The Feast of St John… Apostle & Evangelist ( ‘the beloved’)
Crib
In the Golden Legend Isidore observes of St John, that he:
changed branches from the forests trees into gold and the pebbles of the beach into precious stones
St John was the Apostle who wrote both the fourth Gospel and the last book of the New testament – the Apocalypse (or Revelations)…it’s the opening words of his Gospel that’s said on Christmas Morning…’In the beginning was the Word….’ which may surprise many since most will be more familiar with the reading from the Gospel of Luke and its story of the angels appearing to the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night which is said at the Mass of Midnight.
Christmas is marked by three different masses…Midnight Mass; the Mass of Dawn or Aurora and the Mass of Christmas Day….the Gospel of the mass of dawn continues Luke’s narration and finds the shepherds arriving at the manger…these common ordinary men are the first to see the Infant Christ….
As noted the final mass of Christmas features St John’s very different account of salvation…and famous phrase ”And the Word was made flesh and came to dwell amongst us” that still encapsulates the essence of the Christian view of the meaning of Christ’s birth…and thus it makes obvious sense that this feast would be kept within the Christmas season…since St John defined so much of what Christians believed of unique significance about the events that took place in Bethlehem…
When I was a boy this same opening of St John’s Gospel was said at the end of every mass…it was called ‘the last gospel’…and at those words…the Word was made flesh…everyone genuflected….it has long been regarded as the first Word on the theology of Christianity and the first doctrinal assertion that Jesus was truly the Son of God…it is known as the Doctrine of the Logos…the first full explanation of the Incarnation…Logos being the Greek for word… and the gospel has much interest because St John repeatedly uses Greek philosophical language to describe the nature of Christ and the nature of the meanings of his actions and words…this language, this sense of the Word being synonymous for God the Son…is a profound moment in the story of emergent Christianity and its philosophical roots…and helps to explain how a largely Jewish cultural event becomes so readily absorbed into the Roman cultural experience….
For the historian it is clear that very early Christianity bathed in the waters of Greek philosophy and in so doing was able to explain itself in terms that could resonate in the wider culture contained by the Roman Empire….indeed Rome itself re-imagined itself at the linear descendant and inheritor of the traditions of Greek culture, politics and philosophy…
In the carol of the twelve days….the French Hens are said to be the virtues…Faith, Hope and Charity…equally they may reference the famous black hens of Burgundy…brought to England by the Normans and traditionally served in threes on chargers at great feasts…
The Vienna boys Choir sing a Ukranian Bell Carol that’s often sung on the third day…you can it on Youtube
Hark how the bells,
sweet silver bells,
all seem to say,
throw cares away
Christmas is here,
bringing good cheer,
to young and old,
meek and the bold,
Ding dong ding dong
That is their song
With joyful ring
All caroling
One seems to hear
Words of good cheer
From ev’ry where
Filling the air
Oh how they pound,
raising the sound,
o’er hill and dale,
telling their tale,
Gaily they ring
while people sing
songs of good cheer,
Christmas is here,
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas,
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas,
On on they send,
on without end,
their joyful tone to every home.
Dong Ding dong ding, dong Bong
Category:
Music
Tags:
Ucrainian bell carol Vienna boys choir christmas
Licence:
Standard YouTube Licence
► 2:30► 2:30
www.youtube.com/watch?v=njz3vqMR4Ew
22 Jan 2010 – 3 min – Uploaded by aNGLICANcHOIR92
“Carol of the Bells” (also known as the “Ukrainian Bell Carol”) is a choral miniature work … Ukranian Bell …
Ukranian bell carol – YouTube