Aleksandr Isayevitch Solzhenitsyn, R.I.P.

Thank Godde for friends who say things better than we can and have more time to say it. My friend Chris has posted a photo of and tribute to the writer Solzhenitsyn, who has just died.

Let me take this opportunity to introduce Chris's new blog, the Gifts of God. You can read a bit about Chris, in his own words, here.

Give rest, O Christ, to thy servant with thy saints:
where sorrow and pain are no more;
neither sighing but life everlasting.
Thou only art immortal,
the creator and maker of man:
and we are mortal formed from the dust of the earth,
and unto earth shall we return:
for so thou didst ordain,
when thou created me saying:
"Dust thou art und unto dust shalt thou return."
All we go down to the dust;
and weeping o'er the grave we make our song:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

From the Orthodox Memorial Service
Trans. W. J. Birkbeck (1869-1916)

It's also in our Episcopal Hymnal to the tune of a Kievan chant -- wish there were a better link than this midi, but you can sing along - or point me to a choral version somewhere online.