Tag: Lent

Why Handel’s Messiah Is More Than a Christmas Classic

Did you know Handel’s “Messiah,” usually linked to Christmas, was originally intended for Easter, drawing from Old and New Testament scriptures. Tdditionally, Handel’s father was a barber-surgeon, medieval surgeons also cut hair.

updated April 3, 2025

Handel’s masterpiece-Messiah 

Even though Messiah tells the story of Jesus, whose life unfolds in the Bible’s New Testament, many of the lyrics come from the Old Testament, like this passage from Psalms. Several Isaiah passages referring to Jesus are also lyrics for music in Messiah.

lightstock_254158_medium_aletha

Gates, proudly lift your heads!

Open, ancient doors, the glorious King will come in.

Who is the glorious King? He is the Lord, the powerful soldier.

He is the Lord, the war hero.

Gates, proudly lift your heads!

Open, ancient doors, and the glorious King will come in.

Who is the glorious King?

The Lord All-Powerful is the glorious King.

Psalm 24:7-10, ERV

© 1987, 2004 Bible League InternationalLearn More About Holy Bible: Easy-to-Read Version

 

Handel-A doctor who cut hair

Handel’s father, Georg Handel, was a barber-surgeon, a term for physicians in the Middle Ages who performed operations and cut hair. Surgery was primitive and dangerous due to no anesthesia and no antibiotics to treat infection. Most surgery was done to treat war injuries. 

For centuries, surgery was a craft rather than a profession, and it was often practiced by barbers. In fact, up until the time of Sweeney Todd, a London resident would commonly visit a barber-surgeon for the treatment of a health problem.

Besides providing grooming services, barber-surgeons regularly performed dental extractions, bloodletting, minor surgeries and sometimes amputations.

pbs.com

Is Messiah for Christmas or Easter?

We usually associate  Messiah with Christmas, but Handel wrote it to be performed at Easter. For the lyrics, he used words from Scripture, choosing passages that tell the story of God sending Jesus to earth to redeem His people.

This article at Smithsonian.com explains how a surgeon’s son became a musician instead of a lawyer.

The Glorious History of Handel’s Messiah

a hymnal opened to the word Alleluia, with a tulip lying above

Let scripture DWELL in you

Many people find using their phones a convenient way to read and meditate on the Bible. And it’s easy to do so with the Dwell Bible App.

With Dwell you can listen to and read the Bible and special devotional offerings for Advent, Lent, and throughout the year.

Using this affiliate link helps support this blog and my mission to share the heart of health wherever needed all over the world. Please join me.

exploring the HEART of health

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Here is another Messiah story from my archives.

words for Lent – Good news

And before anyone can go and tell them, they must be sent. As the Scriptures say, “How wonderful it is to see someone coming to tell good news!”Messiah selections from the New Testament

Keep reading

What is Palm Sunday?

Palm Sunday is one of several “holidays”, or more correctly holy days that Christians “celebrate”, meaning observe, in the weeks before Easter which we call Lent.

Palm Sunday is one of several “holidays”, or more correctly holy days that Christians “celebrate”, meaning observe, during Lent, the weeks before Easter

Christians observe Palm Sunday as a reminder of the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem before being tried and sentenced to death.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem
(Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-38; John 12.12-19)

Many people spread clothes on the road, while others put down (palm) branches they had cut from trees. Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting,

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“Hooray for the Son of David!
God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hooray for God in heaven above!”

Matthew chapter 21, CEV

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)

© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.


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Edward McKendree Bounds was trained as an attorney, but instead of pursuing a legal career, he entered the ministry in his early twenties. In 1859 he was ordained as pastor of the the Monticello Methodist Church in Missouri.

He edited a Methodist newspaper and wrote books, concentrating on the practice of prayer.

The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer: Including: POWER, PURPOSE, PRAYING MEN, POSSIBILITIES, REALITY, ESSENTIALS, NECESSITY, WEAPON

Bounds served as a chaplain in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was captured by the Union Army in Franklin, Tennessee. After his release, he held weekly prayer sessions there.

I took this photo of the historic Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee

The “holy days” of Lent

Lent starts with the well-known Fat Tuesday-Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday.

Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday, illustrated in the Lightstock drawing above.

At my church on Palm Sunday, the preschool-age children march into the sanctuary waving palm branches and singing. The parents and grandparents sit up front, proudly taking pictures and videos. After church, the kids enjoy an Easter egg hunt on the church lawn.

It’s a day to celebrate before we observe the solemn sad day later in the week, Good Friday.

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Lightstock-quality photos and graphics site- here. 

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Exploring the Heart of

FAITH LOVE HOPE- words created with letter tiles
These three remain, faith, hope and love, and greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13, a Lightstock graphic

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha