The
current album of liturgical chants in English language was recorded by the
joint efforts of the Festive choir and the Monastic choir of St Elisabeth
Convent. Thus, the choristers who are accustomed to the Liturgy in Church
Slavonic language responded to the appeal of the Book of Psalms, which suggests
to sing to the Lord in all the languages, “O
praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people” (Psalm 117:1).
Strange
as it may seem, there are people who may regard this undertaking with suspicion.
First of all, despite the fact that the Orthodox Church never recognized the
concept of ‘sacred’ languages, many still believe that ancient languages, such
as Koine Greek or Church Slavonic please God more than our modern tongues, be
it Belarusian, Russian or English. Moreover, English is often frowned upon as
the language which has assisted globalization. As such, it is allegedly more
suited to a stock exchange than a temple of God. At last, one might say the
‘Mystical Supper' Album is of no practical use since there are few people in
Belarus who might be interested in the liturgical chants in English.
First, in
my opinion, we can discard with ease the idea of linguistic superiority if only
we trust Apostle Paul’s words ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek <…>: “for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). The
original language of the New Testament, Koine Greek used to serve as the lingua
franca in the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus’ earthly life. It may be
assumed that it was used in every sphere of life, including business and trade.
English became the global language and today it plays the vital role in
spreading the Gospel just as Koine Greek did it in the time of early
Christianity.
Finally,
it is true that apart from the personnel of the US Embassy in Minsk, a few
foreign teachers of English and businessmen there are only a handful of native
speakers of English who stay permanently in Belarus. However, there is no doubt
that a lot of people in all parts of the world have already listened to the
‘Mystical Supper' Album and many more will listen to it in the future.
Here I
have to mention one of the Album’s weak spots, namely, almost all the tunes are
of Russian origin. Hence, the listeners from the United States and other
English-speaking countries might get a wrong impression of the Orthodoxy as the
Russian national religion, although the Orthodox Faith belongs to all nations.
There are
Orthodox churches in the US where they sing in an American style, for example,
St. John of San Francisco Monastery in Manton, California. It would be
desirable to support the development of the American and other national styles
of Orthodox music. Hopefully, the choir of St Elisabeth Convent will continue
to praise the Lord in English and in the future we will be able to enjoy
listening to their other albums recorded in the language of Shakespeare.
Listen to a preview of the "Mystical Supper" album on the Catalog of St. Elisabeth Convent.
Listen to a preview of the "Mystical Supper" album on the Catalog of St. Elisabeth Convent.
By Vladimir Sypchu,
the chorister from the parish of
the Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God
into the Temple, Minsk
The Catalog of Good Deeds, 2018
into the Temple, Minsk
The Catalog of Good Deeds, 2018
CONVERSATION