Religious sentiment or .... pious bullshit

For LJ readers with a good knowledge of English, this came my way this morning from the Chapel of the Resurrection - the more-or-less ecumenical chapel across the road from the European communities building. 

The poetry is neither here or there. And forget the bad English punctation at the end. It's the text I struggled with...

I'm not really sure this is what Christian witness is about. Or am I being too Puritan and severe, which is what they tell me at the chapel...  ?

Louange de midi

Texte und Musik

Textor och musik

Texts and music

O God, who canst not change nor fail,

Guiding the hours, as they roll by,

Bright’ning with beams the morning pale,

And burning in the mid-day sky,

Quench Thou the fires of hate and strife.

 

Der Tag strebt seiner Höhe zu,

der Mittag ruft uns zum Gebet.

 

The sun, at its zenith, divides the day: it is the time of the short shadows, of warmer temperatures and of full light. The sun changes its course from the ascent to decline. On this threshold, the morning’s bustling activities give way to a moment for taking a deep breath, a moment of silence and of contemplation.

At the same time in many European countries midday was (and still is) considered a phase of crisis: With its the typical windless calm and the warmth of the sun, lunch time ambivalently holds both the risk of excessive heat and the tendency to slowness and tiredness. Midday is therefore not only a moment of transition, but according to ancient symbolism also a turning point and a mirror of eternity.

As from 25 October 2010, the Chapelle de la Résurrection will offer at midday a new liturgical service: Louange de midi – Texts and music.

This midday music brings together the sounds of different instruments and spiritual reading. We pause, we rest and look gratefully to God, “whose splendour shines in morning light, whose glory burns in midday fire.” Music has always been considered a mediator between man and God: The sounds of music, therefore, will lead us to bridge the times of the day.

Schedules: twice a month, on mondays,

25. october 2010

15. november 2010

29. november 2010

13. december 2010 from 13.15 to 13.45