“The monumental Passion According to St. John well underscores Bach’s reputation as ‘the fifth evangelist.’ In this Lenten guide, Chaplain Hamer helps us listen, learn, and grasp anew the depth of our Savior’s sacrificial love and life.”

Dr. Harold L. Senkbeil
Author of The Care of Souls (Lexham, 2019)
Executive Director Emeritus; Collegium Fellow
DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel

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“In O Perfect Life of Love: Daily Lenten Meditations on J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion, theologian and musician Brian J. Hamer takes the reader on a pastoral journey through Bach’s masterwork, with its forty movements as the basis of devotions for the forty days of Lent. He offers a unique exploration of Bach’s musical language to express meaning, both spiritual and literal. As you experience vividly the crucifixion narrative, you recognize yourself in the guilt and you sense the forgiveness. Powered by Pastor Hamer’s insightful understanding of biblical history — as well as his wide knowledge of hymnody, Lutheran music, technical musical forms, and liturgical practice of Bach’s environment — this is a book that can be read time and again, even beyond the Lenten season.”

Dr. Jane Schatkin Hettrick
Professor emeritus – Rider University
Director of Music – Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bayside, NY

“Rev. Hamer is an unpretentious guide to open our ears to Bach’s music, our minds to John’s Gospel and the Passion’s libretto, and our hearts to the evangelical faith. Thoughtfully divided among the days of Lent, these devotions will help anyone turn a recording of the St. John Passion into a 40-day meditation on Christ’s glorious sacrifice. The musician will benefit from these theological insights into Bach’s famous work, as will the modern Lutheran preacher.”

Rev. Sean Daenzer, Director of LCMS Worship
and Chaplain at the LCMS International Center

O Perfect Life of Love is suitable not only for individual devotions but also for the entire family. Find for more details, purchasing information, and an excerpt here.

We are pleased to release our newest title: O Perfect Life of Love: Daily Lenten Meditations on J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion. Author Brian J. Hamer is a pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and an active-duty Navy Chaplain. In addition to his experience in conducting and singing in choirs on both coasts, he writes and edits for a wide variety of publishers on theology, culture, and the arts.
As Hamer states in the Introduction, “It is probably just a coincidence that the New Bach Edition of the St. John
Passion by J. S. Bach (1685–1750) divides Bach’s masterwork into the same number of movements as there are days in Lent. This book of meditations places those forty movements of the St. John Passion as a literary and musical stencil over the forty weekdays of Lent—Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, excluding Sundays in Lent—to create a daily listening lectionary. I pray that this careful and deliberate approach to Bach’s masterwork—forty movements in forty days—will assist you, the reader/listener, in your Lenten piety as you behold the life-giving cross, on which was hung the salvation of the world.”
Both the German and English texts are provided to aid in listening, followed by a devotional meditation in which Hamer offers historical, musical, and theological commentary. Enrich your Lenten days by becoming acquainted with or ever more familiar with the St. John Passion through the lens of a Lutheran pastor and musician. Visit the book’s page to find more details, purchasing information, and an excerpt.

O Perfect Life of Love is suitable not only for individual devotions but also for the entire family. Find for more details, purchasing information, and an excerpt here.