Today is Maundy Thursday, and tonight’s worship service is my favorite of the entire liturgical year.
A hymn that’s been part of Maundy Thursday for a long time is “Where charity and love prevail,” or Ubi caritas. Some scholars think the text goes back to the earliest days of the church, and that the familiar chant melody (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, 653), goes back to sometime before the year 900. Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora Luther would have known this chant well from their days in the monastery and the convent.
Only the first three stanzas of the very long ancient text are generally sung these days, and some contemporary versions are even shorter. I think this lovely, loving hymn makes a good prayer for any time of the year, not just Maundy Thursday.
Here’s a close English translation of the old Latin text, verse 1:
Where charity and love are, God is there.
Christ’s love has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be pleased in him.
Let us fear and love the living God,
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
This message is excerpted from “Where charity and love are, God is there” by Audrey Novak Riley from the April 13, 2017, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today is Maundy Thursday.
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