Choral Evensong on Saint Patrick’s Day

Saint Patrick (left), with Saint Cuthbert, Saint Finbar and Saint Laurence O’Toole in the windows in the Baptistery in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Photograph: Cathedral Collection)

Patrick Comerford

This evening, BBC Radio 3 marked Saint Patrick’s Day by broadcasting Choral Evensong live from Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Choral Evensong was first broadcast by the BBC on Thursday 7 October 1926 live from Westminster Abbey and it has been broadcast weekly on BBC Radio ever since, making it the BBC’s longest-running outside broadcast.

Throughout the service this evening, there were delightful Irish touches in the music, in the prayers and in other parts of the service, making it a real Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. The Director of Music was Judy Martin and the organist was Tristan Russcher.

The Canticles, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, were sung to the Service in A composed by Charles Villers Standord (1852-1924), who was born in Dublin. Stanford once spoke of the “noble atmosphere” of Christ Church Cathedral, where his teacher, Robert Prescott Stewart, was the organist for over 50 years.

The anthem Clamos Cervi was a setting of traditional Irish words by Archie Potter (1918-1980) and was first performed in 1980 during the Dublin International Organ Festival. Potter was a pupil of Vaughan Williams and Professor of Composition at the Royal Irish Academy of Music from 1955 to 1973. This anthem is a setting in Latin of part of the ancient Irish verses known as Saint Patrick’s Breastplate. The title, which means “The Cry of the Deer,” draws on the legend that Saint Patrick changed his earliest converts into deer – a transformation that protected them from the powers of evil. The words are those of the deer as they ran away.

The service opened with an introit arranged by Ian Sexton, a former organ scholar at Christ Church and now at St Mary’s Collegiate Church, Youghal, Co Cork, to the words and melody of an anonymous Irish hymn, Bí, a Íosa, im chroíse:

Bí, a Íosa, im chroíse i gcuimhne gach uair,
Bí, a Íosa, im chroíse le haithrí go luath,
Bí, a Íosa, im chroíse le cumann go buan,
Ó, a Íosa ’Dhé dhílis, ná scar Thusa uaim.

Sé Íosa mo ríse, mo chara ’s mo ghrá,
Sé Íosa mo dhídean ar pheaca ’s ar bhás,
Sé Íosa mo aoibhneas, mo scáthán do ghnáth,
A’s, a Íosa, ’Dhé dhilis, ná scar uaim go bráth.

Bí, a Íosa, go síoraí im chroí is im bhéal,
Bí, a Íosa, go síoraí im thuigse mar an gcéann’,
Bí, a Íosa, go síoraí im mheabhair mar léann,
Ó a Íosa, ’Dhé dhílis, ná fág mé liom féin.

In my welcome on behalf of the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church Cathedral, I said:

“Dia dhaoibh go léir agus Céad Míle Fáilte chuig Ardteampall Chríost inniu, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, agus sinn ag déanamh ceiliúradh ar Phádraig Naofa, pátrún na hÉireann.

“Hello and welcome to Christ Church cathedral Dublin as we celebrate the life and witness of Saint Patrick, the patron of Ireland.

“Thank you for joining us in this celebration of Choral Evensong, as we give thanks to God for the gift of faith, brought to this land by Patrick.

“Today we are not only honouring the life of a saint, but we are also recognising the rich Christian heritage that is part of the language and culture of this land, and we pray that the same heritage will bind people of all traditions on this island in bonds of unity and peace.”

The Responses and Preces, by Richard Shephard, were led by Paul Arbuthnot, a third year ordinand who is being ordained to be a curate in Saint Paul’s Parish, Glenageary. The choir sang the appointed psalms – Psalm 96 (Cantate Domino) and Psalm 145: 1-13.

The two readings, Isaiah 8: 19 – 9: 2, and Luke 6: 20-31, were read by Canon Ted Ardis, Rector of Donnybrook and Irishtown, and Dr Eric Finch, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics, Trinity College Dublin.

After the anthem Clamos Cervi, I introduced these prayers:

Let us pray

Almighty God, who rulest over the kingdoms of the world;
we commend to thy merciful care the people of this land,
that being guarded by thy providence,
they may dwell secure in thy peace.
Grant to the President of this State and to all in authority,
wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will.
Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness,
that they may serve thy people faithfully,
to thy honour and glory;
through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, source of all authority and wisdom:
guide by your Spirit
those who represent us in Dáil and Seanad.
As representatives of the people,
keep them humble,
as legislators make them compassionate,
and as politicians defend their integrity.
So may the proceedings of the Oireachtas serve the truth
and promote the common good.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ,
the servant Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God,
who alone workest great marvels:
Send down upon our Bishops and Clergy,
and all People committed to their charge,
the healthful Spirit of thy grace;
and that they may truly please thee,
pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing.
Grant this, O Lord,
for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator,
Jesus Christ. Amen.

O God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind,
we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men;
that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them,
thy saving health unto all nations.
More especially,
we pray for the good estate of the Catholic Church;
that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit,
that all who profess and call themselves Christians
may be led into the way of truth,
and hold the faith in unity of spirit,
in the bond of peace,
and in righteousness of life.

Finally, we commend to thy fatherly goodness
all those who are any ways afflicted or distressed,
in mind, body, or estate;
that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them
according to their several necessities,
giving them patience under
their sufferings,
and a happy issue out of all their afflictions.
And this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.

Críost liom, Críost romham,
Críost I mo dhiadh, Críost istigh ionam,
Críost fúm, Críost os mo chionn,
Críost ar mo leamh dheas, Críost ar mo lámh chlé,
Críost i mo lí dhom, Críost i mo shuí dhom,
Críost i mo sheasamh dhom
Críost i gcroí gach duine atá ag cuimhneamh orm,
Críost i mbéal gach duine a labhraíonn liom,
Críost i ngach súil a fhéachann orm,
Críost i ngach cluais a éisteann liom. Amen

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore. Amen.

The closing hymn was “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity” (Hymn 322, Irish Church Hymnal). This hymn is an adaptation from Saint Patrick’s Breastplate by Cecil Frances Alexander and sung to an Irish traditional melody also arranged by Stanford from a tune said to have been discovered by George Petrie.

The blessing I used was in Irish:

Go gcoinní síocháin Dé,
a sháraíos an uile thuiscint,
bhur gcroí agus bhur n-aigne
in aithne agus i ngrá Dé,
agus a Mhic Íosa Críost ár dTiarna;
agus go raibh beannacht Dé Uilechumhachtaigh,
an tAthair, an Mac, agus an Spiorad Naomh,
in bhur measc agus go bhfana agaibh go buan.
Amen

The closing organ voluntary was Toccata (Ite, Missa est) from Missa de Gloria (Dublin Festival Mass), Op 82, by Kenneth Leighton (1929-1988), one of the most distinguished of the British post-war composers. This is part of the Organ Mass commissioned for the first Dublin International Organ Festival in June 1980.

There is another chance to hear this service on Sunday afternoon, 21 March 2010, when it is repeated at 4 p.m. If you miss the live broadcast, it will be available on the BBC website to listen again for seven days at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00rd85p. Next Wednesday (24 March), Choral Evensong on Radio 3 comes from Ely Cathedral.

Christ Church Cathedral in this week’s sunshine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.