Hymn to All Saints

The Congregation of all the Saints of the Pecherskaya Lavra (Monastery of the Caves)
Late 17th-early 18th century Workshop of the Kiyev Percherskya Lavra

Anyone who has read my blog with any regularity knows that I love the rituals, words and music of the church - any church. Though my background is decidedly Protestant - first surplice-and-stole Anglican then Presbyterian - I always had a leaning towards the more formal worship of the Anglo-Catholic form, the pre-Vatican II Roman rites and the mysticism of the Orthodox Church.  And another things that my faithful reader may recall that I have a few Feast Days which I am rather fond off - chief amongst them Epiphany, Maundy Thursday, All Souls and the preceding day All Saints.

Today being the Feast of All Saints I thought I would combine that favoured feast with a lovely piece of liturgical music from the Orthodox Church.  This piece comes from the Serbian Orthodox tradition and hymns all the Saints.

The cantor in this piece, recorded by Melodi Ensemble, is Divna Ljubojevic.  Born in Belgrade in 1970 the talent of this remarkable singer was nurtured by Mother Agnija, Abbess of Vavedenje Monastery.   From an early age she was tutored in a tradition Karlovatz chants and Byzantine and Russian modalities that have been lovingly preserved by the sisters of the Monastery.  Founded in 1991 Melodi dedicates itself to a repertoire of Orthodox sacred music, from the ancient monadic and polyphonic Byzantine, Serbian, Bulgarian and Russian chant, to contemporary works.

And in an effort to combine my Irish heritage, my Anglican background and my love of Orthodox Icons:
this modern Icon of All Saints of the British Isles and Ireland.

01 November - 1512: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.