The Psalter Search

Trying to find a good Psalter is such a pain...

As I continue work on various liturgical projects, I continue to lament the lack of a halfway decent, contemporary English, Psalter that is worth anything.

My preference, to this day, remains with the 1963 Grail Psalms... but getting permission to use these Psalms in a local-use liturgical book has been a nigh-on-impossible three year journey that I am pretty much on the verge of abandoning. (Of course, the use of the Grail would also be a bit of a personal comfort... as I grew up on a diet of the Grail in the Roman Liturgy of the Hours.) The Grail is, of course, not without its faults... but for my money, when Psalm 4, 91, or 141 is sung, I only want to hear the Grail.

My translation of choice for public proclamation of the Scriptures, the New Living Translation (Second Edition) has the advantage of being well-laid-out for chanting, but its verbiage is awful when it comes to trying to sing... right from the very first verse...

"Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
But they delight in
the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night."
Psalm 1: 1-2 (NLT)

Compare this to the Grail:

"Happy indeed is the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night."
Psalm 1: 1-2 (Grail)

Another entrant could be The Liturgical Psalter that was used in various Church of England publications; most notably in The Alternative Service Book 1980. It has been placed into (essentially) a public domain status by the copyright holders (see: http://www.aquilabooks.co.uk/noframes/psalms.htm#1). Psalm 1 fares better here:

"Blessed is the man
who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly:
nor followed the way of sinners,
nor taken his seat amongst the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord:
and on that law will he ponder day and night."
Psalm 1: 1-2 (TLS)

This winds up sounding pretty good... but fast forward to Psalm 23 (among others) and the fact that it is accurately translated begins to matter far less than the fact that the Psalm sounds awful.

We tend to forget, but the Psalms are poetry, hymnody... and they deserve a better effort than they seem to be given these days. Pardon my side-rant... back to my main point.

For chantability and accuracy, the ESV is actually a really good option (though I might get concerned about the use of two differing translations of the Bible in use in a parish setting).

"Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night."
Psalm 1: 1-2 (ESV)

So, is there anyone out there in the blogosphere with a better idea for a local liturgical psalter? I'd particularlly like to hear from folks who are using Psalters on a daily basis.

The Connection Between the Eucharist and Daily Prayer

As some of my readers (those who know me personally) may be aware, I have been working for the past three years on developing a Syriac rite Liturgy for use within the Synod of Saint Timothy in particular, and in outreach to those who have no Christian background to start with in specific. With Lent beginning in just over a week (Ash Monday, for us Syriac-rite folk, is on February 4), I just ordered a proof copy of the manuscript for the Lenten liturgy for my wife and I to use for the Liturgy of the Hours during this upcoming season.

Over and over again, I have found many ways to describe the relationship between the Divine Liturgy and the Liturgy of the Hours, but none of my attempts have been quite as successful as one I noticed recently at Liturgy, the website of Father Bosco Peters, an Anglican priest from New Zealand.

Father Peters kindly granted permission for his words to appear here, but these short quotes are simply a portion of a longer article that is found on the front page of his site. I hope you will find it as spot-on as I have if you are a liturgist, and if you are an individual who is giving consideration to making the Liturgy of the Hours (Daily Office, Divine Office, Daily Prayer, etc...) a part of your spiritual disicpline, I hope it will connect the Eucharistic heart of our Christian life with an integrated sense of continious prayer.

The word “liturgy” comes from the Greek λειτουργια (leitourgia) – public work or duty, work of the people. Liturgy is the spiritual work of all God’s people. Liturgy is structured common prayer. It can be shared, common worship precisely because it is structured.

Speaking of his site, Fr. Peters continues:

There is a focus on the Eucharist (Mass, Holy Communion) as the jewel in the crown. And also a highlighting of the Liturgy of the Hours (Daily Prayer- using the Bible as prayer) as the crown in which the jewel of the Eucharist is set. Hence, in the spirituality of this site, there is a balance of Eucharist, Liturgy of the Hours, Lectio Divina (individual prayerful hearing what the Spirit is saying in the scriptures), and silent contemplative prayer. There is a balance of solitude and community. A balance of liturgy as service of God, and our call to service of others.

Powerful words... the Eucharist as the jewel of the crown the encompasses the bride of Christ - the crown of prayer. Thanks, Fr. Peters, for your outstanding contribution to the contemporary understanding of the relationship of the Church's life of prayer and worship.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Liturgy

Essay 1: The Tragedy of Tacky Liturgy

The liturgical services of the Christian Church are, perhaps, the most instructive rituals in any religious tradition on earth. They are filled with symbols, words, and actions that teach with every look, breath, and motion. Christian liturgy assists us (in cooperation with the absolutely necessary grace of the Holy Spirit) in breaking down our own wills bit by bit and conforming ourselves to the heart and mind of God. Given this awesome ability that is inherent in the Christian liturgy, it is overwhelmingly depressing and disheartening to see that there are Christian assemblies today who accept a liturgy that fails to engage the senses and the heart of the worshipper because the liturgy itself has been overshadowed by the dismissive way in which it is executed. It is the ultimate tragedy of tacky liturgy.

Tacky liturgy is detrimental to both the spiritual and catechetical aspects of worship, leading the faithful down a path that is ultimately unfulfilling and disheartening. It is no wonder that non-liturgical churches are springing up, growing to roster thousands of members seemingly overnight, while liturgical churches are languishing in many areas. They are, at times rightly, accused of being dead or dying, and of offering nothing new and satisfying to the spiritual diet of Christians. At the same time, more and more people are finding themselves drawn to ritualistic non-Christian traditions as well. While many of these individuals may not find themselves drawn to Christianity to start with, some of them have certainly turned away from the faith because of their need for an inherently liturgical order to their worship (and, perhaps, to their lives).

Today, tacky liturgy is most frequently noticed in the Western Church. Let’s face it, since the Liturgical Renewal that accompanied Vatican II, the conciliar decrees that governed the reform have been used as the justification for so many idiotic practices that some people have elected to flee from contemporary liturgy, preferring to ensconce themselves in the traditions they find reverent and comforting. No matter how reverent and comforting these traditions may be, they do not optimally teach the faith as it was handed down to the Fathers of the Church if for no other reason than the fact that the ritual expression of the faith takes the form of a weapon that is used against other Christians.

All this being said about the Western Church, the East has its own fair share of tacky liturgy. The average westerner may not notice it, but its there, and when its tacky it is so distracting (at least to me) so as to render my worship experience nearly useless. To see faded out lithographs in place of genuine icons in a Byzantine Church, or unbuttoned albs (sticharion) in a Syriac Church are every bit as distracting and tacky as substituting a rousing chorus of “Kumbaya” in place of the Sanctus in the Western rite.

It is up to those tasked with leading worship, the bishops, presbyters, deacons, deaconesses, lectors, servers, cantors… and yes, every member of the Christian assembly… to do something about the shortcomings of our worship practices, regardless of our ritual tradition.

In the weeks and months to come, I hope to share with you some practical and sensible thoughts for you to reflect on in your quest for a deeper and more reverent experience that transcends the ordinary and brings the people of God to an extraordinary liturgical encounter with Jesus Christ.

The Theophany of the Lord

Today we conclude the Solemn Octave of Christmas with the celebration of the feast of the Theophany of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The feast of the Theophany is intimately connected with the mystery of our Lord's birth. The Child who was born for us and the Son who was given to us is manifested before us to be the Son of the Most High. Christ begins his public life with his baptism by John in the Jordan River. At his baptism Christ is seen as the fulfillment of John's preaching: He is the Messiah and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Father and Holy Spirit are witnesses to Christ for he is the beloved Son of the Father and upon him the Spirit rests. Thus at the baptism of the Lord we have not only an epiphany or manifestation of Christ as God's Son, but also Theophany or manifestation of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The feast of the Theophany reminds us not only of the baptism of Christ, but also of our own baptism. St. Ephrem in his Hymn for Theophany says: "...our blessed Lord came to be baptized with sinners and because of his glory the heavens were opened. The One who purifies all creatures, desiring to cleanse them, went into the waters and sanctified them for our baptism." It is for this reason that we bless water on this day. Originally, the mystery of baptism was celebrated on this feast and the waters blessed were those of baptism.

Today we celebrate the manifestation or epiphany of the Trinity at the baptism of Christ as well as the manifestation of the glory of God in the person of the Lord come into the world, that is to say, the manifestation of Christ, the Word of God, among us. Let us then call to mind the grace of God who has appeared for the salvation of all, and thank him for the baptism through which we have been begotten in the Spirit and through which we have put on Christ and become children of the Father.

Prayer of the Day

Father, in the waters of the Jordan River, you revealed your beloved Son in both his oneness with you and his oneness with humanity. Through the power of your Spirit, draw us ever more fully into his divine life, which cleanses us and frees us from sin and death. We make our prayer through your Incarnate Word, Christ Jesus our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Psalm of the Day

29

Suggested Readings

Ephesians 2: 1-10

Matthew 3: 1-17

Creating a New Christian Calendar

Is it time to develop a new Christian Liturgical Calendar?
The Bible itself is repleat with reasons to believe that our commemoration of the Nativity on 25 December is wrong. That's not to say it is sinful to commemorate the Birth of the Lord on that day - as I doubt we'll ever know for certain in this world when Christ was actually born... but I feel pretty comfortable with some answers I have recently discovered; answers that could compel us to revise our Liturgical Calendars... and for the better.

Inspired by the Hebraic roots of Syriac Christianity and the Jewish learning of a bishop I respect, I have been delving deeper into the question of how we celebrate the Liturgical Year. I have a strong desire to see the Liturgical Year as a time of learning. We know the early Church read the Scriptures as they had them in course and exposited them in the midst of the assembly.

If we were to look at some alternate dates for our Feasts, we might well have an excellent Liturgical Calendar that would allow us to reclaim this ancient practice.

Such a calendar would be based on two poles that fall about six months apart. These are the Birth of Christ and his Resurrection.

When was Christ born? It is my belief that the best avaliable evidence tells us that it was 29 September 2 BC (15 Tishrei 3760), which was the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles that year. What a magnificent day for our Savior to Tabernacle among us (as John 1 teaches)! An alternate date, especially if adopting an earlier Crucifixion date, would be 29 September 5 BC (15 Tishrei 3763).

What about his death? Two options present themselves, but I tend to favor 3 April 33 AD (14 Nisan 3793). The other option would be 7 April 30 AD (14 Nisan 3790). In both of these years, 14 Nisan fell on a Friday, permitting Christ to eat the Passover on the day of his death (remember, Hebrew days were strictly from sunset to sunset). The Synoptic vs. Johannine issue rears its ugly head here, but an adequate explanation is that there were several varying calendars in use among the varying sects of Jews in Jesus' time.

Now, how does this help us with celebrating the life of Christ?

If we are able to teach the life of Christ chronologically during the first portion of the year (about six months), and about the growth of the Church (chronologically) in the remaining half of the year, we would be well on our way to developing a deeper understanding of how the life of Christ unfolded and how the Church grew and explained her teaching in an ever-increasing sphere of influence.

Perhaps for some this is too radical, but my proposal for consideration would be:

29 September - The Nativity of our Lord
Sunday on or after 7 April - The Resurrection of our Lord (7 April is the Median Day between the two possible Resurrection Sundays in 30 and 33 AD, 5 and 9 April.)

This has the virtue of remaining relatively simple in relation to the complex Lunar calculations and extra months that would require a significant alteration to Lectionary Cycles.

Readers thoughts are, as always, welcome.

UPDATE: I have worked out the following Cycle of Feast Days surrounding the Incarnation, Pascha, and Pentecost for a calendar in keeping with my above-noted suggestions. In this I also include the 29th of February leap day as a day outside the calendar, kept as a day of special praise for the Trinity. All other days are considered Ordinary Time.

THE INCARNATION CYCLE
(Fixed)
15 Days

September 22 The Holy Trinity
September 23 The Annunciation of the Forerunner
September 24 The Annunciation of our Lord
September 25 The Visitation of the God-bearer
September 26 The Nativity of the Forerunner
September 27 The Ancestors of Jesus Christ
September 28 The Annunciation to Saint Joseph
September 29 The Nativity of our Lord
September 30 The Presentation of our Lord
October 1 The Visitation of the Magi
October 2 The Holy Innocents
October 3 The Return to Nazareth
October 4 The Finding of our Lord in the Temple
October 5 The Ministry of Saint John the Forerunner
October 6 The Theophany of our Lord

LEAP DAY
(Fixed)
February 29 Praises of the Holy Trinity

THE PASCHAL CYCLE
(Variable)
14 Days
Begins on the Sunday between March 31 and April 6
Ends on the Saturday between April 13 and April 19

Palm Sunday
Holy Monday
Holy Tuesday
Holy Wednesday
Holy Thursday
Holy Friday
Holy Saturday
Pascha
Bright Monday
Bright Tuesday
Bright Wednesday
Bright Thursday
Bright Friday
Bright Saturday

THE PENECOST CYCLE
(Variable)
11 Days
Begins on the Thursday between May 16 and May 22
Ends on the Sunday between May 26 and June 1

Ascension Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Pentecost Sunday