Sing and Pray Twice

Paraphrasing St. Augustine, The Rev. Maly Hughes, former priest executive at St. Tim's, used to say "When you sing, you pray twice."  The St.Tim's band plays songs that get us praying twice and our hands clapping, but for me it is in the familiar hymns of the 1982 Hymnal when I feel closest to praying once, if not twice.  And when I visit a church, I feel especially welcomed when I hear the familiar notes of an old favorite.  

The website anglicansonline.org ran a poll in 2012 for the favorite hymns of Anglicans from around the world. Guide me, thou great Jehovah (#690) placed first.  (Are you as shocked as I am?  I don't know this hymn and suspect some ballot box stuffing by proud Welshmen who claim the author as their own, though the tune is instantly familiar.)  Be thou my vision (#488) and I bind myself unto thee this day (#370, and the winner for the poll's 2003 iteration) tied for second. 

While this Sunday's traditional hymn #518 Christ is made the sure foundation didn't make Anglican Online's top 10, it was sung at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, reportedly at Diana's request.  The hymn's lyrics were translated by John Mason Neale from a Latin monastic hymn.  Neale was born in London in 1818 and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.  Greatly influenced by the Anglican Church's Oxford Movement, he is best known as a hymn writer and especially a translator of ancient hymns.  He spoke 21 languages including Latin and Greek.  We sang his All glory laud and honor on Palm Sunday and O Come, O come Emmanuel during Advent. Neale died in 1866. The tune is Westminster Abbey composed by Henry Purcell.  

Sing and pray twice this Sunday.  --Amy Phillips Witzke