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The Christ mass Van Quinn, Organist and Choirmaster The Christ Mass: "...incense owns a Deity
nigh." (Hymn 128) The message of Advent is "People look East, the time is
near!" The message of Christmas Eve is "For love of thee
the East is come" (Richard Crashaw). In the fullness of time
... God with us, Emmanuel. The special focus of the Christ Mass is on both the mystery and
the existential reality of the Incarnation. All of the aspects of
that service, however exuberant, amplify this sublime theme. The
lessons themselves dictate this theological approach. Isaiah
proclaims "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
him who brings glad tidings," and exhorts the "waste
places" of Jerusalem and of our world to "break forth
together into singing." The epistoler to the Hebrews gives us
one of his most dense and closely reasoned exegetical arguments:
God spoke in many and various ways to our fathers, but "in
these last days he has spoken to us by a Son", who
"reflects the glory of the Father", bears the "stamp
of his nature", and upholds the universe. His position at the
right hand of God is unique. "To what angel did God ever say,
'Thou art my Son?'" And of the Son he says, "Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever." The Gospel is taken from
the Prologue to the Gospel of John, the central scriptural witness
to the mystery of the Incarnation. With astonishing theological
rigor and poetic beauty (perhaps this was originally a hymn), the
writer brings together both Greek philosophical constructs and
Hebrew rabbinic thought and utterly transcends both in his
proclamation of the ultimate paradox, that God in a precise moment
of time has become man and that we have beheld his glory. Then as
now, darkness strives mightily against the Light but cannot
overcome Him. To those who receive him, he still gives the power to
become children of God. This good news is, of course, not an abstraction but the
ultimate triumph of the concrete; so the beloved details of
Luke's Christmas story are still present in the background at
the Christ Mass through carols and other music which we denied
ourselves during Advent. The friendly beasts are still there in the
opening Latin motet, but only as part of the sacramental
transformation of reality brought about by the Incarnation: "O
great mystery and wondrous sacrament, that animals should see the
new-born Lord lying in their manger!" The angel and angelic
choir make their proclamation as to the shepherds of old, in music
from Handel's Messiah. Rounded off by no less than seven
of everybody's favorite carols, this service is a solemn and
glorious celebration. Incense is used and the service is both late
and long, and it is not a good choice for infants and small
children. They should be in their beds having visions of sugar
plums dancing in their heads!. Seating is limited so you would need
to be here around 10:00 to get a seat. The organ and choral music
starts at 10:30. Send
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