Harvest Festival - 10

For this Day of Resurrection we have a scene from the Chapel of the Resurrection.



We celebrated Harvest Festival in the Chapel just before half term. Here we see some of the produce placed on the altar. Two of our young altar servers wanted to get in on the photo also!

To thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise
In hymns of adoration;
To thee bring sacrifice of praise
With shouts of exultation.
Bright robes of gold the fields adorn,
The hills with joy are ringing,
The valleys stand so thick with corn
That even they are singing.

And now, on this our festal day,
Thy bounteous hand confessing,
Upon thine altar, Lord, we lay
The first-fruits of thy blessing;
By thee the souls of men are fed
With gifts of grace supernal;
Thou who dost give us daily bread,
Give us the Bread eternal.

We bear the burden of the day,
And often toil seems dreary;
But labour ends with sunset ray,
And rest is for the weary;
May we, the Angel-reaping o'er,
Stand at the last accepted,
Christ's golden sheaves for evermore
To garners bright elected.

O, blessed is that land of God,
Where Saints abide for ever;
Where golden fields spread fair and broad,
Where flows the crystal river:
The strains of all its holy throng
With ours to-day are blending;
Thrice blessed is that harvest song
Which never hath an ending.

Good words which remind us not just of earthly food, but also of the heavenly food which we receive in the Eucharist. The words also remind us that we are called to be God's harvest - something which we shall be very aware of on Thursday 1 November when we celebrate with great joy the Solemnity of All Saints'.

I am off for a few days break in Scotland, and so my next posting will be on Tuesday 6 November. I shall be starting a new mini-series entitled 'Autumn Glory.'