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About Worship Today
Advent is the season in which the Christian Church waits and watches for the coming of Jesus Christ. Through scripture, song and silence we hear again the story of God’s people who longed for a Savior. Living in the reality that Jesus Christ has indeed come, that he has died and that he has risen, we await for his coming again in glory. Blue or Purple vestments are worn at Christ Church throughout Advent, and the Advent Wreath, which is hung above the sanctuary, marks each passing week with an additional lighted candle. Throughout the Sundays of Advent Gloria in excelsis, “Glory to God in the highest,” is suppressed as the opening song of praise, in its place is Kyrie eleison, “Lord, have mercy.” The new liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent: we are now in Year A; the gospel reading appointed most Sundays in Year A is from the Gospel according to Matthew.
The Holy Eucharist, the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's Day and other major Feasts, and Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, 1979, are the regular services appointed for public worship in the Episcopal Church. At Christ Church we celebrate the Holy Eucharist every Sunday, and also on Holy Days and other occasions.
Today’s liturgy is from the red Book of Common Prayer 1979. All hymns are taken from the blue Hymnal 1982 or other authorized hymnals for use in the Episcopal Church. All hymns are reprinted with permission under OneLicense.net A713125.
Music & Lectionary Notes at 10am
Dr. J’s Music Notes
Herbert Norman Howells CH CBE was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. He was a pivotal 20th-century English composer, celebrated for his rich, expressive harmonies, deeply spiritual church music (like the Collegium Regale settings), and ability to transform personal grief, especially the loss of his son, into profound musical beauty, becoming a key figure in English musical modernism with a style blending Tudor influences and innovative dissonance for evocative, contemplative works. He was profoundly influenced by personal tragedies, especially the death of his son Michael in 1935, which led to intensely moving works like Hymnus Paradis. A distinguished teacher at the Royal College of Music, he received numerous honors, including a CBE and Companion of Honour (CH), and is buried at Westminster Abbey.