Tuesday, March 28, 2006

from a message in the anglican breviary discussion group


A Tribute to Anglo-Catholics
(tune: Aurelia: The Church's One Foundation)

Our church is mighty spikey with smells and bells and chants,
And Palestrina masses that vex the Protestants.
O happy ones and holy who fall upon their knees
For solemn Benediction and mid-week Rosaries.

Though with a scornful wonder men see our clergy, dressed
In rich brocaded vestments as slowly they process;
Yet saints their watch are keeping lest souls be set alight
Not by the Holy Spirit, but incense taking flight.

Now we on earth have union with Lambeth, not with Rome,
Although the wags and cynics may question our true home;
But folk masses and bingo can't possibly depose
The works of Byrd and Tallis, or Cranmer's stately prose.

(Here shall the organist modulate)

So let the organ thunder, sound fanfares "en chamade";
Rejoice, for we are treading where many saints have trod;
Let peals ring from the spire, sing descants to high C,
Just don't let your elation disrupt the liturgy.





Sean Reed

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please email me this so a certain quire and organist can get a grin too.

DBW said...

that is good...

Anonymous said...

Now I'm going to have that tune stuck in my head all day. Oy.

MWΣ+ said...

I think "me too" posting is dumb, but the mastery of this piece transcends my dumbness.

Copyright it quick before your profits escape.

Adam said...

May I suggest another tune of the same meter? I despise that tune. Perhaps "Munich?"

Was this an original Sean Reed composition or did he take it from elsewhere? It sounds kinda familiar...

gwb said...

adam -

i don't know. i posted it as it came to me in my daily breviary message group email delivery.

Anonymous said...

At the Church of the Advent, Beacon Hill, in Boston, Massachusetts, our assistant sacristan penned a first stanza that goes like this:

The Advent's one foundation
Is pilings in a swamp;
Each week the sexton checks them
To make sure their still dahmp;
For if dry rot should set in,
These hallowed walls would fall;
And soon there would be condos
Where once stood Moseley Hall.

Mark said...

Wonderful!

------

http://wannabeanglican.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Here's an alternate version of the last verse, more specific to the Advent:


So let the organ thunder,
Sound fanfares en chamade;
Rejoice! For we are treading
Where Mrs. Gardner trod;
Let peals ring from the spire,
Sing descants to high C,
Just don't let your elation
Disrupt the liturgy.

Todd said...

Bravo! I'm a Roman Catholic and I happen to like the hymn, "The Church's One Foundation," but I found your verses witty and wiley, and they made me smile :~)

Anonymous said...

The whole thing, as I remember, was composed some years ago by a member of the choir at the Advent, Mr. Tom Sopko. As it has made the rounds, the first verse has been dropped and the last modified to make it suitable for general use.

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