This Sunday the choir’s Offertory is an anthem composed by Thomas Tallis (1505–1585). You can read about Tallis’s life and work in an article I wrote for Touchstone in 2018 which is posted here, a post that includes embedded performances of musical works mentioned.
This week’s anthem is “A new commandment give I unto you,” a text taken from St. John 13:34–35:
A new commandment give I unto you, saith the Lord, that ye love together, as I have loved you, that e’en so ye love one another. By this shall ev’ry man know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
At Communion we will sing a Eucharistic hymn set by Luca Marenzio (1556–1599). The text is by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274):
“O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus sumitur; recolitur memoria passionis ejus; mens impletur gratia; et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. Alleluia!”
“O sacred banquet, wherein Christ is received; the memorial of his passion is renewed; the soul is filled with grace; and a pledge of future glory is given to us. Alleluia!”
The page with this Sunday’s Propers and the week’s Psalter texts for the Daily Office also includes links to a page introducing one of Bach’s cantatas written for this Sunday, and to a page about a 20-century setting of the day’s Offertory.