The Communion meditation sung by our choir this Sunday was the motet Ave Verum Corpus by English composer William Byrd. This is a Eucharistic hymn that is also very fitting for the Transfiguration and the season of Lent. Listen to a recorded version below.

Translation:

Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary,
having truly suffered, sacrificed on the cross for mankind,
from whose pierced side water and blood flowed:
Be for us a foretaste [of heaven] in the trial of death!

This musical setting has long, flowing lines that seem to long for Christ, washing over the listener with the sorrowful beauty of his Passion. In revealing his glorified body in the Transfiguration, Jesus has indeed given us a foretaste of heaven and a glimpse of life after death. We ask for his mercy and long to draw closer to him through his Passion this Lent.