Sunday 15 July 2012

Worthy of Praise and Glory


This week I'd like to share with you a lovely Latin doxology that has blessed me greatly. I love the old hymns of the early Church centuries. There is something about them that is not matched in later Church music, most especially in our time. These old Church chants and hymns, including, for example, the Gregorian chants, were simple but so deep and profound all at the same time. Their melodies are so deep, they touch the heart and soul. They are so reverent and truly worthy of the greatness of our Lord, God, and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Many of them were also sung by the martyrs in the early centuries - that's how early they are. Yet they are still just as new for us now.

The one I'm sharing today is 'Gloria in Excelsis Deo'. It is sung by the choir, Libera. The melody is based on Saint-Saens's Organ Symphony. 

Here is a short history of this hymn: 
The Gloria is an ancient hymn of praise to the Trinity that has been in use in the Church since the second century. The opening line of the hymn is taken from Scripture (Lk 2:14), where the angels announce the birth of Christ to the shepherds. The hymn was composed in Greek some time in the second century and can be found recommended as a daily morning prayer in book VII of the Apostolic Constitutions (3rd/4th century). It was introduced to the west by St. Hilary of Poitiers (d 368), who was the first to introduce hymns into the Western Church. 
St Hillary was an uncompromising foe of Arianism, a heresy which denied the divinity of Christ and was condemned at the Council of Nicea in 325. St. Hilary's opposition to Arianism earned himself the title of "Malleus Arianorum", the Hammer of the Arians, along with the ire of the Arian Emperor Constantius, who exiled him to Phrygia in 356. While St. Hilary was in Phrygia, he was exposed to the hymns in use amongst the eastern Christians of the time. Upon his return home he began to introduce hymns into the western liturgy, borrowing the Gloria from the east, as well as composing some of his own. The Latin translation of the Gloria below, which has been used since the late 4th century, is likely his.


Here is a close translation of the Latin Lyrics (as best as I could make them out): 


Chorus: 
Glory to God in the Highest
And on earth peace to men
We bless Thee, we praise Thee
We worship Thee, we glorify Thee


1. Thanks we give to Thee
Because of Thy great glory


For Thou alone art Holy, 
Thou Lord alone, Most High


Chorus: Gloria in excelsis deo....


2. Who take away the sin of the world, 
Have mercy on us
Who sits at the right hand of the Father, 
Have mercy on us


Father God, Almighty 
Lamb of God
King of Heaven, Father God


Chorus: Gloria in excelsis deo... 
___________________________________
Here are the original lyrics of the hymn and the translation:



GLORIA in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.GLORY to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will.
LAUDAMUS te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te, gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam, Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.WE praise Thee, we bless Thee, we adore Thee, we glorify Thee, we give Thee thanks for Thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.
DOMINE Fili unigenite, Iesu Christe, Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis; qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.O Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, Thou who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; Thou who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
QUONIAM tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. AmenFOR Thou alone art the Holy One, Thou alone art the Lord, Thou alone art the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Taken from: http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Trinitas/Gloria.html

God bless, 

Saturday 7 July 2012

Food in Days Gone-By... Flour and Bread-Crumbs


Have you ever wondered what food you would eat and how you would eat it if you lived long ago in Europe?  What and how did people eat in those famous eras such as in the Tudor or Reformation or Renaissance or even Enlightenment times (these times together are known by historians as the Early Modern Period) - eras that have become the subject of histories, stories, novels, and movies? 

Well, last semester, I had the opportunity to do a bit of research on this. So, here are some interesting things I've learned! My plan is to cover this subject in a small serial - each time covering a different kind of food or eating habit. 


By the way, I've never done anything like this before. So, please excuse any crude beginnings:)


Bread


For early-modern Europeans the staple food was bread, eaten with almost anything and at every meal. If there was other food available but there was a scarcity of bread, it was considered a famine! That's how essential it was. 

Bread, however, was not just a staple food. It also had a lot of social significance. There were three main different kinds of breads that suited three different kinds of social status. A person from any particular social class would not dream of eating bread belonging to a higher or lower status than that of his or her own! 

Imagine these three scenes (fictional characters) to find out which bread would have been eaten by whom. 






Scene 1: 

Master Giovanni
via Pinterest
Michael hurried towards the town bakery in the early hours of the morning. He had to collect a special supply of flour for Master Giovanni, Chief Cook of Lord Shaftsbury's household.  There was to be a banquet of special magnificence to be held that night with many distinguished guests invited.  Last night, Master Giovanni went into a panic when he discovered that they had ran out of the best white flour in the kitchen, purely milled with no mixed grains or any chaff. The poor man could barely sleep. Before dawn he jerked Michael  awake and sent him on this urgent errand. He had to get to the bakery before the long queues.
Finally, weary and breathless, Michael reached the bakery. 
'Mr. Jones! Mr. Jones!' he cried. 
The baker was just opening his bakery. Yes, he reached him on time. 
'What is it, Michael, my lad? Why the hurry? Hold on a minute and catch your breath....yes, that's good...well, now, what can I do for you?' 


'Please, Mr. Jones, have you got any white flour in stock? Master Giovanni needs it urgently. There's to be a banquet at the house tonight.' 


'Ah, yes...I've heard about that already. Come, with me to the back of the shop, I'm sure I've got some there.' 
Sure enough, and to Michael's relief, Mr. Jones had a large sack of the best white flour to be found in the whole county. 
Helping Michael haul the sack unto his shoulder, he bid him 'Good Day, Michael, my lad!' 
'Thanks, Mr. Jones. Good day to you, too!' 
'And greet Master Giovanni, for me,' he shouted as Michael started off.
'Yes, Mr. Jones, sir.' 


Mr. Jones, the baker, and Michael
via Pinterest
Michael set off to the Manor as quickly as possible with his heavy load. Now Master Giovanni has all the flour to make his special bread and bake all those delicious bakeries that the lord, his family, and his guests love. 


*******************

Scene 2: 


10 year-old Harry stirred and opened his eyes. He lay awake in bed for a while listening. Mother was already up. He could hear her working hard in the kitchen downstairs preparing breakfast and, probably even lunch and supper, too! 
Father had been up even earlier. He must be out in the fields by now. He had to work really hard to pay the rent on the farm and have left over to put food on the table and provide clothing for his family.
Harry groaned as he pulled himself out of the covers and shook off the sticking hay. The loft has become his bedroom now since there was no room with his younger brothers, Willie and Johnny, in the bedroom. 
He looked out of the dirty window...
'Cold and damp as usual,' he muttered to himself. 
Then he heard his mother call...
'Harry! Are y'up yet? Come down quick and h've some breakfast...you're father needs ya to help him with planting the lower field today.' 
'Yes, mother, coming down,' he called back as he buttoned-up his shirt and slipped down the ladder. 
Willie and Johnny were already munching at their slices of brown bread with slices of goat's cheese and drinking down their glasses of warm milk. 
mother cooking
via Pinterest
'Come on, son...here's a slice of bread for you, too...help yourself now with the cheese...hurry now...you 'aven't got all day...' his mother directed as she continued kneading the bread dough for dinner. A nice hot stew was obviously in the making as well. Evidence of turnips was all over the kitchen table!


Harry bit on his slice of bread and cheese. It was warm and good. He then paused and asked, 'Mother, Mr. Jones, the baker, once told me that Lord Shaftsbury and his family eat white bread everyday!'


Willie broke in, 'What's white bread? What does it taste like?' 
'Oh, don't you know anything, Willie....it's bread with no bran or chaff...it's pure white inside and very soft and fluffy,' answered Harry with an air of possessing superior knowledge. 
'How d'ye know?' retorted Willie. 
'Mr. Jones, told me,' he shot back. 
'Really soft? Oh, I'd like to try that someday, wouldn't you like mother?' asked little Johnny. 
'Well, now, children...that's enough,' answered mother. 
brown bread
via Pinterest
'Don't even think of it, Johnny, lad. That kind'of'bread is not for our kind. Only folks up in the big manor get to eat that. We're poor farmers...brown bread with bran is what's for us,' mother explained.
'You've got be grateful to the Good Lord, though, m'boys. Never complain, eh! There can be worse. There're poorer folk than us and harder times can come to us, too,' she continued. 
'Yes, mother,' they all said in unison. 
'Now, finish up and start y're chores nice and quick.'


Stuffing their mouths with the last crumbs, they quickly dashed out the kitchen in obedience. 


*****************


Scene 3: 


Master Giovanni sighed with great relief upon seeing Michael returning with his precious load of white flour. 
'Well, done, m'boy,' he exclaimed as he helped Michael lower the sack and soon began opening it and retrieving a measure of it's precious contents for the first recipe. 


Michael was exhausted. He hadn't done so much running in a while. 
He settled down before a table at the back of the kitchen, next to the side door, to eat the little breakfast Penny, one of the kitchen staff, had left for him. Just a slice of brown bread with cheese. No ale. Master Giovanni forbade it on days like this. There was plenty of work to be done. 


Suddenly, he heard a bit of a scuffle out the side-door, then a feeble knock. 
'Oh, dear....must be Jane, the maid, with buckets of water, or it could be a beggar looking for handouts...' he muttered under his breath as he opened the door cautiously. 
Sure enough, it was the latter. A shaggy-headed, dirty-looking tramp.
'Please, sir, 'ave anything to spare a poor'old'chap?' he asked pitifully. 
'Ah, yes, sure,' said Michael, 'Just wait here a moment. Won't be long.' 
He went to a side pantry...where is that basket? Ah! Yes, here it is! Master Giovanni always kept something for such poor folk. 


He returned to the door and gave the poor chap a couple of slices of very dark brown bread. The man took it gratefully. Folks like him were used to that sort of bread....so filled with chaff and bran, it was almost black...not necessarily delicious, but filling nonetheless!  
Black Bread
via Pinterest
Michael, then went to the table and gave him some warm water, which the poor man also took gratefully and then hobbled away onto his next destination. 

*******************
End of Scenes 

Well, what do you think? Can you guess now what kind of bread was eaten be whom? This applied generally to the entire early-modern period. Not only in Britain, but throughout Europe, too. 


_________________________
Resources:

Albala, Ken, Eating Right in the Renaissance, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002, 184-216

Camporesi,  Piero, "Bread of dreams", History Today, Apr 89, Vol. 39 Issue 4, pp. 14-21

'Culinary History: The Evolution of Cooking', Episode 2: 'Feasting in the Middle Ages' ,  written by Michele Barriere and Phillippe Allante,  Jean-Yves Huchet and Nicolas Goldzahl (Executive Producers), VM Group,  2005

'Culinary History: The Evolution of Cooking', Episode 3: 'The Delights of the Renaissance',  Written by Michele Barriere and Phillippe Allante, Executive producers: Jean-Yves Huchet and Nicolas Goldzahl, VM Group,  2005

'Culinary History: The Evolution of Cooking', Episode 4: 'Enlightened Savours' ,  Written by Michele Barriere and Phillippe Allante, Executive producers: Jean-Yves Huchet and Nicolas Goldzahl, VM Group,  2005


Montanari, Massimo, ‘To Each His Own’, in The Culture of Food, Oxford, UK & Cambridge, USA: Blackwell, p. 84-89

Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E., Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008





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