Song of the Day - 26th December
Christmas Day is over for another year, so Happy Boxing Day to my UK readers. Boxing Day may not be celebrated world-wide, but 26th December is St. Stephen's Day throughout Western Christendom. Today's Song of the Day is a setting of a hymn, or rather the translation of a hymn in praise of St. Stephen by Adam of St. Victor: Yesterday, With Exultation. These words are probably the oldest in the entire collection, Adam of St. Victor having lived c. 1068 – 1146. The archives of Notre Dame Cathedral dated 1098 note that Adam held office there first as a subdeacon and later as a precentor. He left the cathedral for the Abbey of Saint Victor around 1133, remaining there until his death. Stephen (c. 5 AD – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity. According to the Acts of the Apostles, he was a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who angered members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy at his trial, he made a s...