“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder. for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg.
We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg.
We must be hatched or go bad. “ C.S. Lewis
Archive for the ‘Easter’ Tag
Easter Egg Hunt! Leave a comment
Alleluia! Leave a comment
He is risen, he is risen! Tell it out with joyful voice! He has burst his three days’ prison, let the whole wide earth rejoice:
death is conquered, we are free, Christ has won the victory!
May Almighty God, who has redeemed us and made us his children through the resurrection of his Son, our Lord,
bestow upon you the riches of his blessing. Amen.
May God, who has bought us out of bondage to sin into true and lasting freedom in the Redeemer, bring you to your eternal inheritance. Amen.
And the blessing of God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the Sustainer be upon you and remain with you for ever. Amen.
Do you believe this? Leave a comment
The contrast between the stark cross that emerges after Palm Sunday worship, and the living, flowering cross of Easter Sunday provides a fragrant, and colorful reminder of the promise of New Life through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
Photos courtesy of J. Rochelle
Lunch on the Lawn, and the Egg Hunt! Leave a comment
Church of the Epiphany gathered for lunch on the lawn after the 11:00 Resurrection Sunday Worship Service. The Magnolia and Maple trees provided shade, the congregation provided food to share, and God provided sunshine, a gentle breeze, and flowering azaleas! Everyone relaxed together and enjoyed the sight of happy children searching the green grass for colorful Easter Eggs!
Photos courtesy of J Rochelle
Resurrection Worship Leave a comment
Church of the Epiphany celebrated the Risen Christ on Sunday, April 24, 2011. The Paschal candle was lit, the Alleluia banner was unfurled!
Photos courtesy of J. Rochelle
Music Notes for 24 April, 2011 Leave a comment
Two women come looking for the burial site of the Alleluia, as the Gospel of Matthew’s account of Resurrection Morning is read (28:1-8). Finding it beneath the altar, they unfurl the banner and quickly carry it to the procession waiting to enter the church with joyful singing of countless Alleluias! Organ music returns full-throated with deep foundations and brilliant trumpet sounds.
A Threefold Alleluia is the refrain for the Canticle: “Pascha nostrum: Christ our Passover is sanctified for us; therefore let us keep the feast!” We sing our most festive setting of the “Sanctus: Holy, holy, holy” by William Mathias and of the “Pater noster: Our Father” by David Hurd.
The text and tune of Hymn 192, “This joyful Eastertide,” is the basis for the choir’s anthem by Joseph Goodman, my composition teacher in graduate school. It gives the men a vocal workout.
Concluding my nine-week series of preludes and fugues is today’s “Prelude & Fugue” by Belgian composer Joseph Jongen, also finishing my playing here at Church of Epiphany, all his works I’ve been able to find. The “Prelude” is a toccata, fast finger bell-like figures above a happy tune for the feet. The “Fugue” has a sprightly, dance-like subject for celebration.
Ending the series of Helmut Walcha’s compositions on Lutheran hymns is “Christ ist erstanden: Christ is arisen,” during communion.
Another toccata is the postlude: ”O filii et filiae: Ye sons and daughters” (Hymn 203) by the late Canadian virtuoso, Lynnwood Farnam.
John Roberts, Organist and Choirmaster
Church of the Epiphany, Norfolk, VA
