These Like Stars Appearing

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:1 (KJV)

When I've entered an Orthodox cathedral or church I have been struck by that phrase "so great a cloud of witnesses".   So often not just the iconostasis  but the walls, ceilings and sometimes even the floors are aglow with icons, enamels, mosaics portraying the many witnesses or saints of the faith.  Whither it be by candle or sunlight the effect can be almost overwhelming.   To commemorate the second day of this Allhallowstide I went through photos from our trip to the Baltic and thought I'd share one or two places that made that passage from Hebrews come to life for me.

Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe and is dedicated to the Dormition of the Blessed Mother.  It was built between 1862-68 with bricks that came from the Bomarsund fortress in Aland, which had been destroyed during the Crimean War in 1854.

The present Saint Issac's Cathedral is the fourth church to be built on the site in St Petersburg.  Construction took over forty years to complete at the astronomical cost of one million gold roubles. 

The Cathedral of the Resurrection in St Petersberg is better known as the Church of Our Savoir on Spilled Blood.  It was built to the memory of Czar Alexander II on the spot where he was assassinated on March 13, 1881.  Unlike most of the churches in St Petersberg Spilled Blood echoes  the Medieval Russian style rather than the Baroque or Neoclassical.  

In searching for something appropriate for the Feast of All Saints I was surprised that, given it is a major feast in the church calendar, no major classical composer appears to have written a mass specifically for the day.  And even more surprised that the 1959 Anglican hymnal lists only four specific hymns for the second commemoration of Allhallowstide.  Of these one was the standard For all the saints - a hymn which I love; however also one that I have posted before on this day.

Who are these like stars appearing was translated by Frances E. Cox in 1841 from a 1719 German text by Theobald Heinrich Schenk.  The music setting is Old All Saints from the Geistreiches Gesangsbuch (Spiritual Songbook) of Johann Anastasisu Freylinghausen; this was a collection of some 1500 hymns and spiritual songs published in 1704.  It was expanded and republished every two or three years from 1714 until the mid-1730s.  Frances Elizabeth Cox was well-known as a translator of German hymns and published two collections during her lifetime.

November 1 -1512: The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

Once Again We Give Thanks - II

Honour the fruits of thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thy increase; so shall they barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Proverbs 3: 9-10
King James Bible (1611)

I was surprised on Saturday when two friends on Facebook - one English, the other a New Zealander - both expressed surprise at Canadians celebrating Thanksgiving.  Their immediate assumption was that it was an "American" holiday.

I've written in several Thanksgiving posts about the Canadian tradition of Thanksgiving back to our Native Peoples. Every culture has its traditions and rituals - many of them to do with religious observances just as many not - to give thanks for events, victories and always for the harvest. One of the most surprising Canadian thanksgivings were the celebrations - Te Deums, the non-stopping ringing of bells and feasting for days - that went on in the streets of Montreal in 1805.  The news of Nelson's victory over the "Royal Usurper" Bonaparte stirred up the entire population of the city - French and English - and the French merchants subscribed to a monument to Nelson that stands in the centre of Old Montreal to this day.  The defeat of "le petit caporal" was indeed a reason to give thanks for the many families of Royalist heritage in the city and province.

But back to the more traditional Harvest Thanksgiving as celebrated here in Canada; the folks at Canada411 put out a little chart a few years ago that gives some pertinent facts about the holiday as observed here in Canada.  I do take exception to their need to make a comparison with the American holiday but they are right about the earlier harvest - it was 3c this morning when I took the kids out for their walk.

And of course being politically correct the good folks at Canada411 have omitted the religious observance from which our current tradition derives.  I have spoken before of the Harvest Thanksgiving services I recall as a child in our small parish church and later as an acolyte at St Thomas Huron Street.  To this day the words and music of those Matins, Masses and Evensongs remind me of the many things for which I have every reason to give thanks.

Strangely the Hymnal lists only a handful of hymns for the Harvest Thanksgiving but I recall we sang them all at one time or another.  In 1861 Jane Montgomery Campbell translated Mathias Claudius 1782 poem Wir flügen und wir struen and it became We plough the fields and scatter.  The music is the original German setting composed in 1800 by Johann A. P. Schulz.

The Collect for Harvest Thanksgiving

O Almighty and everlasting God, who crownest the year with thy goodness, and hast given unto us the fruits of the earth in their season; Give us grateful hearts, that we may unfeignedly thank thee for all thy loving kindness, and worthily magnify they name.

The Book of Common Prayer

Canada 1959

No matter if we are Canadian or American; no matter if we celebrate a harvest, an event or a victory; no matter if we believe in the faith of Christ, Buddha,the Earth Mother or simply a power higher than ourselves; most of us have reason to give thanks for the bounty that has been given us.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends. 

October 8 - 1904: Edmonton, Alberta was incorporated as a city.