Discipline is a poem by the Welsh-born English poet, orator, and Anglican priest: George Herbert (1593–1633). It is included in the Religious Poetry Appendix for Lent and Easter of the Divine Office (1974).
DISCIPLINE by George Herbert (Public Domain)
Throw away thy rod,
Throw away thy wrath:
O my God,
Take the gentle path.
For my hearts desire
Unto thine is bent:
I aspire
To a full consent.
Not a word or look
I affect to own,
But by book,
And thy book alone.
Though I fail, I weep:
Though I halt in pace,
Yet I creep
To the throne of grace.
Then let wrath remove;
Love will do the deed:
For with love
Stony hearts will bleed.
Love is swift of foot;
Love’s a man of war,
And can shoot,
And can hit from farre.
Who can scape his bow?
That which wrought on thee,
Brought thee low,
Needs must work on me.
Throw away thy rod;
Though man frailties hath,
Thou art God:
Throw away thy wrath.
Altarpiece by Ernst Hildebrand - Courtesy Wikipedia
The Killing is by the Scottish poet, novelist, and translator: Edwin Muir (1887–1959). It was published in 1956, along with One Foot in Eden in his final collection of poetry. The Killing is included in the Religious Poetry Appendix for Lent and Easter of the Divine Office (1974).
One Foot in Eden is by the Scottish poet, novelist, and translator: Edwin Muir (1887–1959). Published in 1956, the poem delves into the predominant theme that carries through much of his work: Man's expulsion from Eden. He saw it as a kind of archetypal journey (in the Jungian sense) that is repeated again and again in each of our lives. To express this, he often drew upon his own family's move in 1901 from the agrarian and idyllic world of his childhood home on the Orkney Islands to the the gritty industrial city of Glasgow where his mother, father, and two brothers all died within 5 years of arriving. One Foot in Edenis included in the Religious Poetry Appendix for Lent and Easter of the Divine Office (1974).
Reading by Fr. John J. O'Riordain, CSsR from Mt. St. Alphonsus, Limerick
O Perpetual Revolution of Configured Stars is an excerpt from Choruses from The Rock by T.S. Eliot (1888-1965). The Rock is a play that Elliot wrote in the form of a medieval pageant which included music by Martin Shaw and was first performed in 1934. O Perpetual Revolution of Configured Stars is included in the Religious Poetry Appendix for Lent and Easter of the Divine Office (1974). The excerpt therein begins at Line 3 of the Chorusesand ends at Line 13 (But nearness to death no nearer to God). The full text can be found here.
Marina is by T.S. Eliot. It was first published in 1930 as part of a series called the Ariel Poems. They were composed by a selection of English writers and poets between 1927 and 1931, and are based on the play: Pericles, Prince of Tyre, which involves a father's separation and eventual reunion with his daughter, Marina. Most scholars consider the second half of the play to be by Shakespeare. Marina is included in the Religious Poetry Appendix for Lent and Easter of the Divine Office (1974).
To Keep a True Lent is a poem by the Anglican Vicar and poet, Robert Herrick (1591-1674). It is included in the Religious Poetry Appendix for Lent and Easter of the Divine Office (1974).
De Profundis by Horatio Walker - Courtesy of Wikipedia
De Profundis is by the English composer, poet, and physician: Thomas Campion (1567-1620). It is a paraphrase of Psalm 130 (129) and takes it's Latin title from the opening line of the Vulgate translation of that same penitential psalm. De Profundis was first published in Campion's Two Bookes of Ayres (1613?). It is included in the Religious Poetry Appendix for Lent and Easter of the Divine Office (1974).
DE PROFUNDIS by Thomas Campion, 1613? (Public Domain)
Out of my soul's depths to thee my cries have sounded;
Let thine ears my plaints receive, on just fear grounded.
Lord, should'st thou weigh our faults, who' not confounded?
But with grace thou censur'st thine when they have erred,
Therefore shall thy blessed name be loved and feared.
E'en to thy throne my thoughts and eyes are reared.
Thee alone my hopes attend, on thee relying;
In thy sacred word I'll trust, to thee fast flying,
Long ere the watch shall break, the morn decrying.
In the mercies of our God who live securéd,
May of full redemption rest in him assuréd,
Their sin-sick souls by him shall be recuréd.
A Hymn to God the Father (Hear Me, O God) is a poem by the English playwright, poet, and essayist Ben Jonson (c.1572-1637). It is included in the Religious Poetry Appendix for Lent and Easter of the Divine Office (1974).
OH, TO VEX ME, CONTRARIES MEET IN ONE by John Donne (Public Domain)
Oh, to vex me, contraries meet in one:
Inconstancy unnaturally hath begot
A constant habit; that when I would not
I change in vows, and in devotion.
As humorous is my contrition
As my profane love, and as soon forgot:
As riddlingly distempered, cold and hot,
As praying, as mute; as infinite, as none.
I durst not view heaven yesterday; and today
In prayers and flattering speeches I court God:
Tomorrow I quake with true fear of his rod.
So my devout fits come and go away
Like a fantastic ague; save that here
Those are my best days, when I shake with fear.
BATTER MY HEART, THREE-PERSON'D GOD by John Donne (Public Domain)
Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to another due,
Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
AT THE EARTH'S IMAGINED CORNERS by John Donne (Public Domain)
At the round earth's imagined corners, blow
Your trumpets, Angels, and arise, arise
From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go,
All whom the flood did, and fire shall overthrow,
All whom war, dearth, age, agues, tyrannies,
Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes,
Shall behold God, and never taste death's woe.
But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space,
For, if above all these, my sins abound,
'Tis late to ask abundance of thy grace,
When we are there; here on this lowly ground,
Teach me how to repent; for that's as good
As if thou hadst seal'd my pardon, with thy blood.
O King of the Friday is an ancient Irish hymn of unknown origin. An early printing of the text appeared in The Religious Song of Connacht (1906) in which it's author, Douglas Hyde set down the words as he remembered them from the oral tradition. In the Divine Office (1974), it is included in the Religious Poems Appendix for Lent and Easter.
O KING OF THE FRIDAY
O King of the Friday
Whose limbs were stretched on the Cross,
O Lord who did suffer
The bruises, the wounds, the loss,
We stretch ourselves
Beneath the shield of thy might,
Some fruit from the tree of thy pass
Fall on us this night!
The Corpus Christi Carol is an anonymous poem first found in a manuscript believed to have been written around 1504. Scholars have speculated (among other things) that the text may be an allegorical portrayal of the suffering Christ as a wounded knight. In 1933 Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) used it in the fifth variation of his choral composition: A Boy was Born, a version of which is featured in the following video. In the Divine Office (1974), Corpus Christi Carol is included in the Hymns and Religious Poems (Lent and Eastertide) Appendix.
3rd Century Mosaic: Christ as Sol Invictus - Courtesy Wikipedia
Jesus, the Sun of Ransomed Earth is a translation by Monsignor Ronald A. Knox (1888 - 1957) of the 6th century Latin hymn: Iam, Christe, Sol Iustitiae, traditionally sung at Lauds during Lent before Holy Week. In accordance with the reforms of Pope Urban VIII, in the 17th century it was revised and re-titled: O Sol Salutis, Initimis. In the Divine Office (1974), Jesus, the Sun of Ransomed Earth is one of the suggested hymns for Lent, with the added note that it is "more suitable for Morning Payer". The Office recommends it be sung to the tune: O Invidenda Martyrum, a Dijon Church Melody. An alternative tune that can also be used is Duke Street, as featured in the following video.
Alternative Tune: Duke Street
IAM, CHRISTI, SOL IUSTITIAE
1. Iam, Christe, sol iustitiae,
mentis dehiscant tenebrae,
virtutum ut lux redeat,
terris diem cum reparas.
2. Dans tempus acceptabile
et paenitens cor tribue,
convertat ut benignitas
quos longa suffert pietas.
3. Quiddamque paenitentiae
da ferre, quo fit demptio,
maiore tuo munere,
culparum quamvis grandium.
4. Dies venit, dies tua,
per quam reflorent omnia;
laetemur in hac ut tuae
per hanc reducti gratiae.
5. Te rerum universitas,
clemens, adoret, Trinitas,
et nos novi per veniam
novum canamus canticum.
O SOL SALUTIS, INITIMIS
1. O sol salutis, initimis,
Jesu, refulge mentibus,
Dum, nocte pulsa, gratior
Orbi dies renascitur.
2. Dans tempus acceptabile,
Da lacrimarum rivulis
Lavare cordis victimam,
Quam laeta adurat caritas.
3. Qua fonte manavit nefas,
Fluent perennes lacrimae,
Si virga poenitentiae
Cordis rigorem conterat.
4. Dies venit, dies tua,
In qua reflorent omnia:
Laetemur et nos, in viam
Tua reducti dextera.
5. Te prona mundi machina,
Clemens, adoret, Trinitas,
Et nos novi per gratiam
Novum canamus canticum.
O God, Creator of Us All is written by the Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey. In the Divine Office (1974) it is one of the optional hymns used during Lent. The recommended tune in the Divine Office is Severn View. An alternative tune that can also be used is the Old Hundredth, as featured in the following video.
God, of Thy Pity, Unto Us Thy Children is a translation by Alan G. McDougall (1895-1964) of the Latin hymn: Aures Ad Nostras Deitatis Preces. It was first published in 1916 as part of his collection of 29 translations: Pange Lingua - Breviary Hymns of Old Verses with an English Rendering. Of Aures Ad Nostras Deitatis Preces, the book adds this comment: "Found in ante-Tridentine Roman Breviaries, this hymn has now been superseded by O sol salutes, intimis. It's loss is much to be regretted, as it is one of the most beautiful examples of mediaeval hymnody." God, of Thy Pity, Unto Us Thy Children is set to the the 1630 German tune: Herzliebster Jesu by the Lutheran minister, Johann Heermann (1585-1647) and adapted by Johann Crüger (1598-1662). In the Divine Office (1974) it is used as an optional hymn for Lent.
Tune: Herzliebster Jesu
GOD, OF THY PITY, UNTO US THY CHILDREN tr. by Alan G. McDougall, 1916 (Public Domain)*
1. God, of thy pity, unto us thy children
Bend down thine ear in thine own lovingkindness,
And all thy people's prayers and vows ascending
Hear, we beseech thee.
2. Look down in mercy from thy seat of glory.
Pour on our souls the radiance of thy presence,
Drive from our weary hearts the shades of darkness,
Lightening our footsteps.
3. Free us from sin by might of thy great loving,
Cleanse thou the sordid, loose the fettered spirit,
Spare every sinner, raise with thine own right hand
All who have fallen.
4. Reft of thy guiding we are lost in darkness,
Drowned in the great wide sea of sin we perish,
But we are led by thy strong hand to climb the
Ascents of Heaven
5. Christ, very light and goodness, life of all things,
Joy of the whole world, infinite in kindness,
Who by the crimson flowing of thy life-blood
From death hast saved us,
6. Grant to our souls a holy fount of weeping,
Grant to us strength to aid us in our fasting,
And all the thousand hosts of evil banish
Far from thy people.
AURES AD NOSTRAS DEITATIS PRECES*
1. Aures Ad Nostras Deitatis Preces
Deus inclina pietate sola,
Supplicum uota suscipe precamur
Famuli tui.
2. Respice clemens solio de sancto.
Vultu sereno lampades illustra,
Lumine tuo tenebras repelle
Pectore nostro.
My Song is Love Unknown was written by Anglican Priest and Dean of Bristol Cathedral, Samuel Crossman (c.1624-1698). It was first published in 1664 as part of his only collection of hymns: The Young Man's Meditation, a modest pamphlet containing 9 poems. The tune, Love Unknown is by the English composer John Ireland (1879-1962). It was composed one day in 1918 over lunch with his friend Geoffrey Shaw (1879-1943). Shaw suggested he compose a new setting for My Song is Love Unknown. On a scrap of paper, Ireland proceeded to write out the melody in less than 15 minuets. The next year it was published in the Public School Hymnal which Shaw was editor. In the Divine Office (1974) it is used during Lent and Holy Week.
Man of Sorrows, Wrapt in Grief was written by author, Matthew Bridges (1800-1894). He was one of several Anglicans in the 19th century that were greatly influenced by John Henry Newman and the Oxford Movement. In 1848, Bridges joined the Roman Catholic Church. The tune recommended in the Divine Office (1974) for Man of Sorrows, Wrapt in Grief is Afron, but myself and others have not found any information about it. As an alternative (see video below), the tune: Aberystwyth is commonly used with this text in other hymnals. In the Divine Office it is used during Lent and Holy Week.
Lord Jesus, Think On Me is a translation of the Greek hymn, Mnoheo Christe by Synesius of Cyrene (c.375-430). He was the Bishop of Ptolomais, one of the ancient capitals of Cyrenaica that is today part of modern day Libya. Early in life he was schooled in Greece and Alexandria in Neo-Platonism. We still have many of his letters, essays, and homilies. Mnoheo Christe is one of 10 hymns that he is believed to have written. In 1876 it was translated by the Anglican Priest, Allen William Chatfield (1808-1896). His text is set to the tune, Southwell (Daman), written in 1579 by William Daman. In the Divine Office (1974), Lord Jesus, Think On Me is used during Lent and Holy Week.
