{"id":68430,"date":"2018-12-16T22:07:11","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T05:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=68430"},"modified":"2018-12-16T22:13:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T05:13:24","slug":"o-great-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/o-great-mystery.html","title":{"rendered":"O great mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_38902\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38902\" style=\"width: 597px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/12\/742px-Kings_College_under_snow.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-38902\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/12\/742px-Kings_College_under_snow.jpg\" alt=\"Winter at King's College\" width=\"597\" height=\"482\"><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38902\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">King\u2019s College, Cambridge, with the marvelous chapel on the left \u00a0 \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Our friends Jeri and Steve Covey kindly invited us to their welcoming home last night (along with quite a few others, including a number of friends) for an evening of excellent Christmas music \u2014 violinists, pianists, vocal solos, choral quartets and sextets, a harpist, along with a couple of superb dancers \u2014 followed by excellent Christmas food. \u00a0The musical portion of the program concluded with all of us singing the \u201cHallelujah Chorus\u201d from Handel\u2019s <em>Messiah<\/em>. \u00a0It was a great night.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And one of the high points, for me, was the opportunity to hear <a href=\"http:\/\/beautifulsinging.com\/bio\/index.php\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Clayne Robison<\/a> in person again.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Among many other things, Brother Robison participated in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Redeemer-BYU-Singers\/dp\/B0007PA07G\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">the first recording of Robert Cundick\u2019s great oratorio <em>The Redeemer<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0Speaking of which, it wouldn\u2019t be inappropriate to watch the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s 25-minute film on Robert Cundick at this Christmas season. \u00a0It\u2019s available to you on the Interpreter Foundation website at no charge:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/now-available-for-viewingrobert-cundick-a-sacred-service-of-music\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/now-available-for-viewingrobert-cundick-a-sacred-service-of-music\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is the kind of story that really, really illustrates the spirit of Christmas:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kutv.com\/news\/nation-world\/gary-sinise-foundation-gifts-1750-gold-star-families-a-trip-to-disney-world\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cGary Sinise Foundation gifts 1,750 Gold Star children a trip to Disney World\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If there\u2019s one in your neighborhood \u2014 and if you haven\u2019t yet given to one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mormon.org\/christmas\/giving-machines\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cgiving machines\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 \u2014 please, please, consider doing so. \u00a0Ideally with your family in tow, if that\u2019s appropriate for your situation and if you can. \u00a0It will be a great teaching opportunity, and they will enjoy it.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In my judgment, one of the most unearthly, ethereally beautiful pieces of modern classical Christmas music is Morten Lauridsen\u2019s setting of \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q7ch7uottHU\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>O magnum mysterium<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0As far as I\u2019m concerned, you don\u2019t really need to listen past the 6:25 marker:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q7ch7uottHU<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<dl>\n<dt>Like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/a-rose-has-sprung-up-from-a-tender-root.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Es ist ein Ros entsprungen<\/em><\/a>, <em>O magnum mysterium<\/em> seems sheer perfection to me, and, as I said of that piece, it is achingly and piercingly lovely.<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Latin text<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<dl>\n<dt>\n<\/dt><dl>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">O magnum mysterium,<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">et admirabile sacramentum,<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">jacentem in praesepio!<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Beata Virgo, cujus viscera<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">meruerunt portare<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Dominum Christum.<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Alleluia.<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<dl>\n<dt><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">English translation<\/span><\/strong><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<dl>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">O great mystery,<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">and wonderful sacrament,<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">that animals should see the new-born Lord,<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">lying in a manger!<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Blessed is the Virgin whose womb<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">was worthy to bear<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Christ the Lord.<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<dd><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Alleluia!<\/span><\/strong><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\n<\/p><\/dl>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 Our friends Jeri and Steve Covey kindly invited us to their welcoming home last night (along with quite a few others, including a number of friends) for an evening of excellent Christmas music \u2014 violinists, pianists, vocal solos, choral quartets and sextets, a harpist, along with a couple of superb dancers \u2014 followed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>O great 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