Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

To accompany the Gospel lesson today, I want to reproduce the text of a choral anthem by the contemporary English composer Owain Park, his Phos Hilaron. This work incorporates several texts on the theme of Light:

I. The gathering of the light
The Lord is my light and my salvation:
My God shall make my darkness to be bright.
—Psalms 27:1 and 18:28)

II. The song of the light
Hail, gladdening light, of his pure glory poured
Who is the immortal Father, heavenly, blest;
Holiest of Holies, Jesus Christ our Lord!
Now we are come to the sun’s hour of rest;
The lights of evening round us shine,
We hymn the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit divine!
Worthiest are thou at all times to be sung, with undefiled tongue,
Therefore in all the world thy glories, Lord, they own.
—Third Century Greek hymn, translated by John Keble

III. The blessing of the light
Come, true light. Come, life eternal. Come, hidden mystery.
Come, treasure without name. Come, reality beyond all words.
Come, person beyond all understanding. Come rejoicing without end.
Come, light that knows no evening. Come, for my wretched should has ever longed for you.
Come, alone to the alone, for as you see I am alone:
you have separated me from all things and made me to be alone upon the earth.
Come, for you are yourself the desire that is within me,
and you have caused me to long after you, the wholly inaccessible.
Come, unfailing expectation of the saved. Come raising of the fallen.
Come, the resurrection of the dead.
—St Symeon the New Theologian

Let my prayer rise before you as incense;
the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
O Lord, I call to you;
come to me quickly, hear my voice when I cry to you.
But my eyes are turned to you, Lord God;
In you I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.
—Psalm 141: 2, 1, 8

Yours in Christ,

—Justin