Crossover Services
There is an Anglican
tradition in Nigeria that I miss: the celebration of the advent of the New
Year, where we go to church to worship God, praising and thanking Him for the
past year and ushering in the New Year in prayer and the worship of the
Almighty God.
Nowadays, this is
called a crossover service, sometimes with a kind of pompous religiosity that
suggests we have decided to spend time in church rather than in drunken revelry
at a bar. Though where I have not been able to attend church, I would rather stay
at home and celebrate with my partner or with friends whilst watching the world
ring in the New Year.
A Multicultural Feast
However, recently, I
have found that some multinational evangelical or Pentecostal churches do
celebrate this crossover phenomenon. I did find one nearby that had a feast of
multicultural cuisine before we settled down to a sermon, then praise and
worship. I am quite comfortable in those settings.
For this New Year's
celebration, I decided to attend the !Audacious
Church ticketed event, for which one has to move promptly before the
tickets are sold out. It was going to be a standing-only event, but seats were
provided for those who needed that kind of respite.
!Audacious has a very
youthful attendance; I could easily be in the cohort of the elderly with
grandchildren rather than just being a parent, but I do love the energy in
small amounts.
A Foretaste of Heaven
As we sang praises,
many with the word 'Holy', I was caught up in the awesomeness of how this could
be playing in heaven: angels, archangels, and all creation worshipping the
Father, the Lord God Almighty; the Lamb upon the throne, Jesus Christ; and the Holy
Spirit.
I imagined the
language in heaven would probably not be English but one which, to our hearing,
would fill us with indescribable wonder and awe beyond anything a human mind
could ever fathom. Just for that alone, I'll rather go to heaven than anywhere
else.
Even in a heavenly
crowd of a thousand generations, lost somewhere in the mix of the glory that is
beyond the realm of comprehension, it can only be the best place to be. I am
thankful for the foretaste we have been given on earth.
Te Deum Laudamus
Then, back to the
Anglican traditions I referred to earlier, modernity has changed many of the
things we used to do, like chanting or singing the canticles. As the clock
strikes midnight at church, we sing the Te Deum Laudamus (We praise thee, O
God) in Yoruba.
Maybe it is my
engineering brain or something, but the Yoruba language is a tonal language
with pitches of acute, grave, and mid tones, mostly represented on the vowels.
I cannot elucidate on
the mechanics of representation to the extent of a linguist, but I did learn
and master the application of diacritical marks (accents, tone marks, and under
dots). As far as I am concerned, they are critical to the understanding and
comprehension of Yoruba when written and read.
AI and Linguistic
Precision
However, all the
versions I found online did not have this essential distinction, so in the age
of AI, I asked three different AI bots (Google's
Gemini-3-Pro, then Anthropic's
Claude-Opus-4.1) to attempt to annotate the text. The last one (OpenAI's GPT-5.2) even engaged
me fully in Yoruba, and that was impressive.
The result was good
enough, but I had to review the full text against the English version to ensure
everything was correct to the best of my knowledge of Yoruba. Then, usually,
accents are not put on the consonant N, but the reality is that in speech, for
certain words, when N is followed by another consonant, it is prudent to get the
right tone.
Finally, the last
line of the Yoruba version in the prayer section of the canticles can take many
translations and interpretations, but it is the most effective in Yoruba:
"Láí, má jẹ́ kí n dààmú." To me, it reads, in context, as: O Lord, I
trust in You; let me never be bothered by anything, because You are with me.
I wish you all a
Happy New Year!
|
Te Deum
Laudamus |
|
|
Yoruba |
English |
|
Iyín Mẹ́talọ̀kan |
Praise to the Trinity |
|
Àwá yìn ọ́, Ọlọ́run, Ìwọ ni ẹni tí gbogbo àwọn Angẹ́lì, ń kí gbé
pè, Ìwọ ni ẹni tí àwọn Kérúbù àti àwọn Séráfù, Ẹgbẹ́ àwọn Apóstélì, Ogun àwọn Mátírì, tí ó dára yìn Ọ́.,
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We praise thee, O God: To Thee all Angels cry aloud: To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry, The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee. The noble army of Martyrs praise Thee.
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Iyín Kírístì |
Praise of Christ |
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Kírístì, Ìwọ ni Ọba Ògo, Nígbà tí Ìwọ tẹ́wọ́gbà fún ara Rẹ láti gba
ènìyàn là, O kò kórìíra inú Wúndíá. O jókòó ní ọwọ́ ọ̀tún Ọlọ́run,
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Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ. When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man: Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the glory of the
Father.
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Àwọn àdúrà |
Prayers |
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Olúwa, gba àwọn ènìyàn Rẹ là, Fìyèsíni, Olúwa, Olúwa, jẹ́ kí àánú Rẹ kí ó máa bà lé wa,
Olúwa, Ìwọ ni mo gbẹ́kẹ̀lé,
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O Lord, save Thy people: Day by day we magnify Thee; Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin. O Lord, let Thy mercy lighten upon us: as our trust is in Thee.
O Lord, in Thee have I trusted:
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References
Te
Deum Laudamus - Awa Yin O, Olorun | Yoruba Chant with Lyrics – Source text
