The Feast of Mardi Gras … well, sorta …
This Sunday is the last Sunday before Lent starts. It is designated the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Just in case that doesn’t ring a bell … toward the end of his ministry, Jesus took Peter, James and John aside to a mountain for a retreat. While there Jesus was lifted up, in the presence of these three disciples, and took on a supernatural form. During this experience, he was joined by Moses and Elijah, the great prophets of the Old Testament, and they communed together. The purpose of this was to show the disciples that Jesus would indeed triumph in the end, even though he had to walk through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ before this would happen in its full glory. It was quite an awesome experience. The disciples didn’t want to leave the mount of the transfiguration … they just wanted to stay there with Jesus forever. Jesus knew better.
It has only been in the last twenty-five years that Transfiguration has been celebrated just before Lent. But, it makes wonderful sense. It’s good to have a party before you begin a time of fasting and meditation. Mardi Gras as it is known in this country is a party that dates back to medieval times. It’s a time before Lent to get partying out of your system for a while. Here in Central Pennsylvania we have a bit of that in the tradition of Fastnachts … those wonderful doughnuts made with more fat and lard than anyone has a right to eat … and boy are they yummy. This extraordinarily rich food was created on the day before Lent to get all that fat out of the house, so the family could eat a leaner diet during the fasting season.
The Feast of the Transfiguration being placed just before Lent, then, makes perfect sense. It is a liturgical party before the solemnity of Lent. Here at Pine Street we’re going to celebrate big time with some wonderful music. The prelude for eleven o’clock will be the great masterpiece of the young Jehan Alain (1911 – 1940) called “Litanies”. A litany is a prayer, repeated over and over. In Alain’s French mystical Catholicism, this was a well known practice which is reflected in his dramatic music. The theme is stated at the outset on the solo reeds. Then the prayers begin,quietly at first and building in fervor until, as Alain notes in the margin of the piece, the limits of understanding are breached and one finds ones self in the presence of God! It is not a piece for the timid, I assure you!
The Handbell Choir joins the festivities with a wonderful setting of “Come Thou, Almighty King”. Continuing to the Offertory, the music of Flor Peeters (1903 -1968) is featured in a setting of Psalm 100. Peeters was one of the most important post-war European composers for organ and choir. He was among the group who gave up much of the lush harmony of the late 19th and early 20th century for a revival of open intervals that make the music sound almost medieval … and yet with a clear touch of modernity thrown in. It is sung in Latin … the text is “Jubilate Deo, Omnis Terra”. Finally a setting of the great Latin hymn, “Te Deum” (We praise thee, O God), in English by the American composer Everett Titcomb (1884-1968). Titcomb presided at St. John’s Church, Boston for fifty years and became a major force in the music of the Episcopal church in the 20th century. His final years were spent at the National College of Church Musicians at Washington Cathedral where his influence continued. Like his contemporary in Chicago, Leo Sowerby, Titcomb loved jazz, and the references to America’s great popular music are frequent and usually subtle … except in one place where you could swear it had been written by Cole Porter!
So, be sure to come to church this week … it’s the last big party until Easter! And I think you will enjoy it a lot.
Peace,
Tom
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