On July 25th, we celebrate the Feast of St. James the Apostle. The epistle reading for this day is from the Book of Acts, and includes a reference to Kng Herod’s command to execute St. James and St. Peter.
Our sermon hymn this year is “The eternal gifts of Christ the King.” Dating from the fourth century, this hymn (#132 in our Hymnal) recognizes Christian martyrs as princes of the Church, a great occasion for joy in the New Jerusalem.
Since it is new for our parish, our choir recorded the first and last stanza to introduce the melody.
On this page, you can hear the melody chanted in its original Latin. You can also listen to a mass setting composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina based on this plainchant.