Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#306

306. Now the Solemn Feast Is Done

Text Information

• First Line: Now the solemn feast is done
• Title: Now the Solemn Feast Is Done
• Author: Calvin Seerveld (1985)
• Meter: 77 77 4
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Topic: Lord's Supper
• Copyright: © Calvin Seerveld

Tune Information

• Name: SONNE DER GERECHTIGKEIT
• Meter: 77 77 4
• Key: D Major
• Source: Bohemian Brethren's Kirchengesang, 1566; harm. Psalter Hymnal, 1987
• Copyright: Harmonization © 1987, CRC Publications

Text Information:

Calvin Seerveld (PHH 22) wrote these words in Toronto in 1985; they were first published in the 1987 Psalter Hymnal. He offered the text as an alternate to "At the Lamb's High Feast We Sing," which is often associated with the tune SONNE DER GERECHTIGKEIT. Seerveld created an effective, festive dismissal hymn in the conviction that the Lord's Supper is best concluded with a jubilee song instead of spoken words.

All three stanzas end with the theme "Christ sets us free." The joyful character of the text comes from remembering the death of Christ in the light of his resurrection, as Paul instructs in 1 Corinthians 15. Christ gave himself freely as the sacrifice (st. 1) required to set us free from sin (st. 2), and because of new life in him, we are free to laugh (st. 3)!

Liturgical Use:
As a dismissal hymn after the Lord's Supper; also very useful at an Easter Lord's Supper service or at the end of the Easter Vigil, after communion. Since every Sunday is a "little Easter," sing it anytime as a post-communion hymn, but not during Lent or Holy Week.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

SONNE DER GERECHTIGKEIT was originally the tune to a fifteenth-century folk song, "Der reich Mann war geritten aus," and it was adopted by the Bohemian Brethren for 1566 hymnal, Kirchengeseng. The tune is thus a contrafactum, changed from the folk/court use to church use. The title is the German incipit for the chorale most commonly associated with the tune.

SONNE DER GERECHTIGKEIT is a bright tune characterized by a rising initial motif and forceful rhythms. Sing it in unison to a full organ registration and at a good tempo. Use brass and timpani for very festive singing.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook