HYMN FOR ALL SAINTS DAY For All the Saints (and a recipe)

(see recipe below for All Saints' Day Pumpkin) Text: William H. How (1823-1897) Tune: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) Jesus Welcoming the Saints into Heaven/Cathedral in Viborg, Denmark, Joakim Skovgaard 1 For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia! Alleluia! 2 Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might; Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light. Alleluia! Alleluia! 3 O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, And win with them the victor's crown of gold. Alleluia! Alleluia! 4 O blest communion, fellowship divine, We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia! Alleluia! 5 And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long, Steals on the ear the distant triumph song, And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia! Alleluia! 6 The golden evening brightens in the west; Soon, soon to faithful warrior cometh rest; S weet is the calm of paradise the blest. Alleluia! Alleluia! 7 But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array; The King of glory passes on his way. Alleluia! Alleluia! 8 From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia! Alleluia! REFLECTION Dore's image of the Empyrean, where celestial beings dwell in Dante's Paradiso Ask almost anybody anywhere who loves the hymns of the Christian church, what hymn to sing for All Saints Day, and they will almost without fail, name this one. While the text is wonderful, it is the tune by Vaughan Williams that has brought it into the most favorite list. It is sung at funerals and memorial services, All Saints' Day, and any time one wants to remember a saint. It recalls saints from the past but then moves to the current moment and day when we need to take up their causes and their fights for the faith. Although we are weak, their faith can stir us with new courage. For after all we are, by virtue of our faith, saints. The name of the tune means “without a name” meaning all Christians. The image of the triumph sounding, far away, makes us brave and strengthens us. It reminds me of a story from World War II that my colleague Michael Rogness told about Murdo MacDonald, a chaplain. (What follows are Mike's words.) “Murdo, a chaplain in the British army, taken prisoner by the Germans was sent to a prison camp. The Germans kept the Americans and British in separate compounds, separated by an empty strip of land marked by barbed wire. They were strictly forbidden to communicate with each other across the space. The Germans knew enough English so they could detect any communication. “The Americans had no chaplain on their side, so the Germans sent MacDonald to the American side to 'bring religion to the Americans.' In time he discovered that he could speak Gaelic at the fence to someone on the other side, a language none of the Germans understood, so they paid no attention to the gibberish. “In spring of 1944 rumors flew through the camp that the Germans were expecting some kind of invasion. Then early one morning in early June, MacDonald was awakened and told that the Welshman on the other side was calling for him. He hurried to the fence, and heard the message yelled at him, 'Thanig iad!' MacDonald turned to the Americans clustered around him and translated, 'They’ve come!' Just the two short words, reporting the Normandy invasion, which changed the whole course of the war and determined its eventual outcome. When the Americans heard the news pandemonium broke out among the prisoners. They knew what it meant. In the days that followed, the camp was still a prison, guards were still stationed all around, etc. But everything had changed.” No matter that they were still bound, they were free. I have rarely heard a story that describes the Christian life more vividly than that. He's come! Our champion has landed. Victory is ours! HYMN INFO The writer of the hymn text, William How, was an English priest who became the bishop of Wakefield in 1888. He worked tirelessly in the slums of London and Yorkshire to improve conditions for the poor and needy, especially children. The hymn was first sung to a tune by Joseph Barnby, the consummate Victorian church composer. When the editors of the 1906 English Hymnal were doing their work, he was the last composer they wanted to include as his tunes were everything they disliked about English hymnody at the time. Vaughan Williams wrote this tune for it. With its first bass pedal downbeat, it became one of the most famous and beloved tunes from the English treasury of hymnody. LINKS Big Sing, cast of thousands! https://youtu.be/VHVv79W_EpA Concordia Publishing House Version https://youtu.be/WbPshOGxpew Mormon Tabernacle Choir https://youtu.be/nhe4hZXvvNs Funeral for George Herbert Walker Bush https://youtu.be/5P9trYEVe2c Fernando Ortego/solo, piano and cello https://youtu.be/9ML6WFskgYI All Saints Day pumpkin recipe. I have made it every All Saints' Day for fifty years! Preheat oven to ca 330 degrees Hollow out a pumpkin, at least medium sized, which will serve four, but larger if your guests are many. Sauté in butter one diced onion, several sliced garlic cloves, sliced green, yellow and red peppers and as much raw jumbo shrimp as you can afford! 2 lbs is what I use if the pumpkin meal is intended for over 6. a larger pumpkin allows for more veggies. I often add pine nuts to the rice. Put 1 cup long grain rice in the pumpkin. That serves four generously and fills a smaller medium size pumpkin. I just did that and the top of the pumpking almost popped off! On top of that add the sautéd vegetables, Then the shrimp. Add butter, (all told half a stick?) especially the slurry from the shrimp, salt and pepper. (For those who worry whether there is enough liquid for the rice to be done maybe add a little chicken broth or water. I only add a little but have no idea how much. Once I added too much and had uncooked rice soup). Seal the top of the pumpkin back onto the pumpkin tightly--strong toothpicks work. Place it in a frying pan or something with a low rim so you can lift it onto a serving platter. (it will be heavy! and you don't want to break the skin at the bottom!) Bake until done--I usually do a little under three hours. Take out and remove to large platter. Cut open. Enjoy! NB The rice is always the surprise--will it be done? (Sometimes to avoid anxiety about this mysterious process, some precook the rice, but I never have. Usually it is done, but sometimes al dente would more than accurately describe the rice, once to my dismay.) Enjoy!