English: Isaiah; illustration from a Bible car...
English: Isaiah; illustration from a Bible card published by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Text from Isaiah 42:14-16; Revelation 22:1-3; and The Pilgrim Prayer (based on Colossians 4:2-4) by the Revd Canon Derrick Walters

14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.

15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.

16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:

That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.

The secret of Christ (published in 1990) composed by Richard Shephard (b. 1949)

Shephard "The Secret of Christ" (2014)

Performed by Saint Peter’s Catholic Church: Columbia, South Carolina USA
Susanna Gibbons, Soprano
Mark Husey, Organist & Choirmaster

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The secret of Christ

SHEET MUSIC

The New Church Anthem Book. Edited by Lionel Dakers. This edition: paperback. Mixed Voices. Sacred, Choral Collection. Choral score. 592 pages. ISBN 9780193531093. Sacred, Choral Collection. 10 x 7 inches. The definitive collection of 100 anthems, mostly for SATB voices, from Tudor times to the present day, including favourites from each period, and lesser-known pieces. Keyboard reductions are included for unaccompanied music, and organ accompaniments are always practical.