Month: May 2020

A Hymn for Rogationtide

Published by

Due to the Zoom outage on Sunday morning, we didn’t sing “O Jesus, Crowned With All Renown” for our church’s virtual service. This made me sad because I love the words to this hymn — and, of course, Kingsfold (the tune). So, I thought I would share a simple home recording of the hymn as an encouragement for us all to be singing it in our living rooms (and gardens!). Normally, for our church, I would be playing the piano; but the ukulele is nice for homely music-making. It’s #148 in The Book of Common Praise 2017 and #101 in The Hymnal 1940 (and I can’t find my 1982 or I would share). Here are the chords we used. O Jesus, crowned with all renown, Since Thou the earth hast trod, Thou reignest, and by Thee come down Henceforth the gifts of God. Thine is the health and Thine the wealth That in our halls abound, And Thine the beauty and the joy With which the years are crowned. Lord, in their change, let frost and heat, And winds …

A Cross, a Candle, and a Vase of Flowers

Published by

Thanks to Layne Hilyer for this contribution to our previously paused, but now perhaps ongoing Meaningful Homes Series. If you happen to be inspired by this series (now that we’re all staying at home a bit more), consider writing a guest post and emailing thehomelyhours@gmail.com. I have a confession: virtual church services have left me with a hard heart. The calcification began the first week of the stay-at-home order as my wife and I prepared for worship by propping up a cellphone facing the couch like a little television. On screen was the inside of our parish from an angle I had not seen—I would never sit so close to the front—and there was our priest whose voice I heard microphoned for the first time ever as the acoustics in the small sanctuary make audio equipment unnecessary. These changes among others made me so uncomfortable and frustrated that I considered just waiting for the stay-at-home order to pass before “going” to church again. It seems to me that what is so unsatisfying about church via …

Rogationtide: The Wendell Berry Days of the Church Year — The North American Anglican

Published by

  Here is my latest article for the North American Anglican. The Rogation Days will arrive as my small vegetable garden begins to look nice. I’ll be digging around in my raised beds, feeling like Wendell Berry may be modestly pleased with me and wondering if he knows about the Rogation Days (because I imagine he would approve). A few years back, since it was not obvious to me what the Rogation Days were about from the name, I started mentally subtitling them “The Wendell Berry Days.” Now Rogationtide is tangled up in my mind with quotes about the importance of agriculture and of preserving (seemingly) anachronistic traditions tied to the order of the world. What are the Rogation Days? Dating back to 470 AD, Archbishop Mamertus instituted the Rogation Days – the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day – after a period of natural disasters had ravaged the people of Vienne, France. He proclaimed days of fasting and processions of prayer around the freshly-sprouted fields, asking God for mercy in the growth of …