MARY MAGDALENE OF GRAND RAPIDS

I was looking for a setting of the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79l the song of Zechariah) when the lectionary called for that passage as the “Psalm” for the day. The most accessible version I found was Michael Perry’s 1973 text, “Blest Be the God of Israel.” (Although I changed the word “harbinger” to “messenger.”) It’s usually paired with MERLE’S TUNE by Hal Hopson. That’s a beautiful tune, but wasn’t quite in the groove I wanted, so I finished up an idea I had been working on a few weeks before. This new tune has a lot of similarities to the Peruvian Gloria, and could even use that as an extended Amen at the end of the song.

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