For Good Friday tomorrow, this is “O sacred head, sore wounded” from Bach's St Matthew Passion. The original oratorio was written in German.
In the LDS tradition, we sing a version with words by Karen Lynn Davidson, “O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown.” I am planning to attend an English-language performance of the oratorio with friends and whichever of my family care to attend the three-hour event.
Good Friday is a solemn time as we remember Christ and his atonement and crucifixion and also spend some time thinking of those who have gone on ahead, or as it says on the gravestone of Thomas and Mary Ann Bryant Parkinson:
There is a bright region above,
We long to reach its shore.
To join with the dear ones we love,
Not lost but gone before.
And then as Friday turns into Saturday and Saturday into Sunday, the solemn remembrances change into a time to rejoice and celebrate the resurrection of Christ and of all the dead:
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:20-22)
So, for Easter Sunday, here is a performance of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” (The performance repeats twice, but is one of the more energetic recordings available online. This hymn should sound joyful, not solemn!)
Happy Easter!
The scripture in the title is from Ezekiel 37:12. The picture is from Flickr, courtesy of mjs_2009.
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