The Vigil for Pentecost XIV
Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the incense, and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice. - Psalm 141:2
As my Sundays are now taken with another activity, we are replacing the Sunday Vespers with a Saturday Vigil, the traditional name for worship that takes place in anticipation of the Sabbath. I thought it would be an opportunity to illustrate the stories of our hymns and sacred songs.
This week’s Sabbath is the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, or Proper 16. Our hymn tune is Aurelia, more often recognized by the opening verse “The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.”
The hymn was born in controversy and conflict, which may explain its continued power.
In 1860, a volume entitled "Essays and Reviews" caused controversy in the Anglican Church. It questioned the historical accuracy of Scripture. A few years later this idea was furthered by John William Colenso (1814 -1883), the bishop of Natal in South Africa, who published The Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua Critically Examined (1862-63). This book denied that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, called Joshua a myth, called the books of Chronicles fictitious and disputed the accuracy of Christ’s statements about Moses.
The bishop of Cape Town, South Africa, Bishop Gray, supported by 40 other bishops deposed Colenso for his heresy. A battle ensued, as Colenso refused to submit. A court confirmed his deposition but Colenso appealed to a secular court, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and he was reinstated. This created a schism in the South African church that lasted until Colenso’s death.
During this time the Reverend Samuel John Stone, one of Bishop Gray’s supporters, was concerned about people saying the Apostles Creed in a perfunctory manner, saying the words without a clear understanding of what they were saying. He wrote a series of twelve hymns, each explaining a section of the creed and defending the fact of the inspiration of Scripture. "The Church’s One Foundation" explains the ninth article – "I believe in the Holy Catholic (Universal) church, the communion of the saints." This series of hymns was printed in Lyra Fidelium (Lyre of the Faithful) in 1866.
The controversy between Colenso and Gray is referenced in stanza 3, "Though with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder by heresies distressed…." - courtesy of The Center for Church Music
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. - Romans 15:13