Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4
Canticle: Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79)
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6.
Baruch 5:1-9: an exhortation to Jerusalem to leave off sorrow and affliction, because the Lord will come to save Israel
Malachi 3:1-4: a prophecy of the coming of the messenger who will prepare the way for the Lord — who will come to his Temple and purify his people.
Benedictus: careful with this one, it’s the song of Zechariah, not the bit of the Mass setting that comes after the Sanctus! The backstory here is that Zechariah didn’t believe the angel Gabriel about his wife bearing a son, and so he was made mute until the birth, and these words are the first thing he said after the birth of the child — who was John the Baptist.
Philippians 1:3-11: Paul’s prayer for the Philippians, that their love may overflow with knowledge and insight so that at the return of Christ they may be pure and blameless.
Luke 3:1-6: A brief description of John the Baptist proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and quoting Isaiah.
Kathryn Rose, COLWALL
SATB hymn tune, 87 87 887, to words “Lo in the wilderness a voice” by Percy Dearmer. Download from CPDL: http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Colwall_(Kathryn_Rose)
Thea Musgrave, Hear the Voice of the Bard
English text by William Blake
TrATB a cappella, challenging, 3min.
Available from Music Room: https://www.musicroom.com/product-detail/product1097973/variant1097973/
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mDUg8HQIDc beginning at 19:00