No doubt: Everyone's favorite St. Thomas hymn

The first Sunday after Easter is often called “low Sunday,” or sometimes as “Doubting Thomas Sunday.” Since the first English prayer book in 1549, the gospel reading has been from John 20:19-23, where Jesus greets the 11 and establishes auricular confession. More recently, that’s been extended toby adding verses 24-31, with the entire story of “Doubting” Thomas, appointed for all three years of the RCL and ACNA lectionaries. That was what we heard this morning at our 1928 BCP parish.

As I wrote in 2012, there is one hymn suitable for this date: “O sons and daughters let us sing!” set to the tune O Filii et Filiae. Here are excerpts from the Hymnal 1940 Companion (p. 73-74):

[The Latin original] was written by Jean Tisserand, a Franciscan monk, who died at Paris in 1949. It is first found in a small booklet without title printed between 1518 and 1536, probably at Paris.…The translation by John Mason Neale has been frequently altered since it was first published in his Mediævel Hymns and Sequences, 1851. 

The tune, O filli et filiae, is probably the original contemporary melody since none other has been used with the text. The earliest known form is a four-part setting … [from] 1623.

This hymn is #99 in my favorite hymnal (H40), with nine verses. The author notes that H40 drops three of the verses from Neale’s original, but it appears that the 1986 New English Hymnal adds a 10th verse after a very different adaptation of the same nine Neale verses.

All verses can be sung on Easter, but verses 1,5,6,7,8 are normally sung on low Sunday. The same hymn is #142 in Book of Common Praise 2017 (aka Magnify the Lord), the first hymnal published for ACNA usage, mainly as an update for H40 for traditional-language parishes.

As I noted earlier, Hymnal 1982 split this hymn into two separate hymns with the same tune: #203 with five Easter verses and #206 with six Doubting Thomas verses.

This month, I have been researching the second of my two-part review of Sing Unto the Lord, a 2023 hymnal published as a replacement for H82 for more contemporary language ACNA parishes. SUL replicates the H82 pattern (as it does in many other areas), with #170 with five Easter verses and #169 with six Doubting Thomas verses.

Since Covid, I've been monitoring the online bulletins for six Episcopal and ACNA parishes. Three sang the translated Tisserand text today: two H82 parishes sang #206, and one H40 parish sang #99, as we did at our Continuing parish.

Sadly, the Savannah, Georgia ACNA parish that is the home of Sing Unto the Lord did read John 20:19-31, but did not schedule hymn #169 from its hymnal. Instead, it had two regular Easter hymns (part of the overflow from Easter Sunday that often happens throughout early Eastertide).

Still, I think the message is clear: for those who focus on the Doubting Thomas story for low Sunday, there is one clear choice of a hymn — Neale’s opening verse, his five verses about John 20:19-31, plus (in some cases) three other verses from Neale’s longer original hymn — all set to the earliest known (if not only) tune used for this text.

Caravaggio, Incredulità di San Tommaso

Singing Mendelssohn for Rogation Sunday

Today is the Sunday traditionally called Rogation Sunday, the last Sunday of Easter. The concept was dropped in the 1979 prayer book/Hymnal 1982 — but more on that later.

Hymnal 1940 lists three hymns for Rogation Sunday:

• #101, “O Jesus, crowned with all renown” to the tune Rhinegold arranged by R. Vaughan Williams for The English Hymnal. In Hymnal 1940 it’s the only hymn in the Rogation section; in Hymnal 1982 it’s #202, while in Book of Common Praise 2017 it’s #148 and also in the Rogation section.
• #138, “We plow the fields,” a Thanksgiving/harvest hymn to the tune Claudius; also H82: 291 and BCP17: 204.
• #497, “O God of Bethel, by whose hand,” to Dundee (more often used for “Let saints on earth in concert sing”, #397). It continues in H82: 709 (gender neutered) and BCP17: 147 (the other hymn listed in the Rogation section).

We sang the first two today; the harmony for #138 was particularly fun to sing.

Mendelssohn’s Rogation Hymn

Despite these two hymns, my favorite today was the third one we sang: “We come unto our fathers’ God” (H40: 303; BCP17: 339; dropped from Hymnal 1982). The text by written by T.H. Gill in 1868 based on Psalm 90, and the hymn was also found in Hymnal 1916 (#424), where it is a Thanksgiving hymn.

Quoting from John Julian’s 1907 Dictionary of Hymnology, Hymnary.org says he wrote nearly 200 hymns, but “They are almost exclusively used by Nonconformists,” including Baptist and Congregationalist hymnals.

Both the 1916 and 1940 PECUSA hymnals call the tune To God on High, but BCP17 uses the more accurate name Allein Gott in der Höh.

The Hymnal 1940 Companion (p. 197) explains the origin of the name and arrangement:

In the Deutsch Evangelisch Messe, … “Gloria in excelsis” in Latin was set to its customary Easter plainsong. But for the Geistliche Lieder, 1539, Nicolaus Decius converted both words and tune into a German hymn, “Allein Gott in der Höh”. … The harmonization is that of the second chorus in Mendelssohn’s oratorio St. Paul…

Hymnary, quoting the 1988 Psalter Hymnal Handbook, says the original tune was a 10th century Easter chant.

It might be the biases of my classical music training that I prefer a name-brand musical setting, whether Bach or the Sanctus from Schubert’s Deutsche Messe (H82: S130). However, the reality is that with this training (and singing bass rather than soprano), when I’m sight-reading a hymn, it’s a lot more enjoyable when the arranger follows the voice leading and harmonic progression rules that prevailed from roughly Bach to Brahms.

In this case, other than a couple of octave leaps, Mendelssohn’s voice leading was very natural, and I easily mastered it in the first two verses.

Rogation Sunday

The “Rogation” days are named after rogare, Latin verb “to ask”. The 1912 New Advent Encyclopedia explains:

Days of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, instituted by the Church to appease God's anger at man's transgressions, to ask protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest, known in England as "Gang Days" and "Cross Week", and in Germany as Bittage, Bittwoche, Kreuzwoche. The Rogation Days were highly esteemed in England and King Alfred's laws considered a theft committed on these days equal to one committed on Sunday or a higher Church Holy Day. Their celebration continued even to the thirteenth year of Elizabeth, 1571, when one of the ministers of the Established Church inveighed against the Rogation processions, or Gang Days, of Cross Week.

Shepherd’s definitive Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary (p. 54) explains its history:

for St. Basil in Cappadocia and St. Chrysostom at Antioch tell us of the custom of singing litanies in public processions, often in rivalry with similar processions sponsored by the Arian heretics. In the Western Church these processional litanies were introduced to take the place of older pagan processions of a supplicatory character, usually made about the fields in springtime for the safety of the crops. They consisted not only of petitions but of miscellaneous anthems, and were known as ‘Rogations.’ During the sixth century the Roman Church instituted such a procession on April 25th to take the place of an old pagan festival, the Robigalia, in honor of the god Robigo who was believed to be a protector of the crops from mildew (see p. 237). Earlier than this, about the year 470, a Gallican bishop, Mamertus of Vienne, had inaugurated processional litanies on the three days preceding Ascension Day, at a time of special terror in the locality because of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The ‘Rogation Days’ thus instituted (see p. 261) were soon adopted by other churches in Gaul, then by a church council in England in 747, and finally by the Roman Church it- self in the time of Pope Leo III (795-816).

Readings for Rogation Sunday

Later on, Shepherd (p. 176) explains the readings published in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:

This Sunday is called Rogation Sunday because of the three Rogation Days which follow it.…But the propers of the day are older than the adoption of the Rogation Days at Rome, and the aptness of them to the Rogation theme is coincidental.

In the historic lectionary, the Epistle (James 1:22-27) and Gospel (John 16:23-33) continue the readings from the 4th Sunday after Easter (James 1:17-21; John 16:5-15). Shepherd notes that these readings for both weeks are found in the Roman and Sarum Missals, although they omit John 16:31-33. These identical readings are found in Cranmer’s original 1549 Book of Common Prayer, as well as the global standard for three centuries, the 1662 BCP.

In the three year lectionary of the 1979 prayer book, neither of these latter readings (for the “Sixth Sunday of Easter”) are retained, nor is the term “Rogation Sunday.” Depending on the year, the 1979 uses readings from 1 Peter, 1 John, Acts or Revelation (multiple alternatives are available) for the epistle, and John 14 or 15 for the gospel. The Revised Common Lectionary retains these readings, as does the 2019 ACNA liturgy. While Book of Common Praise 2017 continues Rogation hymns, Hymnal 1982 (like the 1979 prayer book) has dropped the observance.

The historic 1549/1662/1928 gospel reading includes this famous promise:

And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:23-24)

The earlier passages of John 14 and 15 convey the sense of obedience and union with God, but not the well-known promise “ask, and ye shall receive.” The ACNA liturgy restores the name “Rogation Sunday,” but not the command to ask our heavenly Father.

References

Massey Hamilton Shepherd, Jr., The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary (London: Oxford University Press, 1950).

Joint Commission, The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd ed. (New York: Church Pension Fund, 1951).

Thomas, John, Jean and John

I previously wrote about the quintessential “doubting Thomas” hymn, “O sons and daughters let us sing” (H40: 99; H82: 206). The English translation by John Mason Neale (of the Latin text “O Filli et Filiae”) was first published in his Medieval Hymns and Sequences (1851).

For the first Sunday after Easter, the doubting Thomas passage (John 20:19-31) is found in Years A,B and C of the Revised Common Lectionary as it was in the one year lectionary of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. The 1549, 1559 and 1662 BCP only read John 20:19-23, which has the fearful disciples in a locked room and Jesus showing his hands, but not Thomas satisfying his doubts.

However, I said little about the author of the original Latin text, Jean Tisserand. Little is known about him, other than he was a Franciscan monk, founded a women’s order, and died in Paris in 1494. His text is his most enduring legacy.

Even more mysterious is the origin of the tune, appropriately dubbed O Filli et Filiae, of which the oldest extant source is a Paris publication from 1624. The Hymnal 1940 Companion (1951, p. 74) says

The tune, O fillii et filiae, is probably the original contemporary melody since none other has been used with the text.

Thirty years later, the Hymnal Companion to the Lutheran Book of Worship (p.236) concluded essentially the same thing

O FILLI ET FILIAE belongs to this text and probably is contemporary with it.

Thus, I think it’s safe to say this is one of the oldest pairings of text (translated into the vernacular) with its corresponding tune. (The likely prize-winner is the plainsong Lord’s prayer, which is believed to be from the patristic era.)

As I’ve argued before, a central part of our Christian heritage is not just the teachings and beliefs of the church, but also the liturgy and music used to catechize those beliefs. Let us hope that the Church keeps Friar Tisserand’s contribution for another 500 years.

No doubt that Thomas is missed

In the RCL, today’s Gospel (John 20:19-31) is the Doubting Thomas passage. From the Authorized Version (verses 24-29):

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

This inspired the absolutely marvelous 15th century text (translated by the great J.M. Neale) of “O sons and daughters, let us sing” (Hymn #99 in my favorite hymnal):

When Thomas first the tidings heard,
how they had seen the risen Lord,
he doubted the disciples' word.
Alleluia!

"My piercèd side, O Thomas, see;
my hands, my feet, I show to thee;
not faithless but believing be."
Alleluia!

No longer Thomas then denied;
he saw the feet, the hands, the side;
"Thou art my Lord and God," he cried.
Alleluia!

How blest are they who have not seen,
and yet whose faith has constant been;
for they eternal life shall win.
Alleluia!

From decades of Episcopal singing, this are the only verses in the hymnal that I recall speaking to St. Thomas. Hymnal 1940 recommends using these verses for the First Sunday after Easter and other verses for Easter, so I guess it’s up to the music director or priest to pick and choose the right combination.

For a few minutes, I thought this passage about Thomas had been lobotomized by the editors of Hymnal 1982, since the text is no longer in Hymn #203. However, the editors (quite sensibly I think) split the nine verses into two hymns, with #203 using the Easter text and #206 including the Easter 2 verses about Thomas and the Apostles.

Three cheers for Hymnal 1982! (Regular readers know that such praise won’t happen again any time soon.)