3rd Sunday of Lent (Year C, 2010)

Entrance	Attende Domine
Kyrie	Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm	Ps 102 (Geoffrey Boulton Smith)
Gospel Acclamation	Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Prayers of Intercession	Lord, in your mercy (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts	The Crown of Roses (P.I. Tchaikovsky, 1840-1893)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Mass XVII and Missal tones
Agnus Dei	Mass XVII
Communion	Forget not what God has done (Marty Haugen)
Recessional	How great thou art (Carl Boberg, tr. Stuart K. Hine)

The arrangement by the late Richard Proulx of the Lenten penitential hymn Attende Domine sets Latin and English versions of the refrain, interspersed with verses in English. The men of the choir sang the Latin refrain, and everyone responded with the English one; the women’s voices supplied the verses in between. It felt like it worked well: sometimes when the people aren’t given enough to do, they seem reluctant to join in at all; but the strong refrain in this piece made it feel as though the assembly was being given a proper and dignified role, even if it was a limited one.

Tchaikovsky’s Legend tells of the young Jesus being crowned with thorns grown from the roses lovingly tended in his garden. It fitted, after a fashion, with the parable of the fig tree in today’s Gospel reading. It’s the kind of piece the choir thrives on: ample scope for drama and pathos, in a musical setting that, with simplicity and directness, tells a story. I think we did it justice.

To judge from internet discussions, the hymn How great thou art arouses a certain amount of strong feeling over the theology implicit in the words sent him to die. I don’t think the words really amount to heterodoxy from a Catholic perspective. In any event, it was clear that it was a song much loved by our singing assembly. Lex orandi, lex credendi notwithstanding, an old friend of mine said to me recently: it doesn't always make sense to dissect hymn texts right down to the bare bones. Sometimes images and metaphors are just that.