Ship of Fools: Maundy Thursday Opening Hymn

Thread: Maundy Thursday Opening Hymn Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Martin L (# 11804) on :

Every year we struggle to choose decent hymns for Maundy Thursday. Our key "Passion" hymns are used
either on Palm/Passion Sunday or on Good Friday.

The peskiest hymn to choose is the opening hymn.

What are your Maundy Thursday must-have entrance hymns?
What would be your ideal Maundy Thursday hymn?
Any other suggestions or advice?

Posted by Zach82 (# 3208) on :

I always thought Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy was good for Maundy Thursday. It's not in the Episcopal Hymnal, though, it's a holdover from my Methodist days.

Zach

Posted by New Yorker (# 9898) on :

Didn't we discuss this a while back? I recall Triple Tiara insisting that the opening hymn for Holy Thursday be a hymn about the cross. Others thought, "At That First Eucharist."

Posted by Adrian1 (# 3994) on :

"All ye who seek a comfort sure"

Posted by Robin (# 71) on :

Last year the first hymn was "This is the night, dear friends, the night for weeping", to the tune Intercessor. HymnQuest tells me that the hymn is by Richard Sturch, from the Latin of Peter Abelard.

I expect we'll sing it again this year. I'll also see if we can get the traditional plainsong Ubi Caritas included at some point, though if do sing it I expect it will either be 100% English or else macaronic.

Robin

Posted by Robin (# 71) on :

(Apologies for double post). In the past, we've sung the Scottish Paraphrase "Twas on that night when doomed to know" to Rockingham, which of course associates the hymn with "When I survey the wondrous Cross".

Robin

Posted by uffda (# 14310) on :

One of our "must-haves" is "Around You, O Lord Jesus, Your Own You Gather Still".

Posted by AberVicar (# 16451) on :

The heavenly Word, proceeding forth
Yet leaving not his Father's side,
And going to his work on earth
Has reached at last life's eventide.

Sung to 'Wareham' - it covers the Last Supper and, being by Thomas Aquinas, has a fine depth of eucharistic theology.

None better!

Posted by fletcher christian (# 13919) on :

Tis easy- turn organ off after Gloria

Posted by Oblatus (# 6278) on :

Our opening hymn tends to be "Thou, who at thy first Eucharist didst pray" to the tune Song 1 by Gibbons.

Posted by Martin L (# 11804) on :

quote:
Originally posted by fletcher christian:
Tis easy- turn organ off after Gloria

Even in churches I've attended where this has happened, it has never meant the end of hymn-singing. They are simply sung without accompaniment.

Besides, we don't use the Gloria on Maundy Thursday. (At one time I supported its absence, but it use has grown on me, and I can still feel the chills down my spine of the hollow bell-ringing followed by a nice minor-key Gloria.)

[ 11. March 2012, 21:21: Message edited by: Martin L ]

Posted by dj_ordinaire (# 4643) on :

Most of the Anglo-catholic churches I've been involved with have had Eucharistic hymns throughout the Maundy Thursday Mass. It would probably be good to have something relating to the foot-washing as well but I don't really know any along those lines!

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

Maundy Thursday isn't Corpus Christi, so plain eucharistic hymns aren't enough, I'd suggest.

Something about service, about sacrifice or about priesthood?

The Taize Ubi caritas during the foot washing always got me: it was the only bit of singing in the year at my last church that wasn't a metric hymn or the common of the mass.

Posted by George6833 (# 14995) on :

Please don't forget to add "Ah Holy Jesu" 'Herzliebster Jesu' Episcopal Hymnal 1940 # 71, 1982 #158. Very middle of the road as far as Holy Week goes, bridging Plam Sunday, yet not quite getting into the gore of Good Friday. Always gets me to think. Excellent for the end of the stripping of the altar,or ommiting that, an excellent recessional, then ending in silence.

Posted by NatDogg (# 14347) on :

I agree, George. "Ah, Holy Jesus" is a good one. It gets me every time as well. It is powerful, simple, and as you note not full of full-blown Good Friday gore. One of the best Holy Week hymns out there.

Posted by seasick (# 48) on :

"We sing the praise of him who died" to Bow Brickhill would be my preferred opener for Maundy Thursday.

Posted by St.Silas the carter (# 12867) on :

For years it was "Thou, who at thy first Eucharist" sung to Unde et Memores, but the past three years, it's been Lift High the Cross, with 'Thou, who at thy first Eucharist' at the offertory. It looks like this year we'll have 'Hail True Victim, Life and Light' at the entrance instead.

Posted by sonata3 (# 13653) on :

Surprised that "Schmuecke dich" has not come up (as an entrance hymn) - particularly if the organist is up to one of Bach's chorale-preludes on that tune.
I worked at a Catholic parish for many years that used the "Gloria in excelsis" as the entrance hymn on this particular day (St. Meinrad Mode VIII).

Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on :

quote:
Originally posted by George6833:
Please don't forget to add "Ah Holy Jesu" 'Herzliebster Jesu' Episcopal Hymnal 1940 # 71, 1982 #158. Very middle of the road as far as Holy Week goes, bridging Plam Sunday, yet not quite getting into the gore of Good Friday. Always gets me to think. Excellent for the end of the stripping of the altar,or ommiting that, an excellent recessional, then ending in silence.

This has been one of our Good Friday hymns, sung a capella, and it is goosebumps-inducing. This year we have an interim, who deems it necessary to change things just because, and I am hoping this hymn doesn't get lost. (Apologies for the tangent.)

Posted by The Silent Acolyte (# 1158) on :

MartinL, how about this, Hymn 190 from the 1940 Hymnal:

quote:
Let thy Blood in mercy poured,
      Let thy gracious Body broken,
Be to me, O gracious Lord,
      of thy boundless love the token.
Thou didst give thyself for me,
      Now I give myself to thee.

John Brownlie's 1907 translation from the Greek to Luise, from Johann Crueger's Praxis Pietatis Melica, 1653.

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

We always include (but not as the opening hymn), the hymn "An upper room did our Lord prepare". The words are by Frederick Pratt Green and we usually sing it to the traditional English melody Waly Waly. This fits in very well with the foot washing and leads into the Eucharist celebration.

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

'Great God, your love has called us here' would be eminently suitable as an opening hymn. It's specially set for Maundy Thursday in Common Praise (no. 133), set to Ryburn 88 88 88.

The words are here, although the tune is different to the one I know.

Posted by NatDogg (# 14347) on :

That's a good one too, Silent Acolyte! The harmony on that is fantastic.

Posted by magnum mysterium (# 3418) on :

'My song is love unknown', 'Love is his word, love is his way', 'A new commandment' would all work.

Posted by Choirboy (# 9659) on :

Maybe not an opener, but it isn't Maundy Thursday to me without "Go to dark Gethsemene" to Petra. That's usually our closer right before the stripping of the altar. Our others are the pange lingua and ubi caritas. We open with the chant schola on the introit, so don't have an opening hymn.

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

I once sang this at the start of Maundy Thursday. Words by Luke Cunningham number 185 in1976 Celebration Hymnal

Love is his word, Love is his way,
Feasting with men*, fasting alone,
Living and dying, rising again,
Love only love is his way.
Chorus: Richer than gold is the love of my Lord,
Beter than splendour and wealth

* Whoops. This might rule it out for some.

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

According to thy gracious word - it sets out the intention of the liturgy for that night.

Posted by PD (# 12436) on :

Maundy Thursday in our place is generally skewed towards the institution of the Eucharist. The usual opener is

"And now, O Father, mindful of the love that bought us once for all on Calv'ry's tree"

(1940 Hymnal #189)

The Gloria is up front on Maundy Thursday which is not the norm here as we are 1928 BCP.

"Now, my tongue, the mystery telling" (1940 Hymnal #199) is used as the MBS is moved to the altar of repose. We tend to use the organ to support the hymns, but not for the ordinary of the Mass.

PD

Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :

'A new commandment' is the anthem we normally sing on Maundy Thursday. (Sheppard, IIRC)

Posted by earrings (# 13306) on :

We come as guests invited
when Jesus bids us dine.
His friends on earth united
to share the bread and wine.
The bread of life is broken,
the wine is freely poured
for us, in solemn token
of Christ our dying Lord

the tune is O sacred head so it has wonderful resonances

Posted by angelicum (# 13515) on :

Surely it should be a hymn about the glory of the cross? The Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper (In Coena Domini) is the start of the Paschal Triduum, and the Latin introit Nos autem gloriari....Let us glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...seems to suggest that the Entrance hymn for that liturgy should centre around that theme.

In many churches, the vernacular hymn The Glory of the Cross we sing (Tune Wareham alt. Rockingham, Laudate 238) is sung or more contemporary churches may wish to use Dan Schutte's Let us ever glory in the cross of Christ

Posted by New Yorker (# 9898) on :

And, if I recall correctly, angelicum, your reference to an opening hymn about the cross was the same point that Triple Tiara made on the thread on this subject last year. Technically, I agree that it should be about the cross, but I think most folks think it should be about the Eucharist.

Posted by St.Silas the carter (# 12867) on :

I know at the National Shrine in DC, they use a hymn about the cross sung to the tune 'All Saints', or at least in recent years they have. I don't know what it is though, as usually by that point I have to leave for my own church.

Posted by malik3000 (# 11437) on :

quote:
Originally posted by New Yorker:
Didn't we discuss this a while back? I recall Triple Tiara insisting that the opening hymn for Holy Thursday be a hymn about the cross. Others thought, "At That First Eucharist."

I can see the logic of TT's viewpoint as that would be based on the traditional introit for the Maundy Thursday mass, i.e., St. Paul's quote about glorying in the Cross (sorry i don't have the exact citation at hand -- it's past my bedtime). At the same time i can see the logic in a hymn such as "At that First Eucharist"

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

Isn't the introit from Galatians, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"?

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

I suspect a lot of High Church Anglicans muddle up Maundy Thursday with Corpus Christi, when their congregations wouldn't go much for Corpus Christi.

Posted by Oblatus (# 6278) on :

quote:
Originally posted by venbede:
I suspect a lot of High Church Anglicans muddle up Maundy Thursday with Corpus Christi, when their congregations wouldn't go much for Corpus Christi.

We do Corpus Christi bigtime (Solemn Mass, procession, Benediction), which lets us keep Maundy Thursday very Holy Week-like: red vestments, no Gloria nor bells.

Posted by dj_ordinaire (# 4643) on :

quote:
Originally posted by venbede:
I suspect a lot of High Church Anglicans muddle up Maundy Thursday with Corpus Christi, when their congregations wouldn't go much for Corpus Christi.

I think the distinction is really between the celebration of the Rite of the Eucharist at the first, and an emphasis on the Real Presence of Christ at the latter. Corpus Christi is after all post-Ascension, and a good time to remind ourselves that 'He is with us evermore'. Or this has at any rate between my experience.

Posted by Morlader (# 16040) on :

quote:
Originally posted by earrings:
We come as guests invited
when Jesus bids us dine.
His friends on earth united
to share the bread and wine.
The bread of life is broken,
[Etc]
the tune is O sacred head so it has wonderful resonances

Yes, very good for any Eucharist, though perhaps not particular to M Thurs. Not my place to argue pros and cons of that.

Purpose of post: this hymn is by Bishop Timothy Dudley Smith and is Copyright. Hope Publishing handle TDS's royalties in US and Can and OUP, I think, in UK.

[ 14. March 2012, 18:21: Message edited by: Morlader ]

Posted by Pre-cambrian (# 2055) on :

For a long time the first hymn here has been "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" which is fine except for the last verse which features three [Paranoid]

Alleluias

in succession. It's an unexpected lapse.

Posted by ken (# 2460) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
For a long time the first hymn here has been "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" which is fine except for the last verse which features three Alleluias in succession. It's an unexpected lapse.

I think the stupendous magnificence and utter appropriateness of that song overrules any old superstitions about not singing hallelujah in Lent. (Which most people will never have heard of anyway)

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

"Let all mortal flesh" is a translation of the offertory chant in, I believe, the Liturgy of St James, which being Orthodox doesn't omit alleluia during Lent.

Ken - "custom" or "tradition" would be a softer, accurate and more diplomatic word than "superstition".

Posted by PD (# 12436) on :

quote:
Originally posted by venbede:
I suspect a lot of High Church Anglicans muddle up Maundy Thursday with Corpus Christi, when their congregations wouldn't go much for Corpus Christi.

I think most High Anglicans and Anglo-Catholics have different emphases for the two feasts. Maundy Thursday is about the institution of the Eucharist; Corpus Christi about the Real Presence.

However, Maundy Thursday in the newer rites can be a bit overloaded with the foot washing in addition to the institution of the Eucharist and the Stripping of Altars. It takes quite a bit of care to bring it off in the new rite, which is why I stick to the old!

PD

Posted by Angloid (# 159) on :

quote:
Originally posted by venbede:

Ken - "custom" or "tradition" would be a softer, accurate and more diplomatic word than "superstition".

Ken's usually (but not always) accurate, but soft and diplomatic are not epithets that spring to mind. Thank God.

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

quote:
Originally posted by PD:
However, Maundy Thursday in the newer rites can be a bit overloaded with the foot washing in addition to the institution of the Eucharist and the Stripping of Altars.
PD

Stripping of the Altars as a public act are not part of the newer Roman rite. But I might start another thread about this.

Posted by +Chad (# 5645) on :

We follow the CW custom of receiving the oils blessed at the Chrism Mass, so, with a slight tweak to the second verse to help it fit the context, we begin with "Blest by the sun, the olive tree".

Posted by Ashworth (# 12645) on :

We usually go relatively modern for our selection of hymns on Maundy Thursday. That is if you can still call hymns from the 1970's and 1980's modern!

This year we are having the following:
Introit: Love is his word, love is his way
Gradual: A new commandment I give unto you
After Footwashing: Meekness and majesty
Offertory: Here is bread, here is wine
During Communion: This is my body, broken for you.

However we always sing the tradional 'Of the glorious body telling' during the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose. This is then followed by the singing of Psalm 22 during the stripping of the altar etc.

Posted by pererin (# 16956) on :

I'd recommend Isaac Watts' Lo! The Destroying Angel Flies. It puts a nice emphasis on what a Passover meal was about, rather than the risk of an all too trivial "he had supper with his friends" interpretation.

Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :

Our customary opening hymn on MT is Patrick Appleford's Lord Jesus Christ, you have come to us, followed by:

Taize chant Ubi caritas during the Washing of Feet
Love is his word, love is his wayfor the Offertory
John Bell's Bread is blessed and broken during Communion
and (of course)
Now, my tongue, the myst'ry telling for the Procession to the Altar of Repose

BTW, I am praying earnestly to the Lord that as many of our peeps as possible attend the MT Mass - previous years have been a bit thin......

Ian J.

Posted by Adeodatus (# 4992) on :

Does nobody sing "Into one we all are gathered" any more? It can be a bit rumty-tum if it gets out of hand, but with a sensitive music leader, and sung more slowly and quietly than usual, it's a good opener and sets the mood nicely.

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

The most impressive Maundy Thursday sermon I have ever heard began "And, yes. We are about the same number..."

Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on :

I just checked our old bulletins to see what we did pre-interregnum on Maundy Thursday, and I'm afraid it's a bit mediocre [imho]. Anyway, our opening hymn was the Ubi Caritas hymn #577 in the H1982 (words copyright, Oremus can't display them). In the spirit of fair use, here then is just one verse:

quote:
Here in Christ we gather, love of Christ our calling.
Christ, our love, is with us, gladness be his greeting.
Let us fear and love him, holy God eternal.
Loving him, let each love Christ in one another.

During the footwashing we sing a Ghanian song from the 1982 hymnal, Jesu, Jesus, you fill us with your love, which, no apologies intended to the good people of Ghana, but it's painfully dull.
The Taizé songs are the best part: Mandatum Novum, Ubi Caritas, and Jesus, remember me (when you come into your kingdom) all by Jacques Berthier. We used those while moving between the church, the parish hall, and the chapel.

I'm not sure what we're doing this year but will post if there's anything more interesting than the above. Our interim uses the space differently for the Maundy Thursday liturgy, plus, we have a new organist/choirmaster this year so perhaps there will be a new approach.

[ 20. March 2012, 19:29: Message edited by: Mamacita ]

Posted by Perkin (# 16928) on :

I always thought we should see the worship of the Three Days, the Triduum, as one. Thats why there is no dismissal until the end of the Easter Mass.

I know not all traditions will see it that way.

But Maundy Thursday isn't Corpus Christi. It has in it themes too of betrayal, scattering, arrest ... It is the beginning of the great event of our salvation and so I'd vote for something like 'When I survey' as the opening hymn.

Posted by Martin L (# 11804) on :

Thank you all so much for the information.

The decision has been made to use Let all mortal flesh keep silence, but to omit the final verse. I think the consensus leaned toward a somber hymn. Myself, I would have preferred a more cheerful melody at the beginning of the Maundy Thursday liturgy, but I can certainly deal with the chosen hymn.

Mamacita, the copyrighted hymn to which you referred drives me crazy. I just don't like the music. I also am not a fan of Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love. In an Episcopal church's Maundy Thursday, I like this one from The Silent Acolyte, which also does appear in the Hymnal 1982 (off the top of my head, I believe it is Hymn 413). I would like to introduce it to my own church. The tune is actually contained in our hymnal, with a few differences, but my church never uses it.

[ 21. March 2012, 22:46: Message edited by: Martin L ]

Posted by Aravis (# 13824) on :

The entire Maundy Thursday reading is told in a Fisherfolk song, "Put on the apron of humility". I used to have it on an audio tape, but I've never heard it sung anywhere - it's very long and irregular in metre, and the chorus gets irritating. Has anyone else come across it?

Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :

venbede - we had just 12 at Maundy Thursday last year.......the same point was made....!

That was an unusually sparse congo - I am hoping (and praying) for a few more this year......but, in a way, it doesn't really matter, IYSWIM.......

Ian J.

Posted by Levavi (# 14371) on :

Many great ideas listed here! I think that, as one suggested, 'We sing the praise of him who died' is ideal in a setting where the proper Introit isn't used (Nos autem gloriari).
In a place where it is, opening space for covering a broader theme, two I think are wonderful are 'Praise to the Holiest' and 'God is love, let heaven adore him'.

Posted by georgiaboy (# 11294) on :

Not that I'm recommending it, but I just got a look at our service leaflet for Thursday, and the opening hymn is 'Sweet Sacrament Divine' sung to its traditional tune 'Divine Mystery.'

But then we're sort of an old-fashioned A-C place.

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

That hymn never fails to move me to tears.

Posted by venbede (# 16669) on :

If not tears, lump in the throat. Give me that old time religion. (Though a bit soupy for an introit, but personally I never mind singing it.)

Posted by St.Silas the carter (# 12867) on :

It looks like we're getting no opening hymn at all, instead, we're going to have the introit of the day chanted.

Posted by Fr Weber (# 13472) on :

Ours was Lauda Sion (i.e. 193/4 in the 1940 Hymnal). More Corpus Christi than Maundy Thursday, yes, and probably I'll lobby to change it next year. I think I like When I survey the wondrous cross better, especially considering the Introit.

Posted by Bos Loquax (# 16602) on :

My parish typically has both a hymn and an introit (choir), and Maundy Thursday was no exception: "Bread of heaven, on thee we feed" (tune "Jesu, Jesu, du mein Hirt"; #323 in our Hymnal 1982). Since this is my relatively new parish, I have no specific idea of recent history on this score.

I do not have any very strong or very specific preferences concerning the opening hymn as such, especially if having the introit "frees" us from choosing a parallel hymn in its place; I'd insist, however, that overall the hymns chosen for the day cover more than one theme, as the liturgy of the day does. If there's also fitting integration within a hymn, so much the better.

For instance, I do notice that "Bread of heaven, on thee we feed" not only covers the most obvious ground but also recalls, for example, John 15, which does not appear in our lectionary readings for the day but is appropriate for the day. (I should check again, but I wonder how much of the service theme was present in the hymns that we happened to have; for what I think were primarily logistical reasons, we did not have any footwashing.)

quote:
Originally posted by Oblatus:

quote:
Originally posted by venbede:
I suspect a lot of High Church Anglicans muddle up Maundy Thursday with Corpus Christi, when their congregations wouldn't go much for Corpus Christi.
We do Corpus Christi bigtime (Solemn Mass, procession, Benediction), which lets us keep Maundy Thursday very Holy Week-like: red vestments, no Gloria nor bells.

My parish has a history of Corpus Christi along those lines too, but on Maundy Thursday we had the Gloria and probably bells (I was probably the congregant with the farthest distance to travel and wound up missing the beginning). There was no instrumental accompaniment to any of the later hymns or chants, and in place of the usual Sanctus bells, there was some sort of clapper (I didn't look closely at which kind).

I've forgotten the color of the vestments, but for that one day only, there were white veils over the crucifix and other imagery; since the old "Passion Sunday" or the Fifth Sunday in Lent, the veils had been reddish violet, and on Good Friday the veils were black.

Although I haven't experienced this Gloria for myself (my old parish, when I was there, never used the Gloria on Maundy Thursday), I suspect that I would've appreciated its placement here. Then again, I do prefer some granularity, as appropriate, in the liturgical year--and, as appropriate, even within one service.

Posted by Martin L (# 11804) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Bos Loquax:
...Although I haven't experienced this Gloria for myself (my old parish, when I was there, never used the Gloria on Maundy Thursday), I suspect that I would've appreciated its placement here. Then again, I do prefer some granularity, as appropriate, in the liturgical year--and, as appropriate, even within one service.

The Gloria on Maundy Thursday is a haunting moment for me. On that night, one can palpably perceive the trepidation in the music and the voices. The ringing of bells makes it even more spine-tinglingly meaningful.

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