In the fall of 1847, a French wine merchant, Pierre Cappeau, was asked by his local priest to write a Christmas poem. Not long after, Cappeau showed this poem, “Minuit, chrétiens,” to the famed French composer Adolphe Adam, and within a few days Adam had composed a musical setting for it. Cappeau took the new song back to his home town of Roquemaure, where it was first performed at a midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, 1847.
The standard English translation, by the American Unitarian minister and music critic John Sullivan Dwight, dates from 1855. “O Holy Night” is one of the most dramatically beautiful Christmas carols ever penned but is unfortunately performed only rarely because of the melody’s extended range.
André Rieu – O Holy Night
Matthew 2:6 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”
The Other Christmas Gift
A reminder for us in all the hustle and bustle of the day just what is really important.
When faced with a tough decision, will these kids pick a Christmas gift for themselves or give it up for a gift for their family?
The children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta were given the tough decision of choosing a present for themselves or one for their parents. The Video of the social experiment is entitled “The Other Christmas Gift. I post this most years, and I appreciate it as much this time as when I watched it before. I hope you enjoy it too..
Matthew 28:5-6: “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’”
Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah Chorus, from Messiah – Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square present the “Hallelujah Chorus” from “Messiah” composed by George Frideric Handel.
A beautiful chant from Taizé, based on the words of one of the men crucified with Jesus, underscoring a meditation on the face of Christ, his suffering, death and resurrection.
42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. d ”
43Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Palm Sunday. Holy Week was a special time as Moravians. Special memories of the Hymn “Hosanna, Blessed Is He That Comes” sung at the beginning of the Palm Sunday service and the concluding moving hymn “Ride on Ride on in Majesty.” I include both hymns in the post.
Holy Week, the week before Easter, often referred to as “Passion Week” by Moravians, is intended to be a full week of profound reflection, reverence and prayer. The word passion comes from the noun translation of the verb pascho appearing in the gospels, where Jesus showed “himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3). There, the word passion means “to suffer,” particularly in reference to Christ’s sufferings and death.
Moravians gather every evening of Holy Week to read out loud from a harmony of the gospels, beginning with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and ending with the burial. There are no sermons during Holy Week – just readings and congregational singing. A single hymn verse is sung in response to each passage read from the Bible – but, sometimes – there is silence.
Palm Sunday: The sixth Sunday in Lent is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. Greeted by cheering crowds waving palm branches and proclaiming Him the Messianic King, Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey as prophesized in Zechariah 9:9. (Matthew 21:1-11)
The Hosanna Anthem is based on the phrase Hosanna and is a traditional Moravian Anthem written by Christian Gregor, a Moravian Bishop in 1765. It is sung Antiphonally or Alternately, and is, “a call and response song”. Traditionally, it was sung between boys and girls, or the entire congregation between men and women, where the men would call and the women would respond. For example, the men would call: ‘Hosanna, blessed is He that comes’. The women would respond ‘Hosanna, blessed is He that comes’.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD Hebrew & English
From the Album Elohim 2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Mathew 23:37-39
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”
Ride on, ride on in majesty, hymn with words by Henry Hart Milman (1791 – 1868) and music by John Bacchus Dykes (1823 – 1876). Sung by the choir of St Michael and All Angels, Bassett, for Palm Sunday
One can join the Moravian Holy Week Services on line and via YouTube and also where they are archived,
The Home Moravian Church. Established in 1771, our church is located in Winston-Salem, N.C., in the historic district of Old Salem, a restored 1766 Moravian settlement.
When faced with a tough decision, will these kids pick a Christmas gift for themselves or give it up for a gift for their family?
The children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta were given the tough decision of choosing a present for themselves or one for their parents. The Video of the social experiment is entitled “The Other Christmas Gift. I post this most years, and I appreciate it as much this time as when I watched it before. I hope you enjoy it too..
A reminder for us in all the hustle and bustle of the day just what is really important.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2
Matthew 2:5
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
Matthew 2:6
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”
André Rieu & His Johann Strauss Orchestra performing O Holy Night live in London.
Earlier this month, Judge Javed Iqbal Bosal sentenced brothers Qaiser Ayub and Amoon Ayub to death for posting blasphemous material on the Internet. The Ayub brothers are Christians, and if the death sentence wasn’t enough, Judge Bosal also imposed a fine of ₹100,000 (Pakistan Rupees) (around $720.00).
My readers are probably shaking their heads and thinking, “That Mustang! This isn’t news! It happens all the time!” And, of course, whoever believes such a thing is absolutely correct. It does happen all the time. In fact, according to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Pakistan is the world’s most pernicious prosecutor of Christians.
No one suggests that the Pakistani government receives money from Saudi Arabia for each Christian murdered, but it is certainly easy to come to such a conclusion — because no other country in the world tortures, rapes, or burns alive more Christians. Such behavior has become a national pastime — particularly when the Pakistani people find Christian words, expressions, or beliefs objectionable. Which, to be clear, is nearly everything. Something to remember before booking your next vacation to Pakistan.
What did the Ayub brothers post to the Internet that was so offensive? Good question. We don’t know because no one in Pakistan will offer detailed information about the allegations or the proof. Here’s what we do know: one of the brothers was dating a Moslem woman.
They argued. She, in a fit of rage, began searching her former boyfriend’s blog for some evidence that her (former) boyfriend violated Islamic law. She found the evidence she was looking for embedded in a blog he created on 9 June 2011 — and then promptly filed charges against him alleging blasphemy. Whatever it was, the evidence was enough to warrant (in the mind of a Pakistani judge) the death penalty. There is probably a lesson in this — for someone.
Pakistanis regard Christians as second-class citizens: they are discriminated against in every aspect of society — which is, by the way, a caste society. Church leaders are subject to arrest if they refuse to do what local religious police tell them. Generally, the arrests are warnings that worse things are not only possible but likely. In one recent example, Pakistani officials notified Christians that COVID-19 inoculations were only possible after converting to Islam. Worse, Pakistani medical officials placed unprotected Christians into COVID wards.
In February 2022, the Center for Social Justice (CSJ) surveyed the social, political, and religious situation of non-Muslim groups in Pakistani society. The CSJ report highlighted four areas of concern to Christians in Pakistan — primarily blasphemy and the forced conversion of Christians to Islam — (or death, as these Christians are free to choose).
The only purpose of the Pakistani blasphemy law is to abuse Christians. Quite literally, the Pakistan government files dozens of cases of blasphemy against Christians and then uses the legal system to murder them. The official numbers are low, but when adding to those statistics, the number of capital punishments by religious vigilantes and zealots, the numbers of Christian deaths is extraordinarily high.
So far in 2022, Pakistani Imams have forced 38 Christian women to convert to Islam — and, since there are no repercussions for doing such things, Islamists continue to assault Christian women. In the past decade, the Christian population in Pakistan decreased from 8.3 million to 7.8 million. How is this possible? False accusations of blasphemy lead to mob violence, kidnappings, forced marriages, and conversions.
Here’s the rub about Pakistan and its relationship with the United States. First, Pakistan is (and has always been) a client state of Saudi Arabia. Pakistan not only gave aid and comfort to Osama Bin-Laden, but it also provided tens of thousands of unemployed/unemployable Pakistani and Arabian fighters to Taliban and Al Qaeda forces operating in Afghanistan. One wonders why the United States treats the Pakis as friends rather than enemies.
Of course, I’m no attorney — but if the Ayub brothers ask me for my recommendation vis-à-vis their recent conviction, I will advise them not to pay the ₹100,000 fine.
Matthew 28:5-6: “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.’”
Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah Chorus, from Messiah – Mormon Tabernacle Choir
A beautiful chant from Taizé, based on the words of one of the men crucified with Jesus, underscoring a meditation on the face of Christ, his suffering, death and resurrection.
42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. d ”
43Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
36At that time Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
37He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”
39Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”
40Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. 41“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
42A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”43And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping—for their eyes were heavy.
44So He left them and went away once more and prayed a third time, saying the same thing.45Then He returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us go! See, My betrayer is approaching!”
For an opportunity to experience a Moravian Church service and Passion week readings via zoom, here is the front page for Home Moravian Church.
BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades! 