Advent
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Beginning on 17 December the church by tradition begins to chant the Great Advent Antiphons, known as the O Antiphons, at the beginning and end of the Magnificat in liturgical offices using Gregorian plainchant. There are such antiphons for each liturgical feast, season and Sunday of the year. In the seven days from the 17th Read more
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During this season of Advent we are watching and waiting. Watching for signs of the Kingdom of God as we await His glorious παρουσία (however we might discern or imagine the details of what this might mean). There seems to be a lot of waiting in many aspects of our lives, and perhaps there is Read more
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The story of Charles Wesley’s hymn ‘Come, thou long-expected Jesus’, published in Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord in 1744, tends to reference his consciousness of poverty and prayer for the coming of the Kingdom of God, and his reflection on Haggai 2.7, which reads (in the Authorised Version): And I will shake all Read more
Theology in Music 