Ring Out, You Songs!

Today is the Feast of Pentecost (or Whitsun), which commemorates the occasion when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles after the Resurrection and the Ascension. Many Christians celebrate Pentecost as the “Birthday of the Church”, and denominations that closely observe the liturgical calendar consider it a holy day second only to Easter.

In honor of the occasion, below is a video of the cantata “Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!” (“Ring out, you songs; sound, you strings!”, BWV 172) by Johann Sebastian Bach, as performed by the Monteverdi Choir, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.

See the YouTube page for the full libretto (in German).

Hat tip: ritamalik.

One thought on “Ring Out, You Songs!

  1. Pentecost, or Shavout to the Jew, is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to comfort us in His absence. The Holy Spirit of God, Who under the Law would come and go, and even leave as David begged Him no to, abides permanently in the heart of the person who has been re-born through faith in Jesus Christ.
    Whereas the Resurrection is the capstone in the arch of Christian doctrine, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer which began on Pentecost and continues to even today is the enabling gift from God that gives the Christian strength to carry on, and look Muslims straight in the face and pray for them while being tortured and killed.
    It is this indwelling that Satan and his Islamic hordes cannot conquer. It is this indwelling by God Himself that serves notice to Satan that he has been defeated, no matter what he tries to do.
    I would put Pentecost above Easter and Easter above Christmas as in Pentecost all of the old Testament promises find their fulfillment.
    BTW, Shavout and Pentecost happened on the same day this year. Hmmm, interesting.
    Be blessed in the Peace that Jesus gives.

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