For All that Is Our Life

"For All that Is Our Life," one of my favorite hymns from the Unitarian Universalist hymnal (# 128 in Singing the Living Tradition). A beautiful song of gratitude. I love the tune, I love the words, and I love the lilting piano accompaniment. It is a beautiful affirmation to make our own days glad.

 

For all that is our life we sing our thanks and praise;

for all life is a gift which we are called to use

to build the common good and make our own days glad.

For needs which others serve, for services we give,

for work and its rewards, for hours of rest and love;

we come with praise and thanks for all that is our life.

For sorrow we must bear, for failures, pain, and loss,

for each new thing we learn, for fearful hours that pass:

we come with praise and thanks for all that is our life.

For all that is our life we sing our thanks and praise;

for all life is a gift which we are called to use

to build the common good and make our own days glad.

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Even When He is Silent

I heard this beautiful anthem today at the Birmingham Unitarian Universalist Church. The church bulletin told us that the words were found on the walls of a concentration camp after World War II. The music was composed by Kim André Arnesen. The anthem is performed here by the St. Olaf Choir at Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway.

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A Tribute to the Notre Dame Cathedral

From the YouTube site:

"...Notre-Dame de Paris (meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, was a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral was considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. Its innovative use of the rib vault and flying buttress, its enormous and colorful rose windows, and the naturalism and abundance of its sculptural decoration set it apart from the earlier Romanesque style...

"Track List:
00:00 - 06:10 | Pange Ligua Gloriosi
06:11 - 12:37 | Ave Maria (Franz Biebl) - Riga Chamber Choir Ave Sol
12:38 - 18:34 | Introit Antiphons
18:35 - 21:04 | Adoremus in Aeternum
21:05 - 22:27 | O Salutaris Hostia
22:28 - 25:51 |Ave Verum Corpus
25:52 - 33:20 | Hymn of the Cherubim, Tchaikovsky"

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Ave Maria (Bruckner) From the Notre Dame Cathedral

From the YouTube site posted on April 16, 2019:

The Georgia Boy Choir offers this video as a tribute to the iconic monument to Beauty, Goodness, and Truth that has stood in Paris for centuries. We pray that it may one day be restored.




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Sing We of the Blessed Mother

A hymn for this day, the Feast f the Annunciation, was shared by Scott Gun over at Seven Whole Days. The words are by George Timms, and it is set to the tune, "Rustington." Sung here by the choir at the Church of St.Thomas Fifth Avenue (New York City).

   

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The Hymn of St. Patrick

For St. Patrick's Day, the Hymn of St. Patrick (also known as St. Patrick's Breastplate) sung by the Choir of Keble College.

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Black Christ of the Andes (Mary Lou Williams)

In 1962, jazz pianist virtuoso Mary Lou Williams composed Black Christ of the Andes. The choral work was written in honor of the newly canonized Peruvian brother of the Dominican Order, Martin de Porres. St. Martin de Porres was the son of a freed slave and a Spanish gentleman. A barber by trade, as a Dominican lay brother he was known for his nonjudgmental care for the sick in the infirmary. Today he is the patron saint of mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, and all those seeking racial harmony.

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