Lent Movie Club: The Gospel According to St. Matthew; Good Friday Extended Worship Set; and O The Blood.

Prayer Meeting Podcast

This episode I share about “The Gospel According to St. Matthew”, the sixth and last selection of the Lenten Movie Club, which, at the time of this writing, is available for free at Hulu.com, through streaming (although there will be commercial interruptions).

Pasolini who helmed this effort, was not a Christian when he made this film, and may or

may not have converted later in life. He was an artist, and was very much struck by the Gospel, which he had read when he was traveling to meet with Pope John XXIII upon his invitation.

Pasolini pulls off a very interesting approach to the material; he treats the material reverently, where every line of dialogue from the film is taken verbatim from the Scriptures… but there is no narrator. That means that for stretches of the film, he has the actors work as if in a silent film, trying to convey in pictures what a proper narration would provide.

The film is populated with non-actors. Therefore they bring to this film a natural approach to acting as if the material was happening before them was really happening.

The end result is a movie that has moments where the viewer is, at first, feels a little lost. But as each individual scene progresses, the viewer begins to recognize the material that is being portrayed. It has the affect of introducing you to the Gospel as if you were seeing it for the first time.
When Jesus tells his parables, these parables are not reenacted. Instead, you get facial reactions.There are scenes in this film that are not in many other Jesus films: the slaughter of the innocents, the dance of Salome, the withering of the bad fig tree.

I share my thoughts as to how this film compares with the other notable Jesus films, including “Jesus of Nazareth”, the animated “The Miracle Maker”, “The Passion of the Christ”, “The Gospel of John.”

While I am grateful to have watched this movie for free, the commercial interruptions were a terrible intrusion on the

Next week: The Mega-Easter celebration episode!

Lent 1: The Diary of a Country Priest (available on Hulu+)
Lent 2: A Man For All Seasons (available on Amazon Prime)
Lent 3: Into Great Silence (available on Netflix)
Lent 4: Ordet (available on Hulu+)
Lent 5: The Passion of Joan of Arc (available on Hulu+)
HolyWeek: The Gospel According to St. Matthew (avail on Hulu)

A songsheet is available for this episode. Right Click Here and select “Save As” to retrieve it.

Episode Log Times
3:36 – Worship Session (Music and Prayer)
5:12 – O Sacred Head / Saviour, When In Dust, To Thee
10:10 – Were You There / O The Blood of Jesus
15:02 – When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
17:49 – O Come And Mourn With Me Awhile
20:45 – When I Survey (Reprise)
22:04 – Glory Be To Jesus
26:30 – Christus Factus Est (Chant)
28:18 – Spoken, Spontaneous Prayer
36:53 – Song of the Week (“O the Blood” by Thomas Miller and Mary Elizabeth Miller)
41:12 – Reflections (Lent Movie:”The Gospel According to St. Matthew”)
58:32 – Final Comments and Doxology

SONG OF THE WEEK
“O The Blood” by Thomas Miller and Mary Elizabeth Miller Copyright (c) 2010 Gateway Create Publishing;

********************SONGS***********************
O SACRED HEAD ONCE WOUNDED
attr to Bernard of Clairvoux (c1150);
tr Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676); tr James W Alexander (1804-1859);
Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612); arr J S Bach (1685-1750)

1. O sacred Head, once wounded
With grief and shame bow’d down.
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown.
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine.

2. What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,
Was all for sinner’s gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain:
Lo, here I fall, my Saviour!
‘Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

3. What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever;
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love for Thee.

4. Be near me when I’m dying,
O show Thy cross to me;
And to my succour flying
Come, Lord and set me free.
These eyes new faith receiving,
From Jesus shall not move;
For he, who dies believing,
Dies safely through Thy love.

Public Domain;

SAVIOUR, WHEN IN DUST, TO THEE
Sir Robert Grant, 1815; Spanish Melody

Saviour when, in dust to Thee
Low we bend th’adoring knee;
When, repentant to the skies,
Scarce we lift our streaming eyes;
O by all Thy pains and woe,
Suffer’d once for man below,
Bending from Thy throne on high,
Hear Thy people when they cry.

By Thine hour of dark despair,
By Thine agony of pray’r,
By Thy purple robe of scorn,
By Thy wounds–Thy crown of thorn,
By Thy cross–Thy pangs and cries,
By Thy perfect sacrfice;
Jesus look with pitying eye,
Hear Thy people while they cry.

Public Domain

WERE YOU THERE?
African Spiritual

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble,
tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?…

Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?…

Were you there when the sun refused to shine?…

Public Domain

O, THE BLOOD OF JESUS
Author unknown

O the blood of Jesus
O the blood of Jesus
O the blood of Jesus
It washes white as snow.

Copyright unknown

WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS
Isaac Watts; Isaac Baker Woodbury

1. When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.

2. See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet?
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

3. Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Public Domain

O COME AND MOURN WITH ME AWHILE
J.B. Dykes 1823-76; F.W.Faber, 1814-63

O come and mourn with me awhile;
See, Mary calls us to her side;
O come let us mourn with her
Jesus our Love, is crucified. …

Have we no tears to shed for Him,
While soldiers scoff and men deride?
Ah! look how patiently He hangs:
Jesus our Love, is crucified.

How fast His feet and hands are nailed:
His blessed tongue with thirst is tied;
His failing eyes are blind with blood;
Jesus our Love, is crucified.

Sev’n words He spoke, sev’n words of love.
And all three hours, His silence cried
For mercy on the souls of men;
Jesus our Love, is crucified.

O love of God! O sin of man!
In this dread act, Your strength is tried;
And victory remains with love;
Jesus our Love, is crucified.

Public Domain

GLORY BE TO JESUS
Edward Caswall, Friedrich Filitz

1. Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains
Poured for me the lifeblood, from His sacred veins

2. Grace and life eternal, in that blood I find
Blest be His compassion, infinitely kind!

3. Blest thru endless ages, be the precious stream
Which from endless torment, did the world redeem

4. There the fainting spirit, drinks of life her fill
There as in a fountain, laves herself at will.

5. Abel’s blood for vengeance, pleaded to the skies
But the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries.

6. Oft as it is sprinkled on our guilty hearts
Satan in confusion, terror-struck, departs.

7. Oft as earth exulting, wafts its praise on high
Angel hosts, rejoicing, make their glad reply

8. Lift then all your voices, swell the mighty flood
Louder still and louder, praise the precious blood

Public Domain

CHRISTUS FACTUS EST
Roman Gradual

Christus factus est pro nobis obédiens
usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis.

The Christ became for all of us, obedient
even unto death, that death upon the cross! Amen

Public Domain

All songs are in the public domain, unless otherwise noted.
Any songs written or adapted by Nick Alexander are available on music notation, for those who wish to introduce these songs in their own communities.

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Next week: The Mega-Easter Celebration!