A few years ago, I was transfixed and moved by the story of the 20 Christian martyrs who were beheaded by Islamic terrorists in Libya by the shore of the…
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You'll see that I have "recycled" the words from the Advent Nunc Dimittis by setting them to a different tune: Von Himmel Hoch, or "From Heaven Above to Earth I…
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The "OLD Red Hymnal," AKA SBH, AKA Service Book and Hymnal, was where I first encountered the lovely Christmas carol, "Love Came Down at Christmas." The tune is a gentle…
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I think this was the first hymn paraphrase of the liturgy that I ever did, and it was for a Christmas Eve service at the church where I was the…
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I had fun with this. You can use this as the Prayers of the Church, or as an extended Kyrie, especially on the Sunday after Christmas (when many congregations have…
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The Gloria in Excelsis is the quintessential Christmas carol, being sung over shepherds and flocks near Bethlehem the night of Jesus' birth. This paraphrase of the Gloria (pretty much the…
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As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.... In the Kyrie, we begin, "In peace, let us pray to the Lord." In the Gloria, we echo…
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"Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world. Have mercy on us. Grant us peace." One of the simplest and most eloquent of prayers, we sing it…
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"Holy, holy holy is the Lord God of hosts! Heaven and earth are full of his glory!" Isaiah heard the angels crying out to one another, and this hymn shook…
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When Bach and others composed their Masses, they always included the "Credo" - the Nicene Creed. Martin Luther wrote a paraphrase of the Apostles' Creed (We All Believe in One…
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