Comfortable Words
The King James Bible of 1611, a model of straightforward English made for reading aloud.
The King James Bible of 1611, a model of straightforward English made for reading aloud.
A short hymn inspired by some words from the Song of Songs, asking the Good Shepherd to lead his straying lamb back to the flock.
This hymn is part of a series of poems based on the Song of Songs in the Old Testament. Charles Wesley combines two Biblical images together: the Good Shepherd, which he takes from the Song and from St John’s Gospel; and Christ as the Rock where Moses was enabled to look upon God’s glory without being destroyed by the sight.
Seven psalms chosen by Cassiodorus (?485-?585) for expressing heartfelt repentance and confident hope.
The Seven Penitential Psalms were first enumerated by Cassiodorus (?485-?585), in his Commentary on the Psalms. St Bede was one of those who possessed a copy. These are not psalms of paralysing guilt but of repentance, a turning from darkness to light; joy is as much a theme as sorrow, and sorrow is soon superseded by hope and determination. The translation below, by Myles Coverdale, is taken from the English Book of Common Prayer, first published in 1549.
An eighth-century hymn of the Greek Church, for Easter Day
This Easter hymn was composed by St John Damascene (676-749), a contemporary of St Bede. According to tradition, he held a hymn-writing contest with his adopted brother Cosmas, at the end of which Cosmas cheerfully pronounced John the winner.
A short prayer from the opening of the communion service in the old Sarum missal.
This short prayer came near the start of the Sarum missal, the predominant Mediaeval communion service in England, just after a hymn to the Holy Ghost. It survived the cutting table of the Reformation and opened the communion service of the 1549 Prayer Book too, in an English translation of surpassing elegance and restraint.
A hymn for the vigil of Easter, recalling Christ’s descent into the abode of the dead and his triumphant return.
This hymn, a particular favourite of St Bede, was sung on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Day. It speaks of the victory of Christ over the dark angels, of the continuing power of the sign of the cross, marked in oil on a Christian’s forehead at baptism, and of the descent of Christ into hell. The author, who is unknown, lived in the fifth or sixth century.
A hymn for Holy Saturday by the eighth-century Syrian hymnographer St John Damascene.
St John Damascene was one of the Eastern churches’ greatest hymnographers, and like his English contemporary St Bede skilled not only in poetry but also in music and the sciences. This hymn draws on his extensive Biblical learning to reflect on dying and living with Christ for Holy Saturday, Easter Eve.