Celebrating Easter with the Song of Songs may seem to be an unlikely pairing at first. But since we proclaim Christ as the consummate lover of the collective church and the individual soul, what could be more natural?
In this service there were two reading voices. The minister led the prayers and read the New Testament Scripture passages from the table, using the New Revised Standard Version. A communication professor read the Song of Songs text from a separate lectern, using the King James Version, with some slight modifications (we let the “turtledove” sing, rather than the “turtle”).
The “Alleluia/Hallelujah” acclamations were sung before and after each New Testament reading. People stood for this singing/reading.
The Song of Songs passages were, in effect, used as poetic interpretations of the Easter readings. This was not to diminish the fact that the Song of Songs texts are also “the Word of the Lord,” but it helped clue the congregation in to the fact that the Old Testament readings were reflective of the Easter readings.
The singing of the alleluia acclamations should “crescendo” throughout the service. (We sang the Honduras “Alleluia” in a sort of subdued way. We danced with the Zimbabwe “Hallelujah.”)
For each of the choral anthems below, an alternative congregational song is listed.
Prelude
Choral Introit: “The Call” [sung from the aisles by the choir] (text: George Herbert; tune: Alexander Brent Smith)
Alt: “I Love You, Lord” CH 78, SNC 16, WR 85
Opening Sentences (from the Exultet, an ancient Easter hymn of praise)
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God’s throne!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes forever!
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen!
Rejoice, O mother church! Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God’s people!
Rejoice, heavenly powers!
Sing, choirs of angels!
Jesus Christ, our King, is risen! Amen.
Processional Hymn: “Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven and Voices Raise” CH 365, PsH 387, WR 289
Prayer (concluding with the Lord’s Prayer)
The Women Go to Anoint Jesus’ Body with Spices
Easter Alleluia: Taizé Alleluia 8
Alt: “Alleluia” PsH 639
Reading: Mark 16:1-4
I Come with Spices
Reading: Song of Songs 5:5-6
There Is But One, and That One Ever
Anthem: “I Got Me Flowers” (text: George Herbert; tune: Ralph Vaughan-Williams)
Alt: “O Sons and Daughters” PsH 393, SNT 107 (st. 1-3)
Mary Magdalene Discovers the Empty Tomb
Easter Alleluia: “Aleluya/Alleluia” from Honduras SNC 149
Reading: John 20:1-10
I Am My Beloved’s and My Beloved Is Mine
Reading: Song of Songs 6:1-3
Mary Recalls the Anointing of Jesus
Anthem: “The Anointing” (text: Charles Wesley; tune: Alice Parker)
Alt: “Break Open the Jar,” Rae E. Whitney
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
Easter Alleluia: “Celtic Alleluia” SNC 148
Reading: John 20:11-17
I Will Seek Him Whom My Soul Loves
Reading: Song of Songs 3:1-4a (end reading after “I held him and would not let him go.”)
After Disclosing Himself to Mary, Jesus Bids Her to Go
Anthem: “In the Garden,” Lloyd Larson
Alt: “Morning Sun” SNT 108, TH 287
Song: “Cristo Vive/Christ Is Risen” PH 109
The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ and the Power of His Suffering and Resurrection
Easter Alleluia: “Muscogee Alleluia” PH 595
Reading: Philippians 3:7-11
A Love Stronger than Death, Fierce, Unquenchable, a Treasure Beyond Our Means
Reading: Song of Songs 8:6-7
Love So Amazing Demands My Soul, My Life, My All
Anthem: “When I Survey” (text: Isaac Watts; tune: Gilbert Martin)
All Are Made Alive in Christ
Easter Alleluia: “Gospel Acclamation: Hallelujah” from Zimbabwe ELW 173 (see p. 35 this issue)
Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-22
The Winds Herald the Arrival of Spring
Reading: Song of Songs 4:16
To Walk Among the Springing Green
Anthem: “Christ Hath a Garden” (text: Isaac Watts, adapt. Robert Bridges; tune: Eleanor Daley)
Alt: “Christ Is Risen” SNC 147
The Night Is Over, Winter Is Past, the Land Springs with New Life
Reading: Song of Songs 2:3-4, 8-13
The Rising Sun Drives Away Gloom
Anthem: “O Day Full of Grace,” F. Melius Christiansen
Alt: “Because You Live, O Christ” PH 105, WR 292
Jesus Appears to the Disciples and Commissions Them
Easter Alleluia (sung by choir): “Toki Gong” (text and tune by Christian Isaac Tamaela)
Alt: “Halle, Halle, Hallelujah” (refrain only) RN 139, SNC 44, WR 5
Reading: Matthew 28:16-20
Prayers of the People
Eden Is Restored
Reading: Revelation 22:1-5
Hymn: “There in God’s Garden” SNC 138 (st. 1, all in unison; st. 2, women; st. 3, men; st. 4, all in harmony; st. 5 & 6, all in unison)
Responsive Reading
I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
Eat, friends, and drink; drink your fill of love.
I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.
I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. (Song of Songs 5:1, 3:2)
Behold, I am coming soon!
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
And let those who hear say, “Come!”
Let those who are thirsty come;
and let all who wish take the free gift of the water of life.
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Rev. 22:12-13, 17, 20)
Choral Response: “E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come,” Paul Manz
Alt: “Soon and Very Soon” CH 757, SFL 194, SNC 106, SWM 149, WR 523
Alt: “View the Present Through the Promise” SNC 90
Benediction
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people.
Amen.
Passing of the Peace
Excerpt
Sample Bulletin Introduction
“St. Bernard, in eighty-six sermons [on the Song of Songs] composed over a period of eighteen years, had reached only the beginning of the third chapter. And that is understandable. When the spiritual man [sic] has told what he feels, what he thinks of the love of God—and he may be able to do so in a few verses—he has the right to lay down his pen.”
—Jean LeClercq, trans. Catharine Misrahi, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture (Fordham University Press, 1982) p. 85
As this legacy of St. Bernard attests, in the medieval cloister and university there was no book more contemplated or commented upon than the Old Testament book Song of Songs (also known as the Song of Solomon). We inherit from monastics and scholastics alike a disposition to read Christ as the consummate lover of the collective church and the individual soul.
Today we explore this tradition by pairing New Testament Easter texts with anthems and verses from the Song of Songs. By doing so, we confess that the love of God is “strong as death, its ardor as fierce as the grave!” (Song of Songs 8:6)