Hymnography Unbound: Hymn to St. Anne

Hymnography Unbound: Hymn to St. Anne


St. Anne, mother of The Blessed Virgin Mary, is the patroness of women in labor, housewives, cabinet makers, grandmothers, and miners. The city of Santa Ana, CA was also named in her honor. According to the Gospel of James, St. Anne and her husband Joachim, after years of childlessness, were visited by an angel who told them that they would conceive a child. Anne promised to dedicate the child to God's service. Her feast day is traditionally celebrated today, the 26th of July.

You Are Mine

The words of this song by David Haas comfort me during difficult times in my life. Although it is written in the voice of God, which is nowadays highly discouraged, it reflects God's unconditional and unwavering love: "I will call your name, embracing all your pain, come and rest in Me" and "You will hear My voice, I claim you as my choice, stand up, now walk and live!"

God So Loved the World

An excerpt from John Stainer's "The Crucifixion." Typically performed during the Christmas season, however our choir sung it this past Sunday in keeping with the theme of Love. Our administrator gave a beautiful homily on the power of Love, how it changes both the Lover and the Beloved. I have seen this in my own life and so it truly hit home for me. True Love is unselfish, unwavering, patient, and kind. These were things that I had not been before, and am learning now. It is truly edifying. To think that God loves us so much that we can scarcely imagine the infiniteness!

"God so loved the world,
God so loved the world,
That He gave His only begotten Son,
That whoso believeth, believeth in Him
Should not perish, should not perish
But have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world
To condemn the world,
God sent not His Son into the world
To condemn the world:
But that the world through Him might be saved."

Sicut Cervus

Our choir performed this motet by Palestrina for the first time this past weekend, a work that is "by many accounts the most outstanding example of religious choral art from the Renaissance" (CNP).

Here is the Latin with translation:

Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus.

As a deer longs for springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.