The Hymn of the Day

The natural response of faith upon hearing the Gospel is to sing. Scripture gives several examples of this, such as the Song of Moses, sung after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and were delivered from Egypt (Exodus 15), and the Magnificat, which Mary sang upon hearing Elizabeth’s confession of the presence of Christ in Mary’s womb (Luke 1). The command to sing is also found throughout the Scriptures, such as in Psalm 96: “Oh, sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day.” These three examples also demonstrate the content of our music: we ought to sing about God’s work of salvation for us!

Hymns have been sung in the Divine Service since at least the Middle Ages, but they were primarily sung by the choir in Latin. Many hymns were written in the vernacular, but they were used in home devotional life. When Martin Luther wrote his reforms of the liturgy, he saw an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel even more clearly in both word and song, so he added congregational hymns in German alongside the choral music in Latin. The hymn placed next to the Gospel reading was called the Gradual hymn or de tempore hymn (meaning, “of the time”). As more Lutheran hymns were written in the vernacular, the Reformers developed a schedule of hymns for each Sunday and festival of the Church year. This schedule corresponds with the lectionary readings and elevates the hymn of the day to a similar status as the other appointed Propers since it is appointed for us and used by the whole Church. Much like the lectionary, this calendar developed slowly and organically over many centuries—each generation keeps and passes along what it has received, and adds the best new hymns of its own time. As a result, many of the hymns of the day that we sing today are the same hymns of the day that were used at the time of Bach (18th century), with some extending back to the time of Luther (16thcentury). We also sing many hymns from the Early Church, though they were not yet appointed as a hymn of the day.

The purpose of the hymn of the day is to expound on the theme and Scripture lessons from the day, most often the Gospel reading. It provides an opportunity to meditate on the readings and prepare to hear the sermon. In a sense, the hymn of the day preaches the Gospel to us as we sing to one another. Other hymns in the service are chosen to further reflect on the theme of the day or season, considering the congregation’s specific context. Hymns proclaim Christ crucified and teach the faith as the Word is imprinted on our hearts through music.

The Salutation, Collect, and Readings

The salutation is more than a simple greeting. When the pastor says, “The Lord be with you,” he is announcing that the Lord is truly present with His people to bless them through the Word which is about to be read. The salutation comes directly from Scripture. As but one example, when the angel Gabriel greets Mary, he says, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). Gabriel is proclaiming the imminent presence of Jesus who would become incarnate to bring salvation to the world. In the liturgy, the salutation also occurs at the beginning of the Service of the Sacrament and before the benediction. In these instances, it also proclaims that the Lord is coming to His people with His blessing in specific ways. When the congregation responds, “And with your Spirit,” they acknowledge that God is working through the pastor to deliver His gifts.

The Collect of the Day is a brief prayer, chanted by the pastor on behalf of the people, that collects the prayers of the gathered faithful into one. The Collects were written anonymously and have been in use since at least the 5th century, with some being modified over time. The Collect is a Proper of the lectionary, appointed for a specific day or season of the Church year. It typically asks that God would bless the people in a specific way related to the theme of that day. The specific form used for Collects includes a basis for the petition that is made, so that we pray back to God what He has first spoken to us in His Word.

Following the Collect, we hear the Scripture lessons for the day—Old Testament, Gradual, Epistle, Alleluia and Verse (or Tract, during Lent), and Holy Gospel. The Church follows a lectionary which orders our life around the life of Christ and ensures that we hear the full counsel of God each year. Much of the one-year lectionary dates back to the 9th century or earlier, with some evidence as early as the 5th century, thus connecting the whole Church across time and space.

In the lessons, we hear the living voice of Christ as He speaks through the apostles (Epistle), prophets (Old Testament), evangelists (Gospel), and shepherds (sermon) to proclaim Law and Gospel to us for the forgiveness of sins and to equip us for Christian life (Ephesians 4:12). The Gradual and Verse are usually taken from the Psalms and put the language of faith on the lips of the congregation to reflect upon and respond to the three primary lessons. The reading of the Gospel is the first liturgical high point of the Divine Service. Through the proclamation of the Word, the Holy Spirit is active to “call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the whole Christian Church on earth and to keep us with Jesus Christ in the one true faith” (Small Catechism II.3).

The Kyrie and the Gloria in Excelsis

Kyrie is shorthand for the Greek, Kyrie eleison, which means, “Lord, have mercy.” This prayer is found throughout Scripture, for example, the blind beggar Bartimaeus who called to Jesus on the road, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). We are all beggars before God, having nothing of ourselves to offer Him. It is most fitting then, that having entered into the presence of God and having begun the Service of the Word, the first words on our lips are the oldest prayer of the faithful, the cry of the beggar, “Lord, have mercy.”

The Kyrie does not have a penitential function nor is it a continuation of the confession of sins. It is a prayer for help in all times of need. The earliest forms of the Kyrie that appeared in the liturgy were similar to the Litany that we are using as the Prayer of the Church on Sunday mornings during Lent. We still use this form of the Kyrie in Divine Service I, which is sung responsively between the pastor and the congregation (LSB p. 152). In the sixth century, the Kyrie was simplified to the threefold, “Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy,” which is the form we use in Divine Service III (p. 186). In the Kyrie, we ask that the Lord would prepare our hearts rightly to receive Him as we also pray for His mercy to be shown to the whole world. It is a confident prayer grounded in Christ who intercedes for us that we might be shown mercy for His sake.

The Gloria in Excelsis—Latin for “Glory [to God] in the highest”—is the hymn of praise sung in answer to the Kyrie. The Gloria begins with the song of the angels that announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds (Luke 2:14). Just as the angels proclaimed that God has come to rescue His people by taking on human flesh, so also in the Divine Service the Gloria proclaims that God is coming to His people for our salvation, now in Word and Sacrament. The Gloria confesses that Christ is truly present among us with His mercy.

The Early Church expanded the Gloria into a creedal hymn of praise in response to this proclamation. We honor and glorify God along with the shepherds for sending the Savior. Then we call upon Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, to have mercy on us. We ascribe to Him the honor bestowed on Him by the Father—that He is the holy Lord of all who is seated at God’s right hand. Finally, we close with a confession of the Holy Trinity. This hymn of praise proclaims that the glory of God is manifest in the work of Christ to bring peace (absolution) on earth, for which we thank and praise Him.

The Gloria is omitted during Advent and Lent as we focus on repentance and preparation for the feasts of Christmas and Easter.

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