Church Music Corner › Feast of the Transfiguration 2026 [loc-0055]

Tibi dixit cor meum, quæsívi vultum tuum, vultum tuum Dómine requíram: ne avértas fáciem tuam a me.

I was once again the director of our choir at All Saints Ainslie, on a cold and wet Sunday with few choristers and few parishioners, even though it was a transferred feast. We sang Stopford's Do not be afraid, a poem by Gerard Markland based on the words of Isaiah:

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.

I have called you by your name;

you are mine.

When you walk through the waters,

I'll be with you;

you will never sink beneath the waves.

When the fire is burning all around you,

you will never be consumed by the flames.

When the fear of loneliness is looming,

then remember I am at your side.

When you dwell in the exile of a stranger,

remember you are precious in my eyes.

You are mine, O my child,

I am your Father,

and I love you with a perfect love.

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you.

I have called you by your name;

you are mine.

There's something weird going on, because we celebrated the Transfiguration already on Quinquagesima Sunday, and last year they made no special observance of the feast of the Transfiguration. The transferring of feasts is such a mess! I'm liking Oliver Brewer-Lennon's policy of never transferring anything and celebrating feasts on the day more and more.