Feast of St Thomas Aquinas - 4

Here is the statue of the Saint in the church at Ham.



Thy wounds, as Thomas saw, I do not see;
Yet thee confess my Lord and God to be;
Make me believe thee ever more and more;
In thee my hope, in thee my love to store.

O thou memorial of our Lord's own dying!
O Bread that living art and vivifying!
Make ever thou my soul on thee to live;
Ever a taste of heavenly sweetness give.

O loving Pelican! O Jesus, Lord!
Unclean I am, but cleanse me in thy Blood,
Of which a single drop for sinners spilt,
Is ransom for a world's entire guilt.

Feast of St Thomas Aquinas - 3

Here is a picture of St Thomas Aquinas in the church at Ham.



O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore thee,
Who truly art within the forms before me;
To thee my heart I bow with bended knee,
As failing quite in contemplating thee.

Sight, touch, and taste in thee are each deceived;
The ear alone most safely is believed:
I believe all the Son of God has spoken,
Than Truth's own word there is no truer token.

God only on the Cross lay hid from view;
But here lies hid at once the Manhood too:
And I, in both professing my belief,
Make the same prayer as the repentant thief.

Feast of St Thomas Aquinas - 2

Here is a close up of the sanctuary at St Thomas Aquinas, Ham - prepared for Mass in the Ordinary Form (Modern Roman Rite). We see the crib beneath the altar which will remain in place until Candlemas.



I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see,
But can plainly call thee Lord and God for he;
This faith each day deeper be my holding of,
Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.

O thou our reminder of Christ crucified,
Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died,
Lend this life to me then; feed and feast my mind,
There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.

Jesu, whom I look at shrouded here below,
I beseach thee send me what I long for so,
Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light
And be blest for ever with thy glory's sight.

Feast of St Thomas Aquinas - 1

Here we see the church of St Thomas Aquinas, Ham in festal array, ready for the celebration of the Patronal Festival - which falls today.



St Thomas Aquinas wrote some very splendid Eucharistic hymns.

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived;
How says trusty hearing? That shall be believed;
What God's Son hath told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly, or there's nothing true.

On the Cross thy Godhead made no sign to men;
Here the very Manhood steals from human ken;
Both are my confession, both are my belief,
And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.

Jesus calls Simon and Andrew

As Jesus was walking along by the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake - for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them,'Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men'. And at once they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:16-17)



Follow me, follow me, leave your home and family,
Leave your fishing nets and boats upon the shore.
Leave the seed you have sown,
Leave the crops that you have grown,
Leave the people you have known and follow me.

Happy Sunday!

The Baptism of Jesus

Here we see Jesus being baptised by John in the River Jordan. The Holy Spirit descends like a dove - the Father is well pleased!



The Lamb of God is manifest
Again in Jordan's waters blest,
And he who sin had never known
By washing hath our sins undone.

Almighty God,
who anointed Jesus at his baptism with the Holy Spirit
and revealed him as your beloved Son:
Inspire us, your children,
who are born of water and the Spirit,
to surrender our lives to your service,
that we may rejoice to be called sons of God;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymns from different Christian Traditions - 8

Here we have a photo of Westminster Cathedral - the 'Mother Church' of Roman Catholics in England and Wales.



Today's hymn is a little different to the others this week. It is a joint effort by myself (a Roman Catholic) and Canon Michael Saward (until recently Canon Treasurer of St Paul's Cathedral (Anglican) in London). I should add that we have arranged for Jubilate Hymns to look after the copyright for us!

Last Friday the clergy, servers, and choir of St Paul's Cathedral celebrated Choral Evensong in Westminster Cathedral, and last night the clergy, servers, and choir of Westminster Cathedral celebrated Solemn Vespers in St Paul's Cathedral. It is good when we worship God together!

Let earth rejoice! Let all creation sing!
Heav'n adds its praises to the Saviour King.
Around the throne the shouts of triumph ring.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

To earth he came, a child so long ago,
Light in our darkness, grace and truth to show.
The Word of life, whose gospel now we know.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Despised, rejected, he was crucified;
Suffering Servant, on the cross he died;
True Lamb of God, salvation to provide.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

He rose again, and bursting from the grave
Reigns high in glory, who our sins forgave,
Now we rejoice, as those he came to save.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

So on this day, O Christ, our mighty King,
Let all the faithful, praise and honour bring,
Our voices blend with heaven's choirs to sing:
Alleluia! Alleluia!

The late Abbot Alan Rees OSB composed a lovely tune for this hymn called 'Belmont Abbey'. I am hoping that Malcolm Archer (who used to be Organist and Director of Music at St Paul's Cathedral prior to moving to Winchester College) will be composing a tune for my latest hymn which is entitled 'Jesus, Son of God and Mary'. This will maintain the link between Westminster Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral.