Sounds of Faith: Svjati Bože—Holy God
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Sounds of Faith
Title Text:
Sounds of Faith
In this “Sounds of Faith” video, Director of Chapel Music Dr. Zebulon Highben reflects on the hymn “Svjati Bože” (“Holy God” in English) by Lisa Milena Simikic, a Serbian-American composer in California. The hymn is a choral setting of the Trisagion text from the Eastern and Western Christian liturgies, which says in one translation, “Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us.” In this video, the hymn is sung during the March 1, 2020, Chapel worship service by the Duke Chapel Choir and the Muskingum University Concert Choir.
“In the words of the composer, ‘Svajti Boze’ was written to ‘reflect the pain, sorrow, and sympathy felt by Serbian-Americans’ after the bombings of Belgrade and Kosovo in 1999,” Dr. Highben says. “As we live through this time of pandemic, when pain and sorrow surround us, may we likewise have sympathy on those who suffer most, and pray for health and healing and for the good of the whole world.”