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Lent is upon us, a season of spiritual renewal as we prepare for Easter through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In our worship, the liturgy becomes more reflective: the “Alleluia” falls silent, and confession comes to the forefront in the singing of the Kyrie—“Lord, have mercy.”
Throughout the season, the choir will sing the Kyrie from the Mass for Four Voices by the English Renaissance composer William Byrd. This Sunday’s anthem is a lovely setting of the hymn There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy by Maurice Bevan. The original hymn contains thirteen stanzas, so anyone setting it must choose which texts to include. Bevan’s selection brings forward several inspiring lines that many of us have rarely heard before. In the United Kingdom, Bevan’s tune is now the one most often associated with the hymn.
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