ˡ infinite
ˡ Majesty;
10 Thine honourable, true and only Son :
Also the ˡ Holy ˡ Ghost,
the ˡ Comforter.
Jn 15:26-27
11 Thou art the King of ˡ Glory, O ˡ Christ
Ps 24:7 :
thou art the everˡlasting ˡ Son of the
ˡ Father.
12 When thou tookest upon thee to deˡliver
ˡ man : thou didst not abˡhor the
ˡ Virgin's ˡ womb.
(2nd pt) 13 When thou hadst overcome the ˡ sharpness
of ˡ death 1 Cor 15:54-56
: thou didst open the Kingdom of ˡ Heaven to ˡ all beˡlievers.
14 Thou sittest at the right ˡ hand of
ˡ God Acts 2:32-36
Mk 16:18:
in the ˡ glory ˡ of the ˡ Father.
*15 We beˡlieve that
ˡ thou ˡ shalt ˡ come :
to ˡ be our ˡ Judge.
Rom 2:14-16
16 We therefore pray thee, ˡ help thy
ˡ servants :
whom thou hast redeemed ˡ with thy ˡ precious ˡ blood.
Rom 3:24-25
17 Make them to be numbered5 ˡ with thy ˡ Saints
: in ˡ glory ˡ everˡlasting.
18 O Lord, save thy people, and ˡ bless
thine ˡ heritage
Ps 28:9 :
govern them and ˡ
lift them ˡ up for ˡ ever.
19 Day by day we ˡ magnify ˡ thee :
and we worship thy Name ˡ ever ˡ world
without ˡ end. Ps 145:2
20 Vouchˡsafe, O ˡ Lord :
to keep us this ˡ day
withˡout ˡ sin.
21 O Lord, have ˡ mercy upˡon us :
have ˡ merˡcy
upˡon us.
22 O Lord, let thy mercy ˡ lighten upˡon us :
as our ˡ trust is ˡ in ˡ thee.
Ps 16:1
23 O Lord, in thee ˡ have I ˡ trusted : let me
ˡ never ˡ be conˡfounded.
Psalm 71:1
Ed.— It is not usual to sing the Gloria after the Te Deum.
Back to top of pageBenedicite
Or this Canticle, Benedicite, omnia opera.6
O ALL ye
Works of the Lord, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord : praise him, and
ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Angels of the Lord, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord : praise him, and
ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Heavens, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord : praise
him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Waters that be above the firmament,
ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O all ye Powers of the Lord, bless ye
the Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Sun and Moon, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord :
praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Stars of heaven, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord
: praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Showers and Dew, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord
: praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Winds of God, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord :
praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Fire and Heat, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord :
praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Winter and Summer, bless ye the
Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Dews and Frosts, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord
: praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Frost and Cold, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord :
praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Ice and Snow, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord :
praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Nights and Days, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord
: praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Light and Darkness, bless ye the
Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Lightnings and Clouds, bless ye the
Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O let the Earth bless the Lord : yea,
let it praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Mountains and Hills, bless ye the
Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O all ye Green Things upon the earth,
ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Wells, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord : praise
him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Seas and Floods, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord
: praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Whales, and all that move in the
waters, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O all ye Fowls of the air, bless ye the
Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O all ye Beasts and Cattle, bless ye the
Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Children of Men, ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord
: praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O let Israel bless the Lord : praise
him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Priests of the Lord, bless ye the
Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Servants of the Lord, bless ye the
Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous,
ˡ bless ye the
ˡ Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
Wisd 3:1-9
Art. XXII
O ye holy and humble Men of heart, bless
ye the Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye
the Lord : praise him, and ˡ magniˡfy him for ˡ ever.
Glory be to the Father, and ˡ to the ˡ Son :
and ˡ to the ˡ Holy ˡ Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ˡ ever ˡ shall be :
world without ˡ end. ˡ Aˡmen.
Footnotes
1 "Read distinctly with an audible voice". Traditionally, i.e. going back to the time of Thomas Cranmer, this meant ""sing in a simple, speech-like rhythm", as opposed to a florid fashion with lots of extra notes. In the Prayer Book of 1552, the Rubric was:
AND to the end the people may the better hear in such places where they do sing, there shall the lessons be sung in a plain tune, after the manner of distinct reading, and likewise the epistle and gospel.
This singing in a plain tune is more properly called "saying". The direction that it should be "read" in the 1662 Book means that the exact style of singing is no longer stipulated, and could include ordinary speech. This was done, with some reluctance, at the insistence of the Puritan party at the Savoy Conference in 1661, reminding us once again how far they had departed from Cranmer's intentions.
IT has been hastily imagined by some in modern days that our great liturgical revisionists of the sixteenth century designed to abolish the immemorial custom of the Church of God, alike in Jewish and Christian times, of saying the Divine Service in some form of solemn musical recitative, and to introduce the unheard-of custom of adopting the ordinary colloquial tone of voice. ....
The Rubrical directions, "read" "say" "sing," expressed in the old technical language, are substantially what they were before. The first of these words, "legere," was the most general and comprehensive; merely expressing recitation from a book, without defining the "modus legendi," or stating whether the recitation was to be plain or inflected.
The usual modes of recitation are expressed in the words "say" and "sing;" the former ("dicere") pointing to the simpler, the latter ("cantare") to the more ornate mode. Thus the old "legere" might signify (and often did) ornate singing; and it might signify (and often did) plain monotone; and it is observable that the words "say" and "sing" are often employed interchangeably in the old rubrics, when their specific distinctions do not come into prominence.
Although the 1662 Rubric leaves choice of singing style more open, John Cosin, writing in 1619, had given very compelling reasons for maintaining the practice of chanting plainly rather than floridly.
AND this is the reason that in places where they sing, all our prayers are sung in a plain and audible tone. Reading hath not the force to affect and stir up the spirit, which a grave manner of singing has; and singing, if it be not tempered with that gravity which becomes the servants of God in the presence of His holy angels, is fuller of danger than of edification; therefore hath our Church most prudently appointed the lessons and prayers so to be sung as may make most for the dignity and glory of God's high and holy service, and be also a means to inflame men s affections, to stir up their attentions, and to edify their understandings; which is answerable to St. Augustine's desire, lib. x. Confess., cap. 33, when he wished for the FIRST restitution of that custom which Athanasius was wont to use, lectorem [tam] modico vocis flexu jubebat sonare, ut pronuncianti vicinior foret quam canenti [who obliged the reader of the psalm to give utterance to it with so slight an inflection of voice, that it was more like speaking than singing.].
This plain chanting is not a bare monotone. There are conventions for slight modulations mid sentence, and at the end of a sentence. These create an intensely spiritual atmosphere that dramatically heightens our attention to the Scripture, and ensures that we hear it as God's holy word and not just a nice story.
2 "Said or sung". "Said" is a technical term implying chanted simply. "Sung" implies a more complex chant or music, for professional choirs. The music should never become cluttered, bombastic or secularised.
IN mine opinion, the song that shall be made thereunto should not be full of notes, but as near as may be for every syllable a note; so that it may be sung distinctly and devoutly, as be the Matins and Evensong, Venitie, the Hymns, Te Deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, and all the Psalms and Versicles; and in the Mass, Gloria in Excelsis, Gloria Patri, the Creed, the Preface, the Pater Noster, and some of the Sanctus and Agnus.
There is a long-standing tradition that the verses of the Te Deum be sung antiphonally like a Psalm, e.g. first one side of the choir, then the other. This chimes in with a wonderful tradition that the Te Deum was spontaneously composed by St Ambrose and St Augustine when Ambrose baptized Augustine (Easter Eve, 387).
AT the baptism of the celebrated convert Austin, which Office was performed by Ambrose in the presence of all the faithful in the city, after the ceremony, and before their ascent out of the water, Ambrose uttered the first versicle of Te Deum, saying, We praise thee, O God. Austin immediately replied, We acknowledge thee to be the Lord. Ambrose proceeded, All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting. Austin rejoined, To thee all angels cry aloud, &c. &c. And in this manner, whilst they remained standing in the waters of baptism, Ambrose and Austin miraculously composed, and alternately sung, the whole Hymn, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Bishop Cosin even wanted to entitle it "The Hymn Of St Ambrose" in the Prayer Book. Most scholars reject this story now; Shepherd himself found the Te Deum to be not in Ambrose's style. In fact, it seems to be a compilation from various early hymns.
SO early as A.D. 252 we find the following words in St. Cyprian's Treatise "On the Mortality" that was then afflicting Carthage: "Ah, perfect and perpetual bliss! There is the glorious company of the Apostles; there is the fellowship of the prophets exulting; there is the innumerable multitude of martyrs, crowned after their victory of strife and passion;" and tho striking parallel between them and the seventh, eighth, and ninth verses of the Te Deum seems certainly more than accidental. There are several coincidences also between words in the Baptismal and other offices of the Eastern Church and particular verses of the Te Deum, and the former are supposed to be of extremely ancient date.
That Ambrose and Augustine might have improvised a hymn using bits of existing hymns (without composing any) seems altogether plausible to me.
3 "All angels". Anglican liturgical theology takes mention of angels and the open heavens very seriously. These are not poetic metaphors. See Angels in my sermons section.
THIS Hymn not only opens to us a view of Heaven, but with the Evangelical Prophet (Isa. vi. 3.) and beloved Disciple (Rev. iv. 8.) it carries us thither, to behold the various orders of Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, and all the heavenly powers. In honour of the glorious Trinity, they continually sing "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, the whole earth is full of thy glory:" In which divine Hymn they acknowledge God to be Jehovah-Sabaoth, or the original author and absolute governor of all powers both in heaven and earth. The Hymn proceeds to invite us to join with the angelic Host, with Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, in praises to God now, as we expect to be united with them in glory hereafter.
4 "Noble army of martyrs". "Noble" is a rather odd translation of candidatus, "robed in white". "Shining" or "white-robed" would catch the sense better, and still fit with existing musical settings.
TE Martyrum candidatus, laudat exercitus, is very insufficiently rendered hy "The noble army of Martyrs praise Thee." In pre-Reformation versions it stood,— "Thee preiseth the white oost [host] of martiris;" and considering the distinct connexion between this verse and Rev. vii. 9. 14, it is strange that the Scriptural idea of "white robes" which have been "made white in the blood of the Lamb," should have been superseded by the word "noble." It is possible that the idea of something lustrous and pure was more expressed by "noble" in the early part of the sixteenth century, than is conveyed by it to modern ears; but the change of the word from the old English "white," and Anglo-Saxon "shining," has gone far to obliterate, the true sense of the original in our present version.
5 "Numbered". Translating Latin numerari, where older Latin manuscripts have munerari, "rewarded".
All Latin MSS. previously to 1492, read Eterna fac cum Sanctis Tuis gloria munerari: and the equivalent of munerari is found in every known version of the Te Deum up to that time; our own in the fourteenth century being, "Make hem to be rewarded with thi seyntes, in endles blisse." ... Since our Lord said "Great is your reward in Heaven," and "Himself shall reward you openly," the old English rendering of munerari is quite Scriptural.
6 "Benedicite". The 1549 Prayer Book appointed the Te Deum for every day, except during Lent, when Benedicite was to be used. The 1662 offers a free choice of hymn.
THIS Canticle was ruled by the following rubric prefixed to the Te Deum:— "After the first lesson shall follow throughout the year (except in Lent, all the which time, in the place of Te Deum, shall be used Benedicite Omnia Opera Domini Domino) in English, as followeth."
This rubric was altered to its present form in 1552, the object of the alteration being probably to allow greater freedom in the substitution of Benedicite for Te Deum. It was an ancient rule to use the former when any portion of the Prophet Daniel was read. In more recent times it has been customary to sing it on Septuagesima Sunday, when Genesis i. is the first lesson; on the Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, when Daniel iii. is read; and on week-days during Lent and Advent.
AND for the canticle Benedicite, "O All Ye Works Of The Lord", it may be used not only in the aforesaid times of humiliation [i.e. Lent, Advent], but when either the lessons are out of Daniel, or set before us the wonderful handywork of God, in any of the creatures, or the use He makes of them either ordinary or miraculous for the good of the Church. Then it will be very seasonable to return this song, "O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord, praise Him, and magnify Him for ever;" that is, ye are a great occasion of blessing the Lord who therefore be blessed, praised, and magnified for ever.
WHERE the first Lesson treats of the creation, or any extraordinary exercise of God's power or providence, Benedicite might with propriety and advantage be adopted in the place of Te Deum.
In his Tract XC, John Henry Newman used the Benedicite to argue the case for praying to angels and saints, on the basis of the lines "O ye Angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord" and "O ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous, bless ye the Lord". Others before him had objected to this hymn on that very ground, all of which John Shepherd batted away.
THE objection made to this Hymn, that we address Angels and holy men, and even the inanimate parts of the creation, are frivolous and groundless. Every person, in the smallest degree conversant with the inspired writings, knows that in them, and particularly in the Psalms, such apostrophes frequently occur.
And this very Hymn is little more than a paraphrase, or amplification of the 148th Psalm, with which it corresponds in substance, and nearly in terms. In both compositions all creatures, in the invisible and visible world, are called upon to unite in one general chorus of praise to their Almighty Creator.