Hymn of the Day: Healer of our ev'ry ill ELW 612
Text: Marty Haugen, 1950
Tune: HEALER OF OUR EV’RY ILL, Marty Haugen

Marty Haugen wrote this meditative song during the winter of 1985-86. During this time, his family was staying at Holden Village, a retreat center in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger crashed shortly after takeoff. According to Haugen:

In addition to the loss of seven astronauts, this crash was a symbolic loss for Americans. At Holden we had very infrequent communication with the outside world, so we did not know of the disaster for a couple of days. When we got some information, we held a service in the evening together, and “Healer of our Every Ill” was written as an expression for our community to grieve together (Daw, 2016, 795, quoting Westermeyer, 2010, 451).

Haugen uses the text of this hymn as a prayer for healing, not only of the body but also of the mind and spirit. The refrain, “Give us peace beyond our fear, and hope beyond our sorrow,” is a powerful prayer and helps us express thoughts we find difficult to put into words. This hymn is also about joy, as evidenced in stanza two with the words, “your grace is still unfolding.” Stanza three’s text, “Give us strength to love each other,” uses language that urges us, even in times of sorrow and fear, to show love and kindness to our sisters and brothers in Christ. The last verse of the hymn asks us to teach Christ’s way of healing and to fill each heart with compassion.

Marty Haugen was born in Wanamingo, Minnesota. Haugen studied piano, violin, trombone, and organ through high school, and he played organ in the Lutheran church where his family attended. He holds degrees from Luther College and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, and participated in graduate work in Pastoral Studies at what is now Luther Seminary and the St. Paul School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas (Canterbury Dictionary). His hymns have become very popular and can be found in many hymnals today, including the Chalice Hymnal and Evangelical Lutheran Worship. The majority of his compositions are published by GIA publications, including two settings of the liturgy for Lutheran use, “Holden Evening Prayer” and “Now the Feast and Celebration.” He has also composed settings of the Catholic Mass, including the “Mass of Creation.” Haugen has composed numerous choral arrangements, sacred songs, and hymns, including “Gather Us In,” “Eye Hath Not Seen,” “Canticle of the Sun,” “We Are Many Parts,” “We Remember,” “Shepherd Me, O God,” and “Awake!” Currently, he writes contemporary hymns and liturgies for the Lutheran church and holds a position as composer in residence at Mayflower Community Church in Minneapolis.

Offertory: Sing a New Song Michael Praetorious (1571-1621), Mark Schweitzer, arr.

This is the famous cannon offered today in 3 parts with a dance-like arrangement by Mark Schweitzer and a text based on Psalm 96. Michael Praetorius was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns. His family name in German appears in various forms including Schultze, Schulte, Schultheiss, Schulz and Schulteis. Praetorius was the conventional Latinized form of this family name, Schultze meaning "village judge or magistrate" in German. The Latin Praetorius means "magistrate-related or one with the rank of a magistrate."

Sing a new song, sing to God with a voice of triumph,
Make his praises known to all the nations,
Sing the honor of his name.

Opening Voluntary: “Prelude” from Suite Breve Craig Phillips (1961)

Craig Phillips is a distinguished and popular American composer and organist and Director of Music at All Saints’ Church, Beverly Hills. His choral and organ music is heard Sunday by Sunday in churches and cathedrals across the United States, and many of his works have been performed in concert throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He was named the American Guild of Organists Distinguished Composer for 2012 — the seventeenth recipient of this special award. Dr. Phillips joins an illustrious list that includes past honorees Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Daniel Pinkham, Stephen Paulus and David Hurd.

Closing Voluntary “Herr Jesu Christ! dich zu uns wend” Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877–1933)

The text Herr Jesu Christ! dich zu uns wend, was first published in 1648. Whoever the composer was, the hymn soon became justly popular, and in 1678 it was formally directed to be sung in all the churches in Saxony on all Sundays and festivals. It is a simple and forcible hymn, which survived the Rationalistic period, and text and tune are currently found together in 136 hymnals.

The chorale improvisation based on this hymn, is one of my favorites by Sigfrid Karg-Elert, who composed primarily for small ensembles or solo instruments like organ, piano and harmonium. The 66 Chorale Improvisations on Evangelical Church Hymns Op. 65, are his first organ works composed directly for this instrument. And I find it interesting he wrote 30 Caprices for Flute specifically for a friend, a flautist bound for service in the war. These short exercises were designed to challenge linear one-staff thinking and in short, keep the friend from becoming bored. They are now a standard set of technical, dynamic, and phrasing exercises for young flute students all over the world.