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On an August 29 a number of years ago, as I was praying the collect for St. Augustine of Hippo, I could not help but hear strains of music emerging from amidst the very words of the prayer. I said “Amen” at the end of the prayer, closed the book, and allowed myself to be lost in a sacred music reverie.

I thought about all the music I had chosen and directed over the past several years, trying to determine the piece in question. And then, through an incense-filled haze, my mind led me to that sublime temple of Episcopal worship down the road, the Church of St. Michael and St. George in Clayton, Missouri. It was there, under the superb direction of Robert Lehman, that the assembled choirs sang “O thou that art the light” by Gabriel Jackson.

“O thou that art the light of the minds that know thee,
The life of the souls that love thee,
And the strength of the wills that serve thee:
Help us to know them that truly love thee,
And so to love thee that we might fully serve thee,
Whom to serve is perfect freedom. Amen.”

I recalled all of this with fondness earlier this year when I learned one of my colleagues, Zack, is to be ordained to the priesthood on the feast of St. Augustine.

The choir will sing for his ordination, and I could think of no better piece than “O thou that art the light.”

I searched the choir library for other music with texts by Augustine of Hippo and found only a single additional piece: a short motet, “Fecisti nos,” by Philip Radcliffe. This piece sets, in Latin, a familiar phrase from Augustine:

“You made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

The collect for the feast, the one that brought Jackson's music to mind all those years ago, beautifully synthesizes these two texts: the minds, the souls, and the restless hearts (or wills, in the translation Jackson uses).

Lord God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of your servant, Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whose service is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Words and music come to us, sometimes unbidden, and help us to name the unutterable.

Over time, music can help to inscribe the words of our faith on our hearts—yes, those restless hearts, the ones prone to wandering.

In our duty, we find delight. In our service, we find freedom.

Labels: Gabriel Jackson, Philip Radcliffe, Robert Lehman, St Michael & St George (St Louis)