LTSP - Advent Vespers and Books of Hours (12/02)

The seminary loaned one of its Books of Hours to this exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Frist Gallery (Nashville) in 2001-02.

Words for Waiting People
A daily advent devotional guide with reflections from members of the seminary community, available in HTML or Adobe Acrobat format.

Advent vespers tour features Books of Hours, Advent Vespers at nearby church


Left, page opening showing a miniature depicting the Visitation; center, the Visitation (detail); right, the Books of Hours on display.

Luminaria marking the way for visitors set the tone for Advent December 3. The President's Manse is in the background.

The seminary's annual Advent Vespers service at a nearby church was preceded by a celebration at the seminary, including a very special event at its Krauth Memorial Library.

A tour of priceless prayer books from the 15th century was offered the eve of Advent Vespers this year by Dr. Karl Krueger, acting director of the library. On display were three Books of Hours. These books were very popular among lay people between 1250 and 1550 AD. Some were elaborately illustrated. All contained the Gospel lessons, psalms and prayers.

Wearing white gloves to protect the rare and priceless Hours of the Virgin, Acting Library Director Karl Krueger shows visitors one of the book's dramatic illustrations. The illustration, which introduces the seven penitential psalms in the book, depicts David sending Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, off to war. More than 100 people came to view the manuscripts.

Two of the three books on display December 3 are part of the Florence Foederer Tonner Collection in the possession of the seminary library. The two special volumes were provided on loan to the Library by the Lutheran Church in America, a predecessor body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

A Nativity illustration from one of the books, The Hours of the Virgin, was an illustration for this year's seasonal greeting card. The patron who commissioned the painstakingly created book is unknown, as is the artist. The books are not normally displayed at the seminary because of their delicate condition and the need for special lighting that will not fade the jewel-like illustrations, and were brought out of their climate-controlled storage homes for one day only. The seminary is considering making the tour part of its annual Vespers program.

The Vespers, led by Seminary Musician Mark Mummert, featured the 26-member Seminary Choir in selections accompanied by 10 seminary instrumentalists, before a full congregational assembly at the Church of St. Martin-in-the Fields in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill section. The Rev. Dr. Gordon Lathrop, the seminary's Charles Schieren Professor of Liturgy, presided.

Featured music in the excitingly diverse service celebrated the works of Vincent Lubeck, Donald Busarow, Jeremy Young, John Hebden Schaffner, Pen-Li Chen, Alberto Taule, Johanne Brahms, Francisco Guerrero, D.S. Dharmapalan and Arvo Part.