Language, Mission, and Hymnography

I noticed this beautiful hymn last week during the service for St. Innocent, Enlightener of the peoples of America:

"Peoples of two continents of diverse languages and customs, through thee rejoice today in the mystery of the fiery tongues: The fall of the cursèd Babel of human pride which had kept in enmity all nations of the earth until they were swept into the net of faith, worshiping the consubstantial Trinity."

I do not remember much hymnography making a comment on language itself, but then again, St. Innocent of Alaska is quite a unique character. If ever there was a Renaissance man, a jack of all trades, and one full of a true missionary spirit, completely focused on living out an incarnated Gospel, it is St. Innocent.

This hymn seems to speak of language and customs as keeping nations at enmity, and then, the mystery of the fiery tongues bringing all into worship of the Trinity. That just strikes me; I had not thought of language and culture as a division quite in that way, nor that Christ is working mystically through our life, in this fiery mystery, to "actualize" the Gospel in the world. That is: "incarnational", or becoming flesh, is the very act of "fleshing out" the Gospel, of uniting ourselves to him continually, and living in him and in the world.

Comments

  1. Strange HappeningsMonday, April 05, 2021

    I just noticed a liturgical "conjunction" with the hymnography above. This Thursday, we will hear the Babel passage. In Lent, the Vespers readings start at the creation and slowly work their way through Genesis. St. Innocent's day was last week and this Thursday, the Thursday of the fourth week of Lent, we make it to the Babel passage. The hymn above brings a new perspective to this passage.

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