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).

Final ACNA Book of Common Prayer online

I've been meaning to report that the final Book of Common Prayer 2019 — and a brand new website and URL (bcp2019.anglicanchurch.net) — are now online. Unlike the earlier task force website (“Texts for Common Prayer”) and resources of the past seven years, this is a polished, professional website — actually much more attractive than the main ACNA website. This new push is in anticipation of next month’s national Assembly, where attendees will head home with the new prayer book.

The website includes an 812 page downloadable (unlocked) PDF version of the full prayer book. Its navigation tabs include

• BCP Text: to download the full PDF, or a PDF or Word copy of one of the 12 major sections of the prayer book.
• Purchase: direct purchase of either the $17 pew book or the $30 imitation leather “deluxe” edition.
• History: a reprint of the preface signed by the first two ACNA archbishops, Bob Duncan and Foley Beach.
• Resources: bulletin inserts for Years A,B,C and the Holy Days which remain constant across all three years; also some residual explanatory materials from the task force days.

Both the inserts and the prayer book itself make it clear that for nearly all purposes, the preferred ACNA readings are now the BCP2019 (“New Coverdale”) for psalms and the ESV for everything else.

Share and Share Alike

The ACNA has aggressively moved into the 21st century with the copyright policy for both its liturgy and its new psalter:

With the exception of the New Coverdale Psalter, the content of the Book of Common Prayer (2019) is not under copyright, and all not-for-profit reproduction of the content by churches and non-profit organizations is permitted. The New Coverdale Psalter is copyright © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America, but this is not intended to discourage the use and duplication of the text by churches for purposes of worship. 

The right to print the Book of Common Prayer (2019) has been granted exclusively to Anglican Liturgy Press, an imprint of Anglican House Media Ministry, Inc. Any for-profit publication requests must be addressed to Anglican House Media Ministry www.anglicanhousemedia.org

As someone who’s taught IP law for almost 20 years, this dual business model — free online, exclusive rights for dead tree versions — is the only practical approach for the 21st century. While hymnals and (many) hymns are tightly restricted by 3rd party copyrights, liturgy material needs to be shared (not monetized): this is one genie that’s not going back into the bottle.

This approach is in marked contrast to the policies that restrict online sharing  policies of the Church of England and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and even to the reluctant openness of The Episcopal Church when tech-savvy members sought to put the 1979 prayer book online decades ago. It appears that the Anglican Church of Canada also “gets” it.

Companion Online Resource: Lergeme.com

In contrast to the 1662, 1928 or 1979 prayer books — or the Revised Common Lectionary — there are limited online resources for the BCP2019 beyond the official ACNA website.

What is available is Lergeme.com, which provides the Morning and Evening Prayer updated daily, as well as the fixed offices (such as midday and compline). In a separate, extremely useful feature — modeled on a similar feature at CommonPrayer.org — the Lergeme site provides a calendar that allows a reader to bring up the variable Daily Office and Eucharist readings for any given day.

The site does not use the the BCP2019 psalter. While it allows for alternate Bible translations, beyond the default ESV there are only a handful of modern translations (Good News, The Message, NASB). I can’t get the “About” feature to work on any of my three browsers, so right now I also can’t figure out who to credit with its creation.

As an initial website, it’s a very good starting point. The most useful addition would be a podcast or website of recorded services, for those who regularly practice the Daily Office.

About the Book of Common Prayer 2019

The website and the first five pages of the printed (or PDF) prayer book contain a 2,278 word preface about the context of the new liturgy. After tracing the history of Anglican liturgy from the 2nd to the 17th centuries, the final 370 words of the BCP2019 preface discusses the past 40 years:

The liturgical movement of the 20th century and ecumenical rapproachment in the second half of that century had an immense impact on the Prayer Book tradition. The Book of Common Prayer 1979 in the United States and various Prayer Books that appeared in Anglican Provinces from South America to Kenya to South East Asia to New Zealand were often more revolutionary than evolutionary in character. Eucharistic prayers in particular were influenced by the re-discovery of patristic texts unknown at the Reformation, and often bore little resemblance to what had for centuries been the Anglican norm. Baptismal theology, especially in North America, was affected by radical revisions to the received Christian understanding, and came perilously close to proclaiming a gospel of individual affirmation rather than of personal transformation and sanctification.

At the beginning of the 21st century, global reassessment of the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 as “the standard for doctrine, discipline and worship” shapes the present volume, now presented on the bedrock of its predecessors. Among the timeless treasures offered in this Prayer Book is the Coverdale Psalter of 1535 (employed with every Prayer Book from the mid-16th to the mid-20th centuries), renewed for contemporary use through efforts that included the labors of 20th century Anglicans T.S. Eliot and C.S. Lewis, and brought to final form here. The Book of Common Prayer (2019) is indisputably true to Cranmer’s originating vision of a form of prayers and praises that is thoroughly Biblical, catholic in the manner of the early centuries, highly participatory in delivery, peculiarly Anglican and English in its roots, culturally adaptive and missional in a most remarkable way, utterly accessible to the people and whose repetitions intended to form the faithful catechetically and to give them doxological voice.

The Book of Common Prayer 2019 is the product of the new era of reform and restoration that has created the Anglican Church in North America. The Jerusalem Declaration of 2008 located itself within the historic confines of what is authentically the Christian Faith and the Anglican patrimony, and sought to restore their fullness and beauty. The Book of Common Prayer 2019 is offered to the same end.