October 2008

Virgins before Advent

J.S. Bach wrote church cantatas for a five-year cycle of Sundays and Holy Days while in charge at St Thomas' Church in Leipzig, although unfortunately not all of them survive. I was recently intrigued to note that one of the best known, Number 140, Wachet auf, or Sleepers Awake, written in 1731, was prepared for the 27th Sunday after Trinity. In the Church of Ireland, at least since 1962 there have only been 24 Sundays after Trinity and the present Prayer Book only allows at most 22.

The earliest date for Easter is March 22, and this puts Trinity Sunday on May 17. In such a year, Advent Sunday falls on November 29, and a little calculation shows that what we used poetically to call The Sunday Next before Advent (‘Stir-up Sunday), in this case November 22, is actually the 27th Sunday after Trinity. In fact we can only have 27 Sundays after Trinity if Easter falls on or before March 26. The present year, 2008, is the only one listed between 2004 and 2030 (the next is 2035) where this happens, so for Wachet auf to be used in its rightful place would be very rare!

The text deals with the parable of the wise and foolish virgins and the coming of the bridegroom for whom they are supposed to have their lamps ready (Matthew 25, 1-13), and this seems very appropriate for the Sunday Next before Advent, as was also recognised by the compilers of the Alternative Prayer Book of 1984 who included it as the Year 2 choice of Gospel for that Sunday (Last after Pentecost). I would suspect that Bach would have used this great Cantata not just in the rare years when there were 27 Sundays after Trinity, but generally for the last Sunday of the Church's year.

Bach was Cantor at Leipzig from 1723 until his death in 1750. According to the Internet, there were only two years, 1731 (March 25) and 1742 (March 25) when Easter fell within dates to give a 27th Sunday after Trinity.

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