Above:  St. Peter’s Church, Yoxford, England

Image Source = Google Earth

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HENRY PARR (AUGUST 16, 1815-MAY 4, 1905)

Anglican Priest and Hymn Tune Composer

Henry Parr comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Hymnal (1941) of the old Evangelical and Reformed Church as well as that hymn book’s companion volume.

Information about Parr is scarce.

1. Parr, born in Lythwood, Hall, Shropshire, England, on August 16, 1815, took holy orders in The Church of England in 1845.
2. His ministerial record, with some gaps, was:  Vicar of Taunton (1849-1859); Curate of Tunbridge (1859-1861); Perpetual Curate of Ash Church, Gloucestershire (1861-1862); and Curate-in-Charge then Vicar of Yoxford, Suffolk (1867f).
3. Parr composed chants and hymn tunes–chants, mainly.  His hymn tunes included ST. QUINTON, NORTON, and WINMARLEIGH.
4. He edited The Church of England Psalmody (First Edition, 1847; Eighth Edition, 1880).
5. Parr, aged 89 years, died on May 4, 1905.

The paucity of information about Henry Parr disappoints yet does not surprise me.  Compared to most of his contemporaries, a wealth of information about this faithful priest and liturgist survives.  The most important factor is his legacy of fidelity, manifested in parish ministry and in liturgical contributions.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 18, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT LEONIDES OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 202; ORIGEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN; SAINT DEMETRIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT ALEXANDER OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF ELIZA SIBBALD ALDERSON, POET AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN BACCHUS DYKES, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAUL OF CYPRUS, EASTERN ORTHODOX MARTYR, 760

THE FEAST OF ROBERT WALMSLEY, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER

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Holy God, whose majesty surpasses all human definitions and capacity to grasp,

thank you for those (especially Henry Parr)

who have nurtured and encouraged the reverent worship of you.

May their work inspire us to worship you in knowledge, truth, and beauty.

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

1 Chronicles 25:1-8

Psalm 145

Revelation 15:1-4

John 4:19-26

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 27, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES INTERCISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGIAN

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Above:  Antonín Dvorák

Image in the Public Domain

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ANTONÍN LEOPOLD DVORÁK (SEPTEMBER 8, 1841-MAY 1, 1904)

Czech Roman Catholic Composer

Antonín Dvorák comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via his faith and sacred music, not that I harbor any objection to his secular music, such as his symphonies and delightful Slavonic Dances.

Dvorák was a subject of the Austrian (later the Austro-Hungarian) Empire.  He, born in Nelohozeves, near Prague, on September 8, 1841, was ethnically Bohemian.  The family’s faith was Roman Catholicism.  Our saint was the firstborn son of Frantisek Dvorák (1814-1894) and Anna, née Zdenková (1820-1882).  The father was, at different times, an innkeeper, a professional zither player, and a butcher.  Our saint’s parents married on November 17, 1840.  They had fourteen children, eight of whom survived infancy.

Dvorák, a musical prodigy, studied singing as well as various instruments as a youth.  These instruments included the violin, organ, viola, and piano.  He also started composing as early as 1855.  Our saint, as a young man, became a professional musician.  He played in an orchestra and taught piano.  Dvorák also fell in love with a piano student, Josefina Cermáková, who did not reciprocate.  He did, however, find love with her younger sister, Anna (1854-1931), whom he married in 1873.  The couple had nine children, the first three of whom died in infancy.

The young husband and father composed symphonies, works for stringed instruments, and pieces for piano while working as a church organist in Prague.  He remained an obscure composer with a local reputation in the 1870s.  Money was scarce in the Dvorák household, and our saint continued to teach piano students.  Therefore, winning the Austrian State Prize for composition in 1876 helped greatly.  It enabled him, for example, to resign his job as a church organist.

Dvorák’s reputation became international in 1879, with the help of composer Johannes Brahms and critic Louis Ehlert.  The Slavonic Dances (1878) contributed to the making of our saint’s global reputation.  By 1885, Dvorák was famous in England, where he premiered his Seventh Symphony and conducted another original work, The Spectre’s Bride, an oratorio.  (Joseph Barnby had conducted a performance of Dvorák’s Stabat Mater, from 1880, at Royal Albert Hall in 1883.)

Despite Dvorák’s growing reputation and the quality of his compositions, anti-Czech attitudes in Vienna prevented more performances of his music in the imperial capital.  Nevertheless, such attitudes were absent elsewhere, and the composer travelled internationally to conduct performances of his works when not teaching at the Prague Conservatory.

Dvorák worked as the director of the National Conservatory of Music, New York, New York, from 1892 to 1895.  His initial salary was $15,000 (the equivalent of $2,771,168.48, received as compensation, as of the writing of this post).  However, the Panic of 1893 affected the finances of the conservatory and its backers negatively, so our saint’s salary fell to $8,000 (the equivalent of $1,477,956.52, received as compensation, today).  Dvorák, while in the United States, sought to discover and to engage with American music.  He maintained that, just as he used Bohemian folk tunes in compositions, American composers should use Native American and African-American musical idioms in their works.  Our saint composed while living and working in the United States.  The most famous work from this period was his Ninth Symphony, subtitled From the New World.

Dvorák continued to benefit from the support of Brahms.  The great bearded composer, regarding Dvorák as a worthy peer, corrected proofs of our saint’s compositions for publication in Europe while Dvorák was in the United States.  Brahms volunteered to perform tedious work, to Dvorák’s amazement and gratitude.

The Dvoráks returned to their homeland in April 1895.  The composer resumed his duties at the Prague Conservatory and continued to compose.  Our saint also resumed traveling throughout Europe to conduct performances of his works.  His social stature increased during the final years.  Dvorák joined the imperial House of Lords in 1901.  That September, his sixtieth birthday was a national celebration in Bohemia.  And he assumed the duties of directing the Prague Conservatory that November.

Dvorák did not survive 1904.  He fell severely ill on March 25.  This illness prevented our saint from attending a concert consisting mostly of his compositions.  Dvorák recovered briefly but fell ill from influenza on April 18.  He, aged 62 years, died on May 1.

Dvorák’s oeuvre consists of both sacred and secular works:  symphonies, chamber music, operas, songs, and other compositions which resist those categories.  The choral works include the Stabat Mater, the Requiem, the Te Deum, and the Mass in D Major.  The Stabat Mater, playing in the background as I have been writing this post, is a masterpiece.  I defy anyone, informed that Dvorák was a devout Roman Catholic who had buried his first three children, to listen to the Stabat Mater and not detect his faith and paternal grief.

Dvorák’s legacy lives, fortunately.  His music enriches my life and his faith enriches mine.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 17, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK, APOSTLE OF IRELAND

THE FEAST OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT, “THE CORN LAW RHYMER”

THE FEAST OF HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND PRIEST

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAN SARKANDER, SILESIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND “MARTYR OF THE CONFESSIONAL,” 1620

THE FEAST OF JOSEF RHEINBERGER, GERMANIC ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA BARBARA MAIX, FOUNDER OF THE SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

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Eternal God, light of the world and Creator of all that is good and lovely:

We bless your name for inspiring Antonín Dvorák and all others

who with music have filled us with desire and love for you;

through Jesus Christ our Savior,

who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

1 Chronicles 29:14b-19

Psalm 90:14-17

2 Corinthians 3:1-3

John 21:15-17, 24-25

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), 728

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Above:  Old Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland

Image Source = Google Earth

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JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH HODGES (1830-MAY 1, 1915)

Episcopal Priest, Liturgist, Organist, and Composer

Also known as J. S. B. Hodges, John Sebastian Bach Hodges, and J. Sebastian B. Hodges

Johann Sebastian Bach Hodges comes to this, A Great Cloud of Witnesses:  An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days, via The Hymnal 1940 (1943), The Methodist Hymnal/The Book of Hymns (1966), and their companion volumes.

Edward Hodges (1796-1867) and Margaret Robinson Hodges (d. 1863) presided over a musical family.  Edward was an organist and a composer in The Church of England.  Margaret, raised in the classical music tradition of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum), was a talented vocalist.  Edward married Margaret on her nineteenth birthday.  The couple raised eight children–George Frederick Handel, Faustina Hasse, Miriam, Jubal, Johann Sebastian Bach, Deborah, Cecilia, and Asaph–four of whom lived past twenty years and became organists.  Faustina Hasse Hodges (1822-1895), also a composer, wrote her father’s biography yet died prior to its publication.  Johann Sebastian Bach Hodges edited the book for publication (1896).  The other two children who survived past twenty years and became organists were Deborah (still alive in 1896) and Jubal (who died at the age of forty-two years).

Edward spent much of this life in North America.  In 1838, he moved to Toronto to become the organist at the Anglican Cathedral of St. James.  By the end of the next year, he had become the organist at Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York, New York.  Edward served in that capacity until illness forced his retirement in 1859.  At Trinity Church, Wall Street, Edward introduced the Anglican cathedral music tradition to The Episcopal Church.  He also sent for his children, one by one.  Johann arrived in New York City in 1845.

Johann remained in the United States even after his father, a new widower, returned to the mother country in 1863.  Our saint studied at Columbia University (B.A., 1850; M.A., 1853) then at The General Theological Seminary (S.T.D., 1854).  Hodges, ordained to the diaconate in 1854 then to the priesthood the following year:  served on the staff of Trinity Church (now Cathedral), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1854-1856.  Then our saint spent a few years in the Midwest; he served on the faculty of Nashotah House, Nashotah, Wisconsin.  During this time, Hodges also served at the Church of the Holy Communion, Chicago, Illinois.  In 1860, our saint returned to the East; he became the Rector of Grace Church, Newark, New Jersey, and served in that capacity through 1870.  Next, Hodges served as the Rector of (Old) St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore, Maryland (1870-1906).

Hodges started making his greatest contributions to ecclesiastical life prior to arriving in Baltimore in 1870.  He compiled The Book of Common Praise:  Music for The Book of Common Prayer; For Use in Congregations and Sunday Schools (1868).  Our saint continued his musical-liturgical contributions in Baltimore.  In 1873, Hodges replaced the parish’s paid male-female quartet with a choir of men and boys.  He also founded the first choir school in the United States.  The choir, trained at this choir school, earned its reputation for excellence.  Our saint’s work of facilitating The Episcopal Church’s transition from metrical psalms to hymns, begun in Newark, continued in Baltimore.  He served on the committee to revise The Hymnal (1874) into The Hymnal (1892).  Our saint, the composer of about a hundred anthems and hymn tunes (including EUCHARISTIC HYMN), completed Hymn Tunes, Being Further Contributions to the Hymnody of the Church (1903).

Hodges entered retirement in 1906.  During this period, he published Christmas Carols and Hymns for Children Set to Music by the Rev. J. S. B. Hodges, S.T.D. (1908).

Our saint, aged about 85 years, died in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 1, 1915.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 16, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTIETH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF SAINT ADALBALD OF OSTEVANT, SAINT RICTRUDIS OF MARCHIENNES, AND THEIR RELATIONS

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM KIDUNAIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT; AND SAINT MARY OF EDESSA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ANCHORESS

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CACCIAFRONTE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, BISHOP, AND MARTYR, 1183

THE FEAST OF SAINT MEGINGAUD OF WURZBURG, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND BISHOP

THE FEAST OF THOMAS WYATT TURNER, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC SCIENTIST, EDUCATOR, AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST; FOUNDER OF FEDERATED COLORED CATHOLICS

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM HENRY MONK, ANGLICAN ORGANIST, HYMN TUNE COMPOSER, AND MUSIC EDUCATOR

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Holy God, whose majesty surpasses all human definitions and capacity to grasp,

thank you for those (especially Johann Sebastian Bach Hodges)

who have nurtured and encouraged the reverent worship of you.

May their work inspire us to worship you in knowledge, truth, and beauty.

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

1 Chronicles 25:1-8

Psalm 145

Revelation 15:1-4

John 4:19-26

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 27, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAMES INTERCISUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGIAN

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One of my email accounts has again become a target for a barrage of phishing emails.  I have reported these as such and followed all the directions the email provider recommends.  Yet the emails have continued to arrive.

People who engage in phishing activities would do the world a favor if they would cease immediately and start doing something constructive.  They could try honest work, for example.  Alternatively, they could engage in humanitarian efforts.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 21, 2023 COMMON ERA

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ChatGTP and Other Ills of Education

ChatGTP is a major topic in the news.  This AI writes documents, including essays and articles.  I, as a former classroom instructor who assigned written assignments, am alarmed.  My alarm increases as I read that the creators of ChatGTP are only now developing a watermark for such documents, and that a third party wrote the code for the ChatGTP detector.  Why did the creators of ChatGTP not think about the potential of academic dishonesty sooner?

I understand why some colleges, universities, and school systems have banned ChatGTP on their computers while I realize that this measure is of limited effect.  They cannot ban ChatGTP from students’ computers.

Regardless of what some people–including certain students–have said and thought about me, I am not naïve.  I understand that many students lack compunction regarding academic dishonesty.  I recall, for example, one student who asked if I would share the test bank with the class before the test.  (I said no, of course.)  I remember one college student telling me that he did not think that plagiarism exists.  (It does, of course.)  I understand that students who cheat on assignments cheat themselves, too.  But they want the easy way out.

One factor that makes ChatGTP appealing to many students is that they do not know how to write well.  For example, students may graduate from high school without mastered composition, grammar, and usage.  So, when they matriculate at a college or university and receive writing assignments, they are ill-prepared or unprepared.  Composing and revising even a five-page-long essay or report may seem like writing an epic novel to such pupils.  I know whereof I write; I have experience teaching such students.  I recall their comments about having to “write a lot.”  By “a lot,” they meant twenty-eight to thirty-six pages, spread across four assignments, during a semester.  I also remember the professionally worded paragraph this attitude inspired me to include in my syllabi.  I thought of this as the “cut-the-crap clause” on good days.  And the quality of the students’ writing, with few exceptions, deteriorated alarmingly over the course of more than a decade.  Along the way, I issued duly harsh penalties for plagiarism–earning a zero on the assignment and a failing grade in the course.

Finally, I gave up on writing assignments and gave Scantron tests instead.  Even then, most students I taught were ill-prepared.  I taught at the University of North Georgia, not the Middle School of North Georgia or the High School of North Georgia.  I refused to dumb down the courses and to share my test banks with pupils before tests.

Without denying that ChatGTP has legitimate and honest applications, I decry the potential for facilitating academic dishonesty.  Conducting one’s research, drafting a text, and revising that text require one to think critically about the material and to hone one’s writing skills.  Thinking skills and writing skills are low priorities in schools which focus on standardized testing.  Thinking skills and writing skills are crucial in a free society, too.  ChatGTP does more harm than good.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 26, 2023 COMMON ERA

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ON AVOIDING A DOUBLE STANDARD

Unlike many other people, I feel no compulsion to express every or every other thought that I have–certainly not in writing.  Also, my historical methodological bias inclines me to sit back, read, and observe before writing or speaking much.  Nevertheless, I do feel free to comment in developing events in the news from time to time.

The handling of classified documents has been in the news recently.  Donald Trump’s case is in a league by itself, given that the federal argument asked for the return of the documents, he refused, and the federal government finally acted to reclaim them.  This is an easy case to evaluate.  However, the cases of Joe Biden and Mike Pence, who have been consistently cooperating with federal authorities, are alike.

For the sake of truth in advertising, I lay my partisan cards on the table.  I cast my first vote in a presidential election in 1992.  I have voted in every subsequent presidential election.  I have always voted for Democrats.  My partisan bias does not mean, however, that I give Biden a pass in this case and condemn Pence mercilessly.  And I do not mistake a partisan affiliation for a cult of personality.

Rather, I sit back, read, and watch.  I also vow to apply one standard to both Biden and Pence in this matter.  I refuse to assume any negative intention in the absence of evidence for it.  I assume, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that these are cases of the accidental misfiling of papers.  This does not mean that such misfiling is unimportant.  I also guess that such misfiling may be more common than many people may think.

To apply one standard to Biden and another standard to Pence in this matter is to show one’s colors as a partisan hack.  I have no difficulty applying a consistent standard in this case.  Yet acting accordingly is more than one can reasonably expect from many people–including some members of Congress and the punditocracy–unfortunately.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 25, 2023 COMMON ERA

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In my first Episcopal parish, in the early 1990s, a woman–a convert to The Episcopal Church, and an extrovert–recalled her impression from years prior, when she had left her previous denomination.  She said of her Episcopal congregation from that previous time that she had never seen so many introverts in one place.

This statement has the ring of truth.  Many Episcopalians are self-described refugees from denominations with overzealous extroversion.  In terms of personality typing, the main characteristic of Evangelicalism is extroversion.  For me, an introvert, this is off-putting and alienating.  I prefer the quieter side of Christianity.  Holy hermits (both male and female) are some of my favorite saints.

I wonder what a study of clergy, their personality types, and their denominational affiliations would reveal.  I suspect that such a study would reveal that more clergy in the Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox/Episcopal corner of Christianity are introverted that in most Protestant denominations.  The existence of monasticism and of great openness to mysticism in those denominations is consistent with the acceptance of introversion.  I also guess that most Evangelical ministers are extroverts.

My priest is an introvert.  Whenever he makes comments about the social and spiritual aspects of introversion, I always resemble his remarks.  I have yet to compare notes with him, but, via my life, I understand the truth of what he says about the social and spiritual dimensions of introversion.  Our inward focus is an asset.  Yet, if we are not careful, our minds can be so busy that we are not inwardly quiet, although we are not saying anything.  I can easily go for long stretches of time without saying anything, but my mind is usually working.  I recall that, in 1995 or 1996, I finally quieted my mind for up to half an hour.  I remember this as being a wonderful experience.  I also recall that someone opened the door and ruined everything.

My society values extroversion and looks scornfully upon introversion.  So does much of the Evangelical tradition, with its disdain for monasticism and mysticism.  All that is unfortunate, for we introverts have much to offer the Church and society, too.  For example, we understand the importance of being quiet.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 16, 2023 COMMON ERA

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I have read that one difference between conservatives and liberals is the values they prioritize when values come into conflict with each other.  Conservatives choose law and order over diversity, tolerance, and acceptance.  Liberals establish the opposite priority.  This does not mean that all liberals oppose law and order or that all conservatives oppose diversity, tolerance, and acceptance.  However, I suppose that adherents of the far right–xenophobic, homophobic, openly racist, and frequently antisemitic–oppose diversity, tolerance, and acceptance, by definition.

I am a liberal.  I am an orderly person who manifests a meticulous nature and great attention to details.  My domicile is a masterpiece of organization.  I also understand that freedom cannot exist in anarchy, so order is essential for liberty.  However, certain types of order are antithetical to freedom, civil liberties, and civil rights.  The question is not whether to maintain order per se, but what kind of order to maintain.  I also approach this issue from the perspective of one who has spent his life being a square peg in a round hole, and being keenly aware of not fitting in.  I insist on trying to be my best possible self, not the person others want me to be or to become.  So, if someone has purple hair, this does not disturb me.  Besides, some people look good in purple hair.  And that person’s hair color is none of my business.

I, as one accustomed to not fitting in, have a bias for diversity, tolerance, and acceptance of most differences.  Why not?  Life would be boring if we were all alike.  Variety is the spice of life, is it not?  My commitment to mutuality, a Biblical virtue, is consistent with this attitude.  We all need each other.  We are all responsible to and for each other.  The old-school conservative value of building community makes sense to me but conserving unjust exclusion and enforcing conformity offends my morality.  I regard “conform” and “conformity” as the obscenest words in the English language.  I know the consequences of refusing to conform.   And some purple-haired woman may have something essential to contribute to the community.  How dare anyone exclude her!

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 2, 2023 COMMON ERA

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I began to celebrate Christmas for this ecclesiastical year today.

I am a stickler for the liturgical calendar.  I know that Advent began on November 27, 2022.  I also understand that Christmas will begin tomorrow–December 25–and run its course of twelve days on January 5.  So, I will put my Christmas decorations away on January 6, 2023, the Epiphany.

Christmas Eve seems early enough to start celebrating Christmas.

I wish you, O reader, a blessed and merry Christmas season.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 24, 2022 COMMON ERA

CHRISTMAS EVE–THE LAST DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

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News of worker shortages and persistently vacant positions has become old news.

I wonder how many persistently vacant positions are due to worker shortages, how many are due to an imbalance (geographical, skills-related, etc.) in the work force, and how many are due to pokey human resources personnel.  A story from my past illustrates the last point.  I will provide no names, other than my own, of course.

I had applied to work for an employer in another city.  Too much time passed without a response.  I learned that the human resources department had yet to run the criminal background check.  So, I walked to the local police station and asked the officer on duty to run such a check on me.  He did, almost instantaneously.  He also typed a letter on official stationery and declared my record clean.  I thanked him and sent a copy of that letter to the human resources department.

That employer eventually hired me.  I do not know if the human resources department finally ran a background check on me or if they took the police department’s word for it.  But I should never have had to do the job of the human resources department.

I mentioned this incident to a supervisor.  He sympathized with me and informed that he had repeatedly counseled the human resources department to work faster.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 23, 2022 COMMON ERA

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