Bryan Sherwood

Phos Hilaron: Hail Gladdening Light

From the Book of Common Prayer:

O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,

O Son of God, O Giver of life,

and to be glorified through all the worlds.

The Phos Hilaron became a part of my vespers liturgy some time ago when I started using the BCP for daily prayer.  I always found this hymn to be quite beautiful but never really knew the history behind it until recently. Phos Hilaron is an ancient hymn prayer, dating back to the 3rd century or perhaps even earlier. Some attribute it to St. Athenogenes (died c. 305). He was a bishop and ultimately a martyr that was killed under the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Some say Athenogenes sang the Phos HIlaron with joy as he entered the flames.

The Phos Hilaron is to be sung in the evening at the lighting of the lamps and is sometimes referred to as the "Lamp-lighting hymn." Wikipedia states that:

At that time in Jerusalem a lamp was kept perpetually burning in the empty tomb of Christ, its glow a symbol of the living light of Jesus. As Christians gathered to worship the hymn was sung and, in a tradition known as the lighting of the lamps, a candle lit from the lamp was brought forth from the tomb, its bright, solitary flame calling the church to celebrate the Risen Lord.

This ancient hymn has been a regular part of evening prayer for Anglicans, the Eastern Church and Lutherans, to name a few.  I continue to pray it in the evenings and in so doing, I feel connected to the ancient church through the words of this beautiful hymn.

I'm glad to know a bit more of its history.  I hope you've found it helplful too.  Pax.

On the English Reformation

Fr. Peter is back from a short blogging break! Check out his newest post: The Guiding Principle of the English Reformation.

A Night with the Bishop of Bolivia

What was my weekend like? Probably the best part of it was attending Sunday's confirmation service in Louisville. Six folks from St. Patrick's were confirmed by the Rt. Rev. Francis Lyons, Bishop of Bolivia. I took several photos during the confirmation and of course, you can view them on my flickr page. Those photos are just full of Anglican goodness. :-)

Of course, we couldn't end the evening without food! We all ate a great meal together at the Fox and Hound Pub & Grille before making our way back to Lexington. My fish and chips rocked.

Peace.