Salve Feste Dies

("Hail Thee, Festival Day", select Easter verses)

Refrain: Hail thee, festival day!
Blest day that art hallowed forever;
day wherein Christ arose,
breaking the kingdom of death.

 Lo, the fair beauty of earth,
From the death of the winter arising,
Every good gift of the year
Now with its Master returns. Refrain

He who was nailed to the Cross
 Is God and the Ruler of all things;
 All things created on earth
 Worship the Maker of all. Refrain

God of all pity and power,
Let Your word assure those who doubt;
Light on the third day returns:
Rise, Son of God, from the tomb! Refrain

Rise now, O Lord, from the grave
And cast off the shroud that enwrapped You;
You are all that we need:
Nothing without You exists. Refrain

They mourned as they laid You to rest,
O, Author of life and creation;
Treading the pathway of death,
You give life to us creations. Refrain

Show us Your Face once more,
That we may enjoy Your brightness;
Give us the light of day,
Darkened on earth at thy Death. * Refrain

 Jesus has harrowed hell;
 He has led captivity captive;
 Darkness and chaos and death
 Flee from the Face of the Light. Refrain

---

*The Sun was darkened ("obscured") from the "sixth to the ninth hours" (~ noon to ~ 3 PM) on the Friday Jesus was crucified.
--Venantius Fortunatus (530-609);
trans.  Fr. Maurice Frederick Bell (Anglican), 1906, adapted cmb

Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley

(for the coming of Lent):

Jesus walked this lonesome valley;
He had to walk it by Himself.
Nobody else could walk it for Him
He had to walk, walk it by Himself.
                --African American spiritual

Christ in the Wilderness; Ivan Kramskoi, 1872

The Sierra Nevada Mountains

 

Welcome to 2016, with a look back at our trip in 2015!

 

 



General Sherman, giant sequoia, in Sequoia Nat'l Park
 



Yosemite National Park

 

Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite

Joy to the World

(A paraphrase of Psalm 98, with images from the Sierra Nevada Mountains)
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing.

Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.

 

Yosemite National Park

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

Carson City Nevada

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.

Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite

---Isaac Watts, 1719

For All the Saints

[a little late for All Saints Day on November 1st,
but the thoughts go on]

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confess,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

 O blest communion, fellowship divine,
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!


 

My grandma, in her glory since 1996

But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

 From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

 The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon, to faithful warriors cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of Paradise the blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

---William W. How, 1864

October in Phoenix

October in Phoenix:
No scarlet leaves in sight;
October in Phoenix,
Still sweltering at night.

October in Phoenix--
First day breaks a hundred--
We all see, crestfallen,
The records we dreaded.

I dream of northern mountains,
Flagstaff maples and aspens;
But I'm down here working,
No matter what happens.

If I were a Catholic
I'd call it "Purgatory";
Ah, since I'm a Lutheran
I lack that category.

Beyond urban confines
The desert grows scenic;
But it's a big city--
October in Phoenix.

Ocotillo

---C. Marie Byars,  (c) 2015

Dreams:

Aspens in Flagstaff, AZ

 

Lord of All Hopefulness

[Happy Labor Day!]

 

 Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
Whose trust, ever child-like, no cares can destroy,
Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.

 Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
Whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,
Be there at our labors, and give us, we pray,
Your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.

Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
Your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,
Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray,
Your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.

Christ of St. John of the Cross, 1951
Salvador Dali; Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow

Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,

Whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,
Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.

---"Jan Struther"  (Joyce Maxtone Graham)* , 1931

*This authoress of many Anglican hymns was, actually, agnostic, although she regularly attended church.  We shall take her work in the fullest Christian sense.