From Organist Steven Severn: Giving Thanks for the Sacrament of Holy Communion

Thursday, October 15, 2020

As a church organist, I often program organ music based on hymn tunes. One of the pieces I commonly play is based on the Lutheran hymn “Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele.” In English, the title is “Deck thyself, my soul with gladness,” and it celebrates the mysteries, joys, and sacrifices of the Eucharist. Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to appreciate the hymn text in a new light. One of the stanzas (not included in the Hymnal 1982) states:

Ah, how hungers all my spirit
For the love I do not merit!
Oft have I, with sighs fast thronging,
Thought upon this food with longing,
In the battle well nigh worsted,
For this cup of life have thirsted,
For the Friend who here invites us
And to God Himself unites us.

(Translation by Catherine Winkworth, 1863)

When we commune, we confess our sins and seek absolution prior to our consumption of the host and the wine. This stanza seems to include a small version of that confession: a desire for love, but recognition that it is not deserved. “We have not loved you with our whole hearts” our own confession states. Can we merit the perfect love of God, when it can never be fully reciprocated? Yet even Judas was allowed to participate in the first established breaking of the bread and the wine.

With rather florid poetry the author portrays hunger for the host and thirst for the wine as arising out of longing and battle. Sometimes this Coronatide feels like a battle--albeit not the action-packed variety you might see in a Hollywood portrayal. Rather, it feels like a time between the action, in which one experiences boredom from lack of stimulus, but nervous anticipation of the next attack. 

Despite the current situation, we at least have hope in the sacrament. We have a friend in Christ who promises to unite us with Him. And so I look forward to each communion not merely as the consumption of bread and wine, but as a time of sharing in the company of apostles. And, I give thanks that at St. Mark’s, I have the opportunity to experience Christian fellowship even when we do not share a physical Eucharist. At each daily office, article study, or EfM meeting, I am reminded that, as Christians, we are not alone.

Steven Severin

The General Thanksgiving

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, 
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks 
for all your goodness and loving-kindness 
to us and to all whom you have made. 
We bless you for our creation, preservation, 
and all the blessings of this life; 
but above all for your immeasurable love 
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; 
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. 
And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, 
that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, 
not only with our lips, but in our lives, 
by giving up our selves to your service, 
and by walking before you 
in holiness and righteousness all our days; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, 
be honor and glory throughout all ages.
Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer (pp. 101 and 125)