Feast of Jane Montgomery Campbell (November 15)

Above:  The Flag of the United Kingdom

Image in the Public Domain

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JANE MONTGOMERY CAMPBELL (1817-NOVEMBER 15, 1878)

Anglican Hymn Translator and Music Educator

Jane Montgomery Campbell comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Methodist Hymnal (1966).  Little information about Campbell is available.  Hymnal companion volumes that offer verbose biographies of other hymnodists provide just a few facts about our saint.  So be it; they suffice.

Campbell was a devout member of The Church of England.  She, born in Paddington, Hyde Park, London, in 1817, was a daughter of the Reverend A. Montgomery Campbell, the Rector of St. James’s Church, Paddington.  Our saint taught music in her father’s parish school.  She even wrote her own textbook, A Handbook for Singers.  Furthermore, Campbell translated German hymns into English.  She published these translations in various magazines and in two books, A Garland of Songs, or an English Liederkranz (1861) and Children’s Chorale Book (1869), both compiled by the Reverend Charles S. Bere.  Most of these translations have fallen out of the English-language canon of hymnody.  For example, Campbell’s translation of “Silent Night” has become obscure.  Yet our saint’s translation, “We Plow the Fields, and Scatter” has remained standard.  Campbell, aged about 61 years, died in Bovey Tracey, Devonshire, England, on November 15, 1878.

Jane Montgomery Campbell was one of those British Victorian women who brought riches of German hymnody into English hymnody.  She expressed her faith via her work in music–as a teacher and a translator.  Our saint left a fine legacy.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 23, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF TOYOHIKO KAGAWA, RENEWER OF SOCIETY AND PROPHETIC WITNESS IN JAPAN

THE FEAST OF JAKOB BÖHME, GERMAN LUTHERAN MYSTIC

THE FEAST OF MARTIN RINCKART, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT TERESA MARIA OF THE CROSS, FOUNDRESS OF THE CARMELITE SISTERS OF SAINT TERESA OF FLORENCE

THE FEAST OF WALTER RUSSELL BOWIE, EPISCOPAL PRIEST, SEMINARY PROFESSOR, AND HYMN WRITER

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Dear God of beauty,

you have granted literary ability and spiritual sensitivity to

Jane Montgomery Campbell and others, who have composed hymn texts.

May we, as you guide us,

find worthy hymn texts to be icons,

through which we see you.

In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 44:1-3a, 5-15

Psalm 147

Revelation 5:11-14

Luke 2:8-20

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 20, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATOR OF AUXERRE AND GERMANUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS; SAINT MAMERTINUS OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; AND SAINT MARCIAN OF AUXERRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF JOHANNES BUGENHAGEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN PASTOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCELLINUS OF EMBRUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF OLAVUS AND LAURENTIUS PETRI, RENEWERS OF THE CHURCH

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