Signs of the Times

Signs of the Times  •  20 December 2017 •  No. 148

¶ Processional. “Mary,” Take 6 (an arrangement of “O Mary Don’t You Weep).

Signs of the Times  •  13 December 2017 •  No. 147

¶ Processional. “Prepare the Way,” Jaques Berthier, performed by the Choir of Grace Luther Church, River Forest, Illinois.

Above: Wildfire approaching Springs of Life Church in Casitas Springs, California. AP photo/Noah Berger.

Special issue
MARY'S MAGNIFICAT

¶ Invocation. “We are waiting . . . waiting for that Gloria in Excelsis Deo." —The Many, which is offering their new “Advent & Christmas” album for free download.

Signs of the Times  •  6 December 2017 •  No. 146

¶ Processional. “All God's creatures got a place in the choir / Some sing low and some sing higher, / Some sing out loud on a telephone wire, / Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now.” —Makem & Clancy, “A Place in the Choir”

Signs of the Times  •  28 November 2017 •  No. 145

¶ Processional. “Adiemus,” composed by Karl Jenkins and performed by the Angel City Chorale. (There are no lyrics as such, instead the vocalists sing syllables and "words" invented by Jenkins.)

Above: Owl At Night (Kletr/Shutterstock)

¶ Invocation. “Calling all angels, calling all angels / Walk me through this one, don't leave me alone / Calling all angels, calling all angels / We're tryin', we're hopin' but we're not sure how.” —Jane Siberry & KD Lang, “Calling All Angels” (Thanks Abigail.)

Signs of the Times  •  2 November 2017 •  No. 142

“All Saints Day” illustration by Martin Erspamer OSB

¶ Processional. “When the Saints Go Marching In,” The Weavers.
        The Weavers were formed in November 1948 by Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Pete Seeger. The group took its name from a play by Gerhart Hauptmann, “Die Weber” (“The Weavers” 1892), a powerful play depicting the uprising of the Silesian weavers in 1844, containing the lines, "I'll stand it no more, come what may.” In the early '50s, during the McCarthyite anti-communist hysteria, the group was blacklisted and their music banned. —see more at Wikipedia

Signs of the Times  •  25 October 2017 •  No. 141

¶ Processional. “Fa’afetai i le Atua,” Samoan hymn, sung by a wildfire “hotshot” crew from the Polynesian island of American Samoa, a colony of the US, brought in to help fight wildfires in northern California. (“Hotshot” firefighters are those with specialized training and assigned the most challenging locations—sort of like the military’s special forces.) —Hawaii News Now (2:46–scroll down to find the video. Thanks Duane.)

Signs of the Times  •  17 October 2017 •  No. 140

Special edition
THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

¶ Processional. “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” University of Texas Trombone Choir.

Signs of the Times  •  10 October 2017 •  No. 139

¶ Processional. “Grace,” early American melody, performed by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus the day after the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Signs of the Times  •  3 October 2017 •  No. 138

¶ Processional. “Never Turning Back,” Street Choir Festival at Jubilee Square in Leicester, made up of 30 choirs across the UK.

Signs of the Times  •  20 September 2017 •  No. 137

¶ Processional. “Chaiyalim Adonai dances at Rosh Hashanah.”