ADVENT 2016 – Handy Links

Note: this entry is “sticky” and will remain at the top of the blog throughout Advent. Look for new entries below.

Advent has started!!! We wish all our readers a Blessed Advent!

I (Karen) hope to do at least a little bit of Advent blogging this year.  I may also be posting some Advent tweets, so keep an eye on our Lent & Beyond Twitter Account (@AnglicanPrayer)

Here are some links to help you find your way around the wealth of Advent resources at Lent & Beyond:

Any new Advent posts for 2016 can be found with our Advent 2016 tag.

For all Advent entries past & present, use our Advent category.

Our Advent Subcategories include: Advent Devotionals, Advent Prayers, Advent Poems, Advent Music, Advent Quotes, Advent Resources, Advent: Family & Children.

Here’s the “Best of Advent at Lent & Beyond” entry – compiled in 2014, with links to many of our Advent favorites from the past 10 years. Here’s our Advent Favorites category.

Here’s last year’s (2015)  list of links to excellent sites for Advent devotionals & prayers for Advent 2015. (I will do my best to update this soon, but I expect many or most of the links will still work.)

Here’s the link for all our posts containing Advent worship music.

Here’s the  Index of all our Advent entries for 2014, (the last year I was able to do substantial Advent blogging).  Blogging in Advent 2015 was very light, but I’ll try to create an index of those posts soon

May the Lord prepare all of our hearts for celebrating the miracle of His birth and may He draw us near to Him in worship this Advent.

ADVENT 2015 at Lent & Beyond

Note: this entry is “sticky” and will remain at the top of the blog throughout Advent. Look for new entries below.

Advent has started!!! We wish all our readers a Blessed Advent!

I (Karen) hope to do some Advent blogging this year, though it won’t be daily. Even if I don’t do much blogging, I may be posting some Advent tweets, so keep an eye on our Lent & Beyond Twitter Accout (@AnglicanPrayer)

Here are some links to help you find your way around the wealth of Advent resources at Lent & Beyond:

All new Advent posts for 2015 can be found with our Advent 2015 tag.

For all Advent entries past & present, here’s our Advent category.

Our Advent Subcategories include: Advent Devotionals, Advent Prayers, Advent Poems,  Advent Music, Advent Quotes, Advent Resources, Advent: Family & Children. 

Here’s the “Best of Advent at Lent & Beyond” entry – compiled last year, with links to many of our Advent favorites from our 10 years of blogging. Here’s our Advent Favorites category.

Here’s the  BRAND NEW UPDATED list of links to excellent sites for Advent devotionals & prayers for Advent 2015.

Here’s the link for all our posts containing Advent worship music.

Here’s the link for all of last year’s entries:  Index of all our Advent entries for 2014

May the Lord prepare all of our hearts for celebrating the miracle of His birth and may He draw us near to Him in worship this Advent.

Ramadan Resources – help in praying for and reaching out to Muslims

This post will remain at the top of the blog during Ramadan.  Look for new entries below.

Ramadan has started today for most Muslims around the world.  It is a month when even many non-devout Muslims devote themselves to greater prayer and study in hopes of earning God’s favor and drawing closer to him.

I invite all our readers to also pray earnestly in this month – to pray for spiritual awakening among Muslims.  That the eyes of their hearts would be opened to the truth of Jesus Christ and that their hearts would be softened to repent and choose to follow Him.  May the scales fall from their eyes, and may the lies of Islam that bind them be broken. 

Pray too for Christians reaching out to Muslims during this month, for obedience, discernment, fruitfulness, and protection, as for Christians living in Muslim lands it can be an intense and very draining month.

Below are MANY great resources to help you pray for Muslims during this month.  I’ll update this from time to time as I find additional materials.

We’ll hope to post quite a lot of prayers for Muslims throughout Ramadan.  You’ll find all those entries with the Ramadan 2015 tag

A Compilation of 70 Favorite Easter and Eastertide Hymns

image credit: iTunes

NOTE: This post contains a listing of 70 great Easter hymns, and links to where you can purchase them, as well as links to other good hymn resources, but no audio.  I’ll be posting quite a few of thesehymns here at Lent & Beyond in coming days and weeks…. stay tuned.

***

I notice quite a lot of folks coming to L&B looking for Easter Hymns.  I’m a lover of great Easter hymns, but sadly you might not really know it by browsing Lent & Beyond.  In recent years I’ve posted much more CCM and Contemporary worship music than hymns, primarily because my digital collection of hymns and classical music has until now been quite small.

One of the greatest blessings of the internet, iTunes, YouTube, etc., has been the ability to learn and appreciate a much wider diversity of Eastertide hymns.  In my Episcopal parish growing up, we seemed to sing the same 5 or 6 Easter hymns over and over and over again.  And while that repetition made me grow to love them deeply – they became part of me in a sense – I never realized how much I was missing…

For instance, it wasn’t until I was in my late 20s and working in French-speaking West Africa that I learned the fabulous hymn Thine Be the Glory (actually learning it first in French “A Toi la Gloire, O Ressuscité”) – now one of my absolute Easter playlist essentials!

And then of course, there are online hymnals and their Easter hymn collections which make learning new/old hymns easy these days:

• The Cyber Hymnal (Easter hymns),
• Hymnary.org list of Easter hymns – (Hymnary.org is a MUST VISIT site for resources for hymn lovers. I haven’t mastered its search features yet – it is a massive database.  I’ve mostly used it for looking up individual hymns.  Take some time to explore it…)
• Calvin Institute for Christian Worship’s Easter Worship Resource Guide – here’s their list of Easter songs (hymns & contemporary)
• SongsandHymns.Org is also a good resource for hymns and related devotionals, but their Easter hymn list is rather short.

With all of these resources to scour for good hymns, I devoted a fair bit of time (and a bit of money) in recent weeks to significantly increase my Easter hymn and classical music collection and creating a great Easter hymns & classical anthems playlist.

So, in case it’s a blessing and encouragement and helpful resource, here is a current list of 70 favorite Easter hymns. For each hymn I provide details for the version that’s in my playlist (artist, album, purchase link). I have not included details on composers, tune or lyrics.  In most cases you will find that information at Hymnary.org or the Cyber Hymnal.

For some hymns, I’ve included links to some alternate versions, including alternate tunes, instrumental versions, or contemporary renditions. There are a few modern hymns included – such as In Christ Alone.  The majority of these hymns are from the Anglican tradition, but I’ve thrown in a few Evangelical / Gospel type hymns as well.  My tastes are broad – any hymn that focuses on the joy and glory of Christ’s resurrection and His victory over death and His redemption of His people is fair game!

I’d love for commenters to add suggestions and tell us about your favorites!  Let’s turn this into an OPEN THREAD about memories of favorite Easter hymns… what songs do you love and why?

Note: this list includes only hymns.  I may try to create a separate post with some favorite recordings of Easter classical music, carols and anthems.

***

Below is a list of the Titles and Artists for all the hymns.  Here is a link to the Excel Spreadsheet which will give you full details on the album and a purchase link in the iTunes store (US).

Title,  Artist

• 1  A toi la gloire, Les petits chanteurs de Sainte-Croix de Neuilly
• 2  All Hail the Power – No. 1 [Instrumental – tune: Coronation], The King’s Brass & Tim Zimmerman
• 3  All Hail the Power (arr. Sterling Procter – tune: Diadem), The Chancel Choir, The Chapel Choir, Broadway Baptist Church and The Oratorio Chorus, Southwestern Baptist Seminary, The Festival Brass
• 4  Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven, The Choir Of Sheffield Cathedral
• 5  Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (with handbells), Concordia Publishing House

Easter 2015 – menu of links and resources

UPDATED: 19 April 2015

This post will remain sticky during Easter. Look for new entries below.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!!

All of us at Lent & Beyond wish our readers a glorious Easter celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! We’ve posted a lot of good Easter devotional resources over the years:

• Here’s our Easter Category.

See also: Easter Devotionals, Easter Music, Easter Prayers, Easter Quotes, Easter Resources

• NEW (April 19) – DON’T MISS THIS:  A Compilation of 70 Favorite Easter and Eastertide Hymns.  Note, there is now a separate Easter Hymns category, since we plan to post a lot more Easter hymns in coming days!

• NEW (April 15): I’ve just discovered a great blog and an new Eastertide devotional resource Practice Resurrection 2015.  This post also includes a short list of some of the links in our Eastertide compilation (specifically links to reflections on practicing resurrection / celebrating Eastertide)

• A Compilation of Eastertide links and resources – celebrating the full 50 days Easter  (More than 50 links to help us stay Easter-focused until Pentecost!)

• A Compilation of all our Easter Quote entries since 2009

A few featured posts:

• Updated Easter Music Series Index (2014 – 2015)
• Easter Around the Blogosphere 2015
• Here is a compilation of links to Easter prayers
• Here is a compilation of Easter poems
• Here is a compilation of links to Easter resources.
• Links for recommended websites for Easter devotional reading
• There is also our list of Easter resource links at the top of our right hand sidebar

Remember, Easter is a 50 day season! I hope to be able to post often throughout Easter – prayers, music, quotes, devotionals – to help me, and all of us, to live in the joy and reality of the resurrection each day. So stay tuned…

Hallelujah, He is Risen!

art credit

A compilation of Easter Quotes we’ve posted since 2009

Last update: 9 April 2015

Well we have compilations of Easter prayers, Easter poems, Easter music, Eastertide resource links…, but up until now, I’ve not pulled together a compilation of all the Easter-themed quotations we’ve posted at the blog over the years.  There are more than I remembered, and many are really good and worth browsing  (if we do say so ourselves…!)  So, it’s time to list all our Easter Quotes entries in one place.

Entries are in chronological order, most recent first.  I’ll try to update this periodically throughout the Easter 2015 season.

(art credit)

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2015 entries:

• The Veils of the Lenten Array are Removed and the Victory of the Cross is Revealed

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2014 entries:

• Martin Luther Quote, and commentary by Andrew Peterson
• Easter turns the world upside down
• Ann Voskamp – the Cornerstone of Christianity
• An Easter Homily from Saint Ephrem of Syria
• He is Risen: God has irrupted* into the present
• Ann Voskamp – Impossible Stones Rolled Away
• The Cross did not become Glorious until the tomb was empty!

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2012 Entries:

• John Stott: He is able to give life to the spiritually dead
• John Piper: Ten Results of the Resurrection
• “Let Him Easter in Us” – Gerard Manley Hopkins
• The real-world ramifications of the Easter message
• Jesus is alive, normal is dead!
• Christ’s Resounding YES!
• Bishop Mark Lawrence: Easter is the Great YES of God
• St. John Chrysostom – Christ is risen and life is liberated!
• More Pontifications Lent, Holy Week & Easter Devotionals (from 2005)
• A collection of fantastic Holy Week Devotions from the Pontifications blog from 2004

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2009 Entries:

• Maximus of Turin – The Light of Christ is an Endless Day
• Trevin Wax – our coffins will not stay closed!
• Anglican Curmudgeon on Easter and the Shroud of Turin
• John Piper: A Conversation with Death on Good Friday
• William Hobart Hare’s Easter sermon in Yokohama, 1891
• A Serbian Easter Poem: Christ is Risen and Brings the Joy!
• Easter Quotes: God’s Stunning Victory
• Easter around the blogosphere: Celebrating the Easter Season and Being Transformed
• Fr. Stephen Freeman – Living on “Pascha Time”
• St. John Chrysostom – Christ is risen and life is liberated!
• Easter Quotes: The first dawning of a better hope
• Easter Quotes – What happened on Easter?
• St. John Chrysostom – Hell was in an uproar because it is mocked
• George Eldon Ladd – Our Conqueror has been Conquered
• St. John Chrysostom – forgiveness has risen from the grave
• Easter Poem: George Herbert
• St. John Chrysostom – Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

***

Note: You might also want to browse our Lent Quotes and Holy Week Quotes, as many of those contain Easter themes.

A Compilation of Eastertide links and resources – celebrating the full 50 days of the Easter Season

UPDATED: 19 April 2015

This post is sticky – look below for new entries

This year more than ever, I feel an urgency to continue to celebrate Easter throughout the entire 50 day Easter Season (traditionally known as “Eastertide” in Anglican circles).  Perhaps it is the bleakness of the world, and the awareness of evil (such as recent terrorist killings of Christians in Kenya and Libya…) that makes me want to cling to the joy of the Lord’s resurrection and meditate on the glorious truth of His victory in a more focused way this year.  Continuing to reflect on His resurrection power also helps remind me that His power is at work in my heart to conquer sin.  Finally, I find myself wanting to continue to strengthen some of the spiritual disciplines started in Lent in terms of time spent in Scripture, taking advantage of this 50 day season to walk with Jesus and fellowship with Him, allowing Him to expound the Scriptures and stir up my heart so it burns with more a passion for Him.  With these goals in mind, I offer the following list of some articles, reflections resources, prayers, music all focused on helping us maintain an Easter-focus during the 50 days of Eastertide. 

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NEW (April 19) – DON’T MISS THIS:  A Compilation of 70 Favorite Easter and Eastertide Hymns.  Note, there is now a separate Easter Hymns category, since we plan to post a lot more Easter hymns in coming days!

NEW UDPATE! – (April 15): I’ve just posted about a great blog and a new Eastertide devotional resource on the theme Practice Resurrection 2015.  This post also includes a short list of some of the links in our Eastertide compilation (specifically links to reflections on practicing resurrection / celebrating Eastertide).

Let me link the blog and devotional separately:

The blog: This Sacramental Life by Tamara Hill Murphy.  See especially #practiceresurrection2015 – who wants to join me? and her Easter Daybook entries

The devotional:  Eastertide Devotional 2015 from Christ Church Austin (pdf version here)

And you can follow along on Twitter using #practiceresurrection or #practiceresurrection2015

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First, some of my favorite resources, links and entries from years’ past:

• A table with daily Easter Season Scripture readings for 2015 (Book of Common Prayer Daily Office)

• An Easter Devotional: Don’t let the bright light of Easter dim…– an incredible devotional by Emily Polis Gibson “Eastertide: Dayspring to Dimness” focused Gerard Manley Hopkins’ phrase “Let Him Easter in Us”

• Two archived entries from Splendor in the Ordinary blog:  Becoming Easter People, and Practice Resurrection.

• Recommended Websites for Easter Devotional Reading (from 2014, I hope to update it for 2015)

Keep reading below – there are nearly 50 additional links!

Updated Easter Music Series – Index (2014 and 2015)

Last updated 18 April 2015.  (I’ll aim to update this every Saturday during Easter)

During the Easter Octave of 2014, we posted some great Easter music.  I intend to post more throughout this Eastertide (my schedule and internet connection permitting!).  So here’s an index of our Easter Music Series entries so you can go back and find any great songs you might have missed.

Songs are grouped by Music Subcategory:

1. CCM Classics for Easter  (CCM from early 70s – early 90s.  Includes artists such as 2nd Chapter of Acts, the Imperials, Keith Green, Dallas Holm, Sandi Patty & Larnelle Harris, DeGarmo & Key, Amy Grant, Michael Card, Benny Hester, Bob Bennett, Leslie Phillips, Glad, Petra…)  [Some classic “Gospel” music is in this category too – Jesse Dixon, Andre Crouch….]

2. Easter Hymns & Classical

3. Easter Worship Songs  (Contemporary worship songs from songwriters such as Graham Kendrick, Stuart Townend, Keith & Kristyn Getty, Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, etc.)

4. “Contemporary CCM”  (CCM songs from the mid-90s to the present, includes artists such as Andrew Peterson, Steven Curtis Chapman, Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns, Natalie Grant, MercyMe, Mark Schultz, ThirdDay…)

5. World Music for Easter:  Easter worship songs from around the world in various languages!

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1. CCM Classics for Easter 

NEW:

Gaither Vocal Band: Alpha and Omega (1984)

Steve Green: I Know that My Redeemer Liveth (from New Young Messiah 1993)

LAMB: Hallelujah (1981)

—-

• Keith Green, The Victor (1978)
• Dallas Holm: Rise Again (1977)
• Four songs from DeGarmo & Key – Mary, Rejoice, He Has Risen, Let the Whole World Sing (1979 – 1984)
• The Imperials:  Because He Lives (1974)
• Benny Hester:  To Fill Our Empty Hearts (He Came Out of an Empty Tomb) (1985)
• Jessy Dixon:  Gone
• John Michael Talbot & Terry Talbot:  He is Risen (1983)
• Christian Stephens: Arise (1980)
• Steve Green:  He Holds the Keys (1984)
• Mickey and Becki Moore:  Many Years Ago (1976)

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2. Easter Hymns & Classical

NEW: 

Paschal Canon Odes 1 & 3, Byzantine Choir of St. George Cathedral

Christ Our Passover is Sacrificed for us – Richard Dirksen

The Lord is Risen Indeed! (Easter Anthem) William Billings

—

• Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia (a Tanzanian hymn – multiple versions posted)
• The Strife is O’er, performed by Truro Cathedral Choir
• Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands (written by Martin Luther)
• [link to another blog] Positive Infinity blog’s post of Hail Thee Festival Day
• [link to another blog] Anglican’s Ablaze post of a Medley of Easter Hymns and Carols

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3. Easter Worship Songs

NEW:

He is Risen – Paul Baloche & Graham Kendrick with the All Souls Orchestra

See what a morning (Resurrection Hymn) – Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

 Easter Season Playlist – Contemporary Worship Songs  (note this contains no audio, just a list of 45-50 good Easter-themed contemporary worship songs)

—

• Ben Cantelon, The Same Power
• Graham Kendrick, I Know He Lives
• Michael W. Smith, All Arise (link to where it can be downloaded)
• Elevation Worship, Raised to Life (link to where it can be downloaded)
• [link to another site] Biola’s Lent Project site – Live version of Matt Maher’s Christ is Risen from the Dead

 

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4. “Contemporary CCM”

NEW: 

Sojourn: the Warrior

Victorious, a fantastic new song by Third Day

Easter video: “Dance Your Shoes Off” (includes the song “Rise Up”)

An Easter Adaptation of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah – Kelley Mooney and Choir

—-

• Andrew Peterson, High Noon

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5. World Music for Easter

• ِArabic worship music for Easter:  Al Masih qam, bil haqiqatan qam.  The Messiah is risen – He is risen indeed! (Better Life Worship team – Egypt)
• Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia (Mfurahini, Haleluya) – a Tanzanian hymn – multiple versions posted (Swaheli and English)

***

PLEASE READ these two important notes: 

1) Any music I have uploaded is music I have legally bought and paid for.  I HIGHLY value copyright and want to ensure artists get credit and royalties for their work.  Please respect music copyrights.  In almost every music post I have provided a link (often to the iTunes US store because that is handy for me to link) as to where you can purchase the song(s).  In some cases the post will have an embedded MP3 files.  Sometimes that’s because the albums are out of print.  In a few other cases it was because I was having problems with WordPress’ audio playlist feature.  Please do NOT download music from Lent & Beyond, but purchase the songs if you enjoy them!

2) I have gone back through posts from 2014 and prior years that are linked here to try and make sure all the links are working.  If you find a broken link, we’d greatly appreciate it if you would leave a comment telling us so I can fix it.  Thanks.

Easter around the Blogosphere 2015

I ended up with a bit of unexpected free time between Easter gatherings today, so I took a few moments to glance at some favorite blogs and websites and their Easter offerings.  Here are a few links & excerpts.  (In most cases I’ve just posted a snippet of various entries, so click on the link to view the full post.)

Scotty Smith’s Easter Sunday prayer:

Because of your resurrection, we’re less to be pitied than anybody, and more to be grateful than everybody (1 Cor. 15:14-19). You are the firstfruits and guarantee of a whole new order—the “new creation” dominion of redemption and restoration. Everything sad will come untrue, and all things broken will be made new. How we long for that Day!

     Because of your resurrection, you are already reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords. All evil dominions, wicked authorities, and malevolent powers now stand defeated, and one Day they will be fully eradicated. Hallelujah, many times over!

     Jesus, your death is the death of death, and your resurrection is the resurrection of all things. You died for our sins and have been raised for our justification. Oh, the wonder, marvel and gratitude that fills our hearts today. We are forgiven, we are beloved, and we are yours!

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Trevin Wax:  My Jesus – Alive!

(I was deeply moved by Trevin’s “My Jesus – Dead!” entry, which I posted here in full on Good Friday.  This is the follow up.  It’s FANTASTIC.  Here’s an excerpt, but go read the whole thing!)

He is alive! This man from Nazareth, the Messiah of Israel, the Lord of the world.

With the breath of creation, He speaks of peace, faith, and mission.

With lungs full of air, He breathes on His disciples and grants His Spirit. My Jesus – alive!

The eyes that saw the darkness of death now drink in the sunlight of Easter. My Jesus – alive!

The arms that hung from a cross of wood now embrace a a world of grief. My Jesus – alive!

The hands that bear the scars of love now lift the head of doubters. My Jesus – alive!

The ears that were deafened by death are now filled with the joy of God’s people. My Jesus – alive!

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Emily Polis Gibson at Barnstorming:  In the Midst of Joy – Everything Sad Becoming Untrue

And so we awake, rush to tend the dead and find death emptied out.  He is standing, walking, eating, calling us by name.  What He came to us to accomplish is done: nothing is the same and everything is changed.  We need no longer hide in darkness, fear death,  dwell in loneliness,  starve and thirst, despair in impossible situations because only He can do the impossible.

Because everything sad has become untrue by His bravery, His endurance, His sacrifice for our salvation.

All is fresh and made new.
Christ, yes God become man, Christ is risen indeed!

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Biola’s Lent Project Site:  – includes an amazing live rendition of Matt Maher’s Christ is Risen

The music selection for today is Christ is Risen by Matt Maher and Mia Fieldes from Maher’s Alive Again album (2011). This song is not only a musical celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, it is also an invitation for us to let the resurrected Christ change our lives. The chorus in particular, after noting that Christ has trampled over death, continues with the summons for us to “come awake,” to be changed by the risen Christ, to “come and rise up from the grave” with Him. So also the musical bridge invites us to remember the life-changing power of the resurrection: “O church, come stand in the light. Our God is not dead; He’s alive! He’s alive!” And this changes everything.

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Malcolm Guite:  A Sonnet for Easter Dawn

XV Easter Dawn

He blesses every love which weeps and grieves

And now he blesses hers who stood and wept

And would not be consoled, or leave her love’s

Last touching place, but watched as low light crept

Up from the east. A sound behind her stirs

A scatter of bright birdsong through the air.

She turns, but cannot focus through her tears,

Or recognise the Gardener standing there.

She hardly hears his gentle question ‘Why,

Why are you weeping?’, or sees the play of light

That brightens as she chokes out her reply

‘They took my love away, my day is night’

And then she hears her name, she hears Love say

The Word that turns her night, and ours, to Day.

***

Kendall Harmon, of course, has a great wealth of entries (poems, music, meditations) for Easter at TitusOneNine.  Here’s his Easter Category link.

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Pat Dague at Incline Your Heart (and Transfigurations):  Morning Breaks Upon the Tomb, a poem by William Collyer

Positive Infinity blog has a nice version of Hail Thee Festival Day

Anglicans Ablaze: A Medley of Easter Hymns and Carols [Videos]

Patrick Comerford:  ‘Rise, Heart, Thy Lord is Risen’

***

ok, that’s it for now…  I might be able to add some more entries in a few hours.   A blessed Easter to all.

Christ is Risen, Hallelujah!

Holy Saturday around the Blogosphere 2015

These links are in fairly random order…, but represent some of the good resources that are being posted today for Holy Saturday.

Lent & Beyond Holy Saturday entries  (several new entries posted already… more to come later)

Ohio Anglican:  Collect and Scripture readings for Holy Saturday

Biola Lent Project:  Devotional for Holy Saturday

Kendall Harmon:  A Prayer for Holy Saturday (I)

Kendall Harmon: The Sound of Perfect Silence

Anglican Mainstream: Meditation for Holy Saturday

Archbishop Cramner blog: Easter Eve: dead, buried, bereft

Trinity School for Ministry:  Holy Saturday Devotional

Godspace:  Even Resurrection Pauses For Sabbath Rest

Desiring God: He Descended into Hell? Holy Saturday

Prydain:  For Easter Eve: a reading from Augustine of Hippo

Give Us This Day (Fr. Charles Erlandson) – Easter Even – John 19:38-42

Emily Polis Gibson – Upon our Saviour’s Tomb, wherein never man was laid

Malcolm Guite – Check out his 14 Sonnets for the Stations of the Cross (especially sonnets 13 & 14)

Scotty Smith: A Prayer for Saturday of Holy Week

Patrick Comerford: Through Lent with Vaughan Williams (46): ‘Dona nobis pacem’ 6 ‘Dona nobis pacem’

Dean of Durham: Harrowing Hell: the significance of Easter Eve

Transfigurations:  Holy Saturday (Psalm 88)

Vicar’s Versicles: Holy Saturday – Meditate in Silence

A new poem from Teresa Roberts Johnson: To His Mother on Holy Saturday

Music for Holy Saturday:  I Called to God (Jonah 2:2-9) Patrick Schlabs

CT Magazine:  Sitting, Waiting, and Hoping in the Tomb of Jesus

Emily Polis Gibson:  Waiting in Hope, Brought to Our Senses

John Ortberg:  In between despair and joy

Cardiphonia:  The Canticle of Jonah for Holy Saturday.  (Also at Cardiphonia, check out several older entries including: Bruce Benedict’s original Holy Saturday hymn / poem:  “Death Tasted Hope in Christ’s last Breath,” and their compilation of Songs & Hyms for Holy Saturday)

Wow… I can’t ever remember seeing so many excellent and meaty reflections for Holy Saturday before…!  It’s been a blessing to have some time to read, reflect, and collate these devotionals and resources!

 

Links for Holy Saturday

We’ve not traditionally blogged much on Holy Saturday, but here are some links to past entries and some good sites for those looking for prayers, music and devotionals.

All our Holy Saturday entries

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Resources & Compilations

Poems for Holy Saturday

NEW: Holy Saturday around the Blogosphere 2015

Holy Saturday around the blogosphere (2014)

Kendall Harmon’s wealth of Holy Saturday entries

Holy Week: Index of Holy Week devotionals, prayers, quotes and resources here at Lent & Beyond

A collection of fantastic Holy Week Devotions from the Pontifications blog from 2004

More Pontifications Lent, Holy Week & Easter Devotionals (from 2005)

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Quotes & Devotionals

NEW: Henri Nouwen on Holy Saturday “The Day of God’s Solitude”

NEW: “Life lock’d in death, heav’n in a shell!” – Henry Vaughan

Holy Saturday: Death has seized our Lord Jesus Christ; but shall not keep its hold on Life

WA Criswell: He is dead… He is dead… He is dead. Then, then then…

Lent Quotes: St. Cyril of Jerusalem – He vouchsafed salvation

Three Spiritual Classics for Holy Saturday (from the Pontifications blog archives)

A Homily from Saint Ephrem of Syria

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Music & Poems

Poems for Holy Saturday

Palestrina: Lamentations for Holy Saturday, performed by the Tallis Scholars

Classic CCM for Holy Saturday into Easter: Christian Stephens’ The Descent, and Arise

A Classic CCM Song for Holy Saturday – He Holds the Keys (Steve Green)

Good Friday entries at Kendall Harmon’s TitusOneNine (2009 – 2015)

Rather than just linking to Kendall Harmon’s Holy Week category at TitusOneNine as I’ve been wont to do on Good Friday in past years, I thought it would be good if I did a round up of some of Kendall’s best Good Friday entries from today (so far) and years’ past…  As I did in last night’s Maundy Thursday roundup, I’ll post several prayers in full, and then post links to quotes, poems, music, sermon excerpts, etc.

A Prayer for Good Friday (I)

Lord Jesus Christ, who for the redemption of mankind didst ascend the cross, that thou mightest enlighten the world that lay in darkness: gather us this day with all they faithful to that same holy cross; that, gazing in penitence upon thy great sacrifice for us, we may be loosed from all our sins, and entering into the mystery of thy passion, be crucified to the vain pomp and power of this passing world; and finding our glory in the cross alone, we may attain at last thy everlasting glory, where thou, the lamb that once was slain, reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

A Prayer for Good Friday (II)

O Christ, who by the thorns pressed upon thy head hast drawn the thorns from the sorrows of this world, and given us a crown of joy and peace: Make us so bold as never to fear suffering, nor to suffer without cheerfulness in thy service; to the glory of thy holy name.

A Prayer for Good Friday (III)

Lord Christ, who didst enter into thy triumph by the hard and lonely way of the cross: May thy courage and steadfast loyalty, thy unswerving devotion to the Father’s will, inspire and strengthen us to tread firmly and with joy the road which love bids us to take, even if it leads through suffering, misunderstanding, and darkness. We ask it for thy sake, who for the joy that was set before thee endured the cross, despising the shame, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.

A Prayer for Good Friday (IV)

O God, whose blessed Son endured the loneliness and darkness of the cross, that we might enjoy eternal fellowship with thee: Grant that amidst life’s shadows we may know that we are never forsaken, but that we are ever walking in the light of thy countenance; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

A Prayer of William Temple

Lord Jesus Christ, who didst for me endure the horror of deep darkness, teach me by the depth of thine agony the vileness of my sin, and so bind me to thyself in bonds of gratitude and love that I may be united with thee in thy perfect sacrifice, my Saviour, my Lord, and my God.

A Prayer of John Wesley

O holy and ever-blessed Jesus, who being the eternal Son of God and most high in the glory of the Father, didst vouchsafe in love for us sinners to be born of a pure virgin, and didst humble thyself unto death, even the death of the cross : Deepen within us, we beseech thee, a due sense of thy infinite love; that adoring and believing in thee as our Lord and Saviour, we may trust in thy infinite merits, imitate thy holy example, obey thy commands, and finally enjoy thy promises; who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest, one God, world without end.

And Another Good Friday Prayer

O holy and adorable Redeemer, by whose condemnation we are acquitted, by whose stripes we are healed, by whose death we have life, by whose cross we gain our crown: Keep us, we beseech thee, ever mindful of thy boundless love; and when thou dost call on us to bear for a while thy cross, like Simon of old, make us to rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for thy sake, and accept our feeble sacrifice, through the merits of thine eternal redemption. (W. E. Scudamore (Rector of Ditchingham and Fellow of Saint John’s College, Cambridge)

Still Another Good Friday Prayer

O God, the Father of mankind, who didst suffer thine only Son to be set forth as a spectacle despised, derided, and scornfully arrayed, yet in his humiliation to reveal his majesty: Draw us, we beseech thee, both to behold the Man and to worship the King, immortal, eternal, world without end. Amen.

A Prayer for Good Friday (IX)

Hear us, O merciful Lord, and remember now the hour in which thou didst commend thy blessed spirit into the hands of thy heavenly Father; and so assist us by this thy most precious death, that dying unto the world, we may live unto thee; and that at the hour of our departing from this mortal life, we may be received into thine everlasting kingdom, there to reign with thee, world without end.

A Prayer for Good Friday (VII)

Dear Lord, who hast blessed us with the gift of family life, that we may learn to love and care for others: We praise thee for the example of thy Son Jesus Christ, who even when deserted and betrayed by closest friends took thought for his mother and his disciple. Open our eyes to recognize in all men the claims of kinship, and stir our hearts to serve them as brethren called with us into the sonship of thy love.

A Prayer for Good Friday (VI)

Almighty and eternal God, who in thy great love didst give thine only Son to die for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world: Enable us, we beseech thee, by thy Holy Spirit, to worship thee with reverence, and meditate with humility upon those mighty acts by which thou didst bring redemption to thy people; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Poems, Quotes, Sermon Excerpts…

• John Donne—Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward
• George Herbert—The Sacrifice
• Richard John Neuhaus on Good Friday
• Of Which Wood Shall we Eat this day? (Martin Luther)
• Lord George Carey’s 2014 Good Friday Sermon
• “The love that Jesus showed on the Cross: love that endures and that saves”
• Good Friday is about the central and pivotal idea of a “happy exchange”
• Good Friday—A Five Year Old Gives Just a Glimpse of What the Cross Really Means
• For I the Lord have slain (John Newton)
• All generations shall lament and bewail themselves more than him (Martin Luther)
• Charles Spurgeon on the Dying Thief
• The Agony  (George Herbert)
• His Damnation our Liberation, His Defeat our Victory (Karl Barth)
• How shall I measure out thy bloud? (George Herbert)
• The Carpenter’s Son (A. E. Housman)
• And so we come to Good Friday (Benedict XVI)
• Ian Poulton’s Good Friday Sermon 2012 – Five Words from Matthew: Surely
• The 2012 Good Friday Homily of Father Raniero Cantalamessa (Preacher of the Papal Household)
• To open that Kingdom to them (St Thérèse of Lisieux)
• Father Cantalamessa’s Good Friday Homily 2011
• Meditations for Good Friday Via Crucis by Augustinian Sister Maria Rita Piccione
• Father Cantalamessa’s Good Friday Homily 2010
• A Ballad of Trees and the Master (–Sidney Lanier 1842-1881 )
• The Seven Last Words
• The Twelve –Allen Tate (1899-1979)
• Who was Jesus? –Attributed to Gregory of Nazianzus (329-389)
• Roosters –Elizabeth Bishop (1911 – 1979)
• Father Cantalamessa’s Sermon on Good Friday 2009
• Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of India: Meditations for Good Friday 2009

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MUSIC & SERMONS – Audio & Video links – (I’m in the process of checking these links, not all may be working)

• From Sweden’s Lund Cathedral—The final Chorus of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion

• St Pauls Cathedral Choir: God So Loved The World (John Stainer)

• Orlando Gibbons – Drop, Drop, Slow Tears

• Johnny Cash & The Carter Family – Were You There (1960)

• Kings College Cambridge Chapel Choir: Faure Pie Jesu and Agnus Dei

• J.S. Bach: “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” (Choir of King’s College, Cambridge)
  • Try this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M4uUJibpvw

• A Sermon for Good Friday: Tim Keller on 5 things the Cross Teaches us about Suffering 
  • try this link (web archive)

• Music For Prayer and Meditation on Good Friday 2011—Michael Card’s “Why”
  • try this link

• O Sacred Head Now Wounded – Fernando Ortega

Kendall Harmon’s Maundy Thursday entries – including 7 Maundy Thursday prayers

Here are some entries for Maundy Thursday (from this year and past years) at Kendall Harmon’s fabulous TitusOneNine blog.  First his collection of Maundy Thursday prayers, posted various years:

Still Another Prayer for Maundy Thursday

Blessed Lord Jesus, who, when about to depart out of this world, having loved thine own, and loving them to the end, didst institute the holy sacrament of thy Body and Blood, the dying legacy of thy love: Vouchsafe, we earnestly pray thee, that we may never draw near thine altar, save with hearts enkindled by love for thee and for one another; for thy dear name’s sake.

Another Prayer for Maundy Thursday

O Lord Jesus Christ, who in the garden didst teach us, by word and example, to pray, that we might overcome the perils of temptation: Graciously grant that we, always continuing in prayer, may gain abundantly the fruit thereof, and be partakers of thy victory; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

A Prayer to Begin the Day from The Royal Maundy

Lord Jesus Christ, who when thou wast about to institute thy holy Sacrament at the Last Supper didst wash the feet of the apostles, and teach us by thy example the grace of humility: Cleanse us, we beseech thee, from all stain of sin, that we may be worthy partakers of thy holy mysteries; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.

A Prayer for Maundy Thursday

O Christ, the true vine and the source of life, ever giving thyself that the world may live; who also hast taught us that those who would follow thee must be ready to lose their lives for thy sake: Grant us so to receive within our souls the power of thine eternal sacrifice, that in sharing thy cup we may share thy glory, and at the last be made perfect in thy love.

A Prayer for Maundy Thursday

O Lord Christ, who in the days of thy flesh didst hallow bread and wine to be a perpetual memorial of thy passion, and a never-failing means of fellowship with thee: Make us so to thirst after thy righteousness that through these holy mysteries we may be filled with all the fullness of thy divine life, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; for thy glory’s sake.

One Last Prayer for Maundy Thursday

O Saviour of the world, who in Gethsemane didst accept the bitter cup in submission to the Father’s will: Look mercifully upon our weak and wayward lives, and arm us with such strength and courage that we may tread without fear the appointed path of duty, and evermore follow the pattern of thy costly obedience; for thy honour and glory, who now livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

Still Another Prayer for Maundy Thursday

O Lord Jesus Christ, enthroned in the majesty of heaven, who, when thou camest forth from God, didst make thyself as one that serveth: We adore thee because thou didst lay aside the garment of thy glory, and gird thyself with lowest humility, and minister to thy disciples, washing their feet. Teach us to know what thou hast done and to follow thine example; deliver us from pride, jealousy and ambition, and make us ready to be subject one to another, and with lowliness to serve one another for thy sake, O Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

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Music,  Poems, Sermons & Quotes:

• “The most profound revelation of the heart of God apart from the crucifixion”
• Music for Maundy Thursday: Paul Mealor – Ubi Caritas
• God in Private and Public: A Bishop Tom Wright Maundy Thursday Sermon
• The Bp of Chelmsford—An act of love or a photo opp?
• Saint Peter (Christina Rossetti poem)
• The Archbishop of York for Maundy Thursday 2014—True Friends
• This Bread I Break (Dylan Thomas Poem)
• Maundy Thursday (–Wilfrid Owen)

and also recommended:

Kendall Harmon’s Sermon from Sunday for Holy Week—‘It is finished’

A few Good Friday Links

This post is sticky.  New entries follow below.   Note: the Lent 2015 Links post that was at the top of the blog is here, should you need access to those links.

Apologies that Lent devotional blogging has not been possible in recent weeks.  Here are a few Good Friday links that may be of interest:

Our Compilation of various Good Friday poems, quotes, prayers, devotionals

Poems for Good Friday

Good Friday 2014 around the blogosphere

Dr. Peter Toon’s 2004 Reflection on the Good Friday Collects

Good Friday 2014 Index – last year I took a three day Holy Week retreat, which allowed some time for posting a lot of Good Friday entries here at L&B.  This post has links to 15+ Good Friday entries posted last year.

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Our Good Friday category is here should you want to browse through our past entries.  Here are several sub-categories & tags:

• Good Friday Art
• Good Friday Devotionals
• Good Friday Music (includes hymns & contemporary)
• Good Friday Poems
• Good Friday Quotes
• Good Friday Resources

43 Poems for Lent – a complete index of Patrick Comerford’s 2012 blog series

We continue to get many dozens of visitors at L&B who are looking for Lent poems.  Last year I posted a compilation of some Lent poems, a compilation of Holy Week poems,  Good Friday poems, and Easter poems.  All four compilations are somewhat rough, and I need to update them all, since I now have additional poems by Malcolm Guite, Teresa Roberts Johnson and others to add.

As a small beginning to continue to upgrade our liturgical-year-themed poetry resources here at L&B, I thought it would be helpful if I compiled a complete index of the Rev. Patrick Comerford’s Lent 2012 series of daily Lenten poems, one of the best-ever Lenten blog series, in my opinion! It was that series that really stirred up a fresh interest for me in liturgically-themed poetry.

(Patrick Comerford is a priest in the Church of Ireland (Anglican), Lecturer in Anglicanism and Liturgy in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the University of Dublin (Trinity College Dublin) and a Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.)

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Poems for Lent (1): ‘Ash Wednesday’, TS Eliot

Poems for Lent (2): ‘Lent,’ George Herbert

Poems for Lent (3): ‘Indifference,’ by GA Studdert Kennedy

Poems for Lent (4): ‘Lenten Thoughts of a High Anglican,’ by John Betjeman

Poems for Lent (5): ‘Marked by Ashes,’ by Walter Brueggemann

Poems for Lent (6): ‘The Retreat,’ by Henry Vaughan

Poems for Lent (7): ‘Lent’ by Christina Rossetti

Poems for Lent (8): ‘Amen,’ by Leonard Cohen

Poems for Lent (9): ‘Sunday Morning, King’s Cambridge,’ by John Betjeman

Poems for Lent (10): ‘The Absence,’ by RS Thomas

Poems for Lent (11): ‘Untitled (The Fallen Angels left all there),’ by Patrick Kavanagh

Poems for Lent (12): ‘Forest Song,’ by Sir Shane Leslie

Poems for Lent (13): ‘Evensong,’ by CS Lewis

Poems for Lent (14): ‘In the Street,’ by Winifred M Letts

Poems for Lent (15): ‘Desert Places,’ by Robert Frost

Poems for Lent (16): ‘Lenten Communion,’ by Katharine Tynan

Poem for Lent (17): ‘Autobiography,’ by Louis MacNeice

Poems for Lent (18): ‘Christians and Pagans,’ by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Poems for Lent (19): ‘Confession’ (‘O What a cunning guest’), by George Herbert

Poems for Lent (20): ‘Christ’s Bloody Sweat’ by Robert Southwell

Poems for Lent (21): ‘Holy Cross,’ by Sir Shane Leslie

Poems for Lent (22): ‘St Patrick’s Day with Neil,’ by Thomas McCarthy

Poem for Lent (23): ‘Sunday Morning,’ by Louis MacNeice

Poems for Lent (24): ‘Man of the House,’ by Katherine Tynan

Poems for Lent (25): ‘The Snowdrop Monument (in Lichfield Cathedral)’ by Jean Ingelow

Poems for Lent (26): ‘Mid-Lent,’ by Christina Rossetti

Poems for Lent (27): ‘I saw the Sun at Midnight,’ by Joseph Mary Plunkett

Poems for Lent (28): ‘Barnfloor and Winepress,’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Poems for Lent (29): ‘Here It Is,’ by Leonard Cohen

Poems for Lent (30): ‘Fifth Sunday In Lent’ by John Keble

Poems for Lent (31): ‘Annunciation,’ by John Donne

Poems for Lent (32): ‘What the Thunder said,’ from ‘The Waste Land’ by TS Eliot

Poems for Lent (33): ‘Affliction’ by George Herbert

Poems for Lent (34): ‘Julian at the Mysteries’ by CP Cavafy

Poems for Lent (35): ‘It is a thing most wonderful,’ by William Walsham How

Poems for Lent (36): ‘Batter my heart, three person’d God’ by John Donne

Poems for Lent (37): ‘The Donkey,’ by GK Chesterton

Poems for Lent (38): ‘Sonnet written in Holy Week at Genoa,’ by Oscar Wilde

Poems for Lent (39): ‘All in an April Evening,’ by Katharine Tynan

Poems for Lent (40): ‘I see His Blood Upon the Rose,’ by Joseph Mary Plunkett

Poems for Lent (41): ‘The Last Supper,’ by Ranier Maria Rilke

Poems for Lent (42): ‘Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward,’ by John Donne

Poems for Lent (43): ‘Sepulchre,’ by George Herbert

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Note: We had previously compiled a list of 7 Easter poems posted by Patrick Comerford in 2012.

You’ll find all our Lent poem posts and resources here.  (Right now it’s a small collection, but I expect it to grow this Lent!).  I expect to soon break up the “Poems, Hymns and Songs” category into two or three separate categories to separate poetry from music.