John Mason Neale Diary Entry 1839

John mason Neale's Diary entry for March 4 and 5 1839 reads as follows

 

I never miss a whole day without thinking what a very stirring sermon one thereby preaches to oneself on the insignificance of one's own history. We pass over unnoticed those poor twenty-four hours, and yet they had their little joys and sorrows, their hopes and fears, and contained in themselves a little epitome of life. And just so it will pass; granting that our warmest wishes are fulfilled, we know well enough that when some journaliser, taken up with his own cares and joys, shall have entered an account of March 5th 1939, there will long have been erected - I hope in soem quiet village - a tablet " To the memory of the Rev. J M Neale - years rector of this parish, and of Mary, his wife' and so on. You will say I am seized with a fit of melancholy. Oh no, and these thoughts do not make me so ; but they do make me long, and sometimes more ardently than I can express, that before that time comes I may have done something which may exempt that tablet from carelessly being passed by ...

Hymn of the week 22

This anonymous hymn was translated from Latin by J M Neale in the 19th Century

To the Name of our salvation,
laud and honor let us pay,
which for many a generation
hid in God's foreknowledge lay;
but with holy exultation
we may sing aloud today.

Jesus is the Name we treasure;
Name beyond what words can tell;
Name of gladness, Name of pleasure,
ear and heart delighting well;
Name of sweetness, passing measure,
saving us from sin and hell.

'Tis the Name for adoration,
Name for songs of victory,
Name for holy meditation
in this vale of misery,
Name for joyful veneration
by the citizens on high.

'Tis the Name that whoso preacheth
speaks like music to the ear;
who in prayer this Name beseecheth
sweetest comfort findeth near;
who its perfect wisdom reacheth,
heavenly joy possesseth here.

Jesus is the Name exalted
over every other name;
in this Name, whene'er assaulted,
we can put our foes to shame;
strength to them who else had halted,
eyes to blind, and feet to lame.

Therefore we in love adoring,
this most blessèd Name revere;
holy Jesus, thee imploring
so to write it in us here,
that hereafter, heavenward soaring,
we may sing with angels there.

Holiday Gem 01

One of the joys of Christmas for me is listening to music I don't hear for the rest of the year. Some of it is on CDs that are locked away for 11 months before being brought out with the tree, etc. Others are on my i-tunes but remain unticked for most of the year. Let me tell you some things that are there.

1. Good King Wenceslas by The Roches from the 1994 album We Three Kings

Thanks to Terry Wogan this LP is no longer a secret nor are the unique Roche sisters, who I assumed were Irish at first but are in fact New Yorkers (Maggie, Suzzy and Terre).

The hymn is a Christmas favourite (outside church). J M Neale thought it up in 

the Victorian period basing it on the legend but making a good application at the end. (I quote it in my commentary on Proverbs).

This pleasant version is enhanced by the bright strings and the pleasant harmonies.

"THE ROCHES came into being one Christmas season on the streets of New York City singing these very songs. And every year when the hassles and tensions of Christmas set in, we rediscover the joyful, peaceful spirit of Christmas through these carols. This record is a dream come true for us. We send it out into the world with best wishes for everyone!"