Rejoice now, heavenly hosts and choirs of angels,
and let your trumpets shout Salvation
for the victory of our mighty King.
Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth,
bright with a glorious splendor,
for darkness has been vanquished by our eternal King.
Rejoice and be glad now, Mother Church,
and let your holy courts in radiant light,
resound with the praises of your people.
All you who stand near this marvelous and holy flame,
pray with me to God the Almighty
for the grace to sing the worthy praise of this great light;
through Jesus Christ his Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with him,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
This is sung at the Great Vigil of Easter Eve--unaccompanied, by a single voice, to a Gregorian chant melody that is in a minor mode but nevertheless sounds as triumphant as music ever gets--as the blessed Easter candle is lit in a previously completely dark church.
Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased.
--Spider Robinson
0 Man, mourn your great sin;
For this, Christ, from his Father's bosom,
went forth and came to earth.
Of a Virgin pure and gentle,
He was born here for our sake.
He was willing to mediate.
To the dead He gave life
and conquered all sickness,
until the time came
that He should be sacrificed for us,
and carry the heavy burden of our sins
upon the Cross itself
We listen to the Passions every Easter Sunday...
HE IS RISEN!!!
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.
IMO, though others may be tied, no piece of music is more gorgeous than the opening of the St. Matthew Passion. The overall feeling of the minor key and triple metre; the triumphant feeling it gets when the melody climbs at times; and "Wohin? WOHIN? WOHIN?"
Durris, I don't know that piece, but I've loved other unaccompanied, single-voice, chants. A beautiful voice can be SO moving that way!
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon
