Categories: hymns, feast-days, other-churches
Date: 14 April 2006 02:31:10
To all those celebrating Christ's saving death and His glorious Resurrection this weekend, my warmest wishes and prayers that through the services you attend, and the remembrances of the events of these three blessed days of Christ's life, you may with joy, peace and hope recall and celebrate our salvation gained by Christ, and the hope we have in Him. It was a true privilege and joy for me to join in the worship with my Catholic brothers and sisters last night and this morning.
I recall many of my favourite "western" hymns at this time: Jan at Shalom has the words of one of them on her blog: My Song Is Love Unknown. Two others seem to be in my mind today: Lord Jesus, think on me and Ah, holy Jesu, how hast thou offended. I find not only the words moving, but the tunes to which they are set seem perfect for them. The slow, pondering of St Paul's to Lord Jesus, think on me; and the shorter final line of each verse in Ah, holy Jesu seems to bring the words on this final line into sharper focus, and cause me to ponder them and their relation to my faith in terms of what is being expressed. I do adore them.
The chilling "I crucified thee" in the second verse of Ah, holy Jesu is a good and necessary reminder to me of the sins I have committed, but the penultimate verse beings great comfort, with the telling of Christ's life and His death for our salvation:
For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
that, when the flood is passed,
I may the eternal brightness see,
and share thy joy at last.