FAIRFIELD—Those seeking to add depth to their Memorial Day remembrance now have a new work by sacred music composer Anna Bendiksen of Fairfield.
Bendiksen has penned deeply resonating lyrics to a well-known hymn tune by Hans Hassler, PASSION CHORALE, which most faithful may recognize from singing it on Good Friday to the text “O Sacred Head Surrounded.” The parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Trumbull says she originally wrote the lyrics as a funeral hymn.
“Many things are on my mind this Memorial Day weekend: the men and women who died for our country; the victims of the pandemic; the war in Ukraine; the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas; the recent losses of several people in my own community,” says Bendiksen.
The hymn begins with these words, “For all the faithful fallen in this the earthly fight, We sing with saints and angels as evening falls to night. O Jesus Christ have mercy, O holy Mary pray that soon their souls awaken to Your unending day.”
“As Catholics, we grieve, but not as those who have no hope. In sorrow we are joined more closely to Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother. Even in times of sorrow, I find such consolation in praying and singing as if Our Lord and Our Lady were standing close—for they really are.”
(For more information about Anna Bendiksen’s sacred music compositions, visit: www.annabendiksen.com
Forallthefaithfulfallen