Mothers’ Union Devotion – Easter Wednesday 2020

Reflection

One of the hardest things about celebrating Easter separated was not so much praying alone, because we know that all our prayers rise together like incense drawing us together into one spiritual congregation. No, the hardest thing was the lack of communal singing. When searching for recordings of singing to join in with, I found some wonderful ways people had overcome the social isolation to produce communal singing. The British vocal ensemble Tenebrae had recorded a program for the BBC (Sacred Songs – The Secrets of Our Hearts) which was of such high quality it seemed unbelievable it had been recorded with each singer isolated in their own home. I also found a recording of the Taizé chant, In Resurrectione Tua, by 50 young people across the world from their various social lockdown situations.

Thine be the glory,

risen, conqu’ring Son,

endless is the vict’ry

thou o’er death hast won;

angels in bright raiment

rolled the stone away,

kept the folded grave-clothes

where thy body lay.

Thine be the glory,

risen, conqu’ring Son;

endless is the vict’ry

thou o’er death hast won.

Lo! Jesus meets us,

risen from the tomb;

lovingly he greets us,

scatters fear and gloom.

Let the Church with gladness,

hymns of triumph sing,

for her Lord now liveth;

death hath lost its sting.

No more we doubt thee,

glorious Prince of Life!

Life is naught without thee:

aid us in our strife.

Make us more than conqu’rors

through thy deathless love.

Bring us safe through Jordan

to thy home above.

Singing gives us such hope and the words of our favourite Hymns reflect this. Just look at the second verse from the great Easter Hymn above:

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb; lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.

In this post Easter Sunday week, when our lockdown is being further extended, it would be so easy to sink into fear and gloom, but we are assured through the events of the glorious Easter Morn that we are never alone. Jesus is always there to aid us in our strife and bring us safe through our own particular Jordans.

May the joy of Easter continue to fill your hearts this week.

Love

Rev Sandra

Sacred Songs – The Secrets of Our Hearts can be found on iPlayer

In Resurrectione Tua – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-hybuhxJg8