s
Here is a link for a You Tube recording of
one of my favorite choral pieces.
(I'm sorry that it may include a commercial on you-tube,
but you can tell it to skip the ad.)
The translation is: We sit down in tears and call to you in the grave:
rest in peace,
peacefully rest,rest in peace, peacefully rest!
Rest your exhausted
limbs! Rest in peace!
Your grave and tombstone will be a comfortable
pillow
and a resting place for the soul and for the fearful mind.
Filled
with pleasure, the eyes can sleep there.
We sit down in tears and call
to you in the grave.
Rest in peace, peacefully rest.
The music during Holy Week is so tragic and haunting. This is only the second year, in my entire life, that I haven't had a church affiliation. I really miss the frantic, feverish rehearsals, where we would combine the somber music of Lent and Holy Week with the joyous, very elaborate music for Easter Sunday. Resurrection Sunday was one day that I could always expect a nervous stomach!
My dad was a bass in the church choir, and we both sang in the adult group when I was in high school. He loved to sing the bass part just about any time. I remember once, the choir was preparing to sing The Seven Last Words of Christ by Theodore Dubois. Dad especially loved the movement that went: "He is death guilty! He is death guilty! Take him! Take him! Let us crucify him!" He sang it while swinging my brother back and forth, only changing the words to "Take him! Take him! Throw him in the water!" What fun!
My father was a staunch Christian, as a youth, and continued to attend church for most of his life. There came a time, though, when he turned his back on his faith. During the last few years of his life, when he was already symptomatic for Huntington's Disease, he decided that he wasn't going to continue to be a believer. His mother, a very prayerful woman, was very unhappy with my father's choice, but she knew that it was part of the disease. She continued to pray for his soul, even after he died.
My dad was a bass in the church choir, and we both sang in the adult group when I was in high school. He loved to sing the bass part just about any time. I remember once, the choir was preparing to sing The Seven Last Words of Christ by Theodore Dubois. Dad especially loved the movement that went: "He is death guilty! He is death guilty! Take him! Take him! Let us crucify him!" He sang it while swinging my brother back and forth, only changing the words to "Take him! Take him! Throw him in the water!" What fun!
My father was a staunch Christian, as a youth, and continued to attend church for most of his life. There came a time, though, when he turned his back on his faith. During the last few years of his life, when he was already symptomatic for Huntington's Disease, he decided that he wasn't going to continue to be a believer. His mother, a very prayerful woman, was very unhappy with my father's choice, but she knew that it was part of the disease. She continued to pray for his soul, even after he died.
Judy, thank you for the music and the reflections. May your Easter be blessed with strength, renewal and hope.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your wishes, Susan! I hope that you will celebrate this Easter with a heart filled with peace, joy and cheer! Have a happy Easter!
DeleteIt makes me sad he did a complete 180 with his faith but I'm confident God understands.
ReplyDeleteAndy, I just read that, regardless of how dementia makes us look or act, regardless of the changes dementia brings, God’s eye is fixed on the inward person. This is true for people with all kinds of disorders or diseases. God is not fooled by the outward appearances and actions. And that is comforting for me, and should be for you, too! on Holy Week Reflection
ReplyDeleteThanks for this beautiful Easter posting, Judy. I don't think faith is ever constant. It meanders and evolves.
ReplyDeleteHi Gene, thanks for your response! You're right about faith -- mine is kind of on the meander now. How's yours?
Delete