Ship of Fools: St Joseph’s (St Damien of Molokai Parish), Windsor, Connecticut, USA
The Mystery Worshipper
Shipmate
Ship of Fools: St Joseph’s (St Damien of Molokai Parish), Windsor, Connecticut, USA
Recognizable as an actual Catholic mass – golden aura and all!
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Of course, "America" is often confused with "America the Beautiful", which is sung to the tune known as Materna.
Those who like to sing it in church usually point to last of the three or four verses usually sung (fourth of the original eight verses):
Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom's holy light,
Protect us by thy might
Great God, our King.
I don't know. For one thing, it depends on the church/denomination. I've seen descriptions of Remembrance Day services and Parade Services in the UK that sound much more patriotic that anything I typically encounter in American Mainline Protestantism. On the other hand, patriotism in worship can be fairly normal in some evangelical churches.
There can be other things at play, too. For example, Catholic parishes with a (historically) immigrant population may be trying to make a point to others about their American loyalty.
It used to be very usual for 'GSTQ' to be sung after Mattins. I believe that is still standard operating procedure at St Mary Abbots for one.
What were the words?
Not sure that the average bod in the pew would know that technicality. Have never sung a national song in church. The only context that it would be tolerable to me would be as a prayer for honest politicians.
My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim's pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture fills
Like that above.
Nor would I, had not an (Anglo-Catholic) shipmate made the point in a thread once.
Like I said, I'm not a fan of patriotic songs in church. That said, there are some songs "for the nation" as it were, that I think can be appropriate in worship. But "America" isn't one of them.
Not that I’m doubting you. I’m wondering why singing something like “America” or “God Bless America” in church is common enough in your experience that it doesn’t seem at all out of the ordinary, while in my experience either would be seen as highly out of the ordinary. Are denominational differences at play? (I don’t know about that. I have doubts about Lutherans or Episcopalians of my experience singing either song in church. United Methodists, maybe.). Is it a regional thing? Generational? Something else? A combination of factors?
I lived for three years in Lake Placid, New York many years ago, and played the organ at the local RC church. I was honored to have Kate Smith in the congregation. Not that she was at her cabin on the lake every Sunday, but when she was, she was always in church. You haven't heard "God Bless America" until you've heard it sung by Kate Smith to your own organ accompaniment.
And yes, I guess I can imagine it being sung in church if you have Kate Smith to sing it.
The skull and crossbones illustrate an early Christian legend/tradition that the cross was planted over the grave of Adam. This image conveys the message that the first Adam brought death into the world; the second Adam, Christ, brings life and redemption to the dead Adam and to the humanity which he represents.