Church Music

This is Paul Mason adapting “The Christ Hymn” pretty closely from Philippians 2:6-11.

He notes it’s use for Palm Sunday and Exaltation of the Holy Cross and that it is a favourite at Holy Name Parish, Wahroonga and used for Gifts. In that case it’s up to them to put up a YouTube clip so we can see it in action.

The sheet music is available in Hymns and Spiritual Songs Vol1 at Liturgical Song.

The instructions are to play it with a lilt which came out a country lilt in my BIAB backing. He is obviously a keyboard player, setting this in F, which means capo 3 in D for lazy guitarists like myself. Once that is done play it capo 1 anyway to avoid the high note.

1 His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God,

But emptied himself, like a servant he came.

2 And became as we are, and being as we are all he humbled himself,

Obedient unto death, a death on a cross.

Refrain

God raised him high, gave him a name above all names:

O Holy Name.

So that all through the heavens on earth and below,

Every knee shall bow at the name of Jesus;

Every tongue confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord”

To the glory of God the Father.

Every knee shall bow at the name of Jesus;

Every tongue confess, “Jesus Christ is Lord!”

© 2007 Paul Mason Published by Liturgical Song www.liturgicalsong.com

This is a most useful and beautiful song for Lent from Paul Mason.

He suggests it’s use both in Lenten groups and during Mass. There are seven verses and the idea is that you sing the first verse than pick the most suitable from the others and finish with the mantra. There are tenor and soprano harmonies for the mantra. I’d love to hear a full version. You can do the verses call and response with a line for the cantor (bold print below) then the assembly, but it isn’t necessary.

The sheet music is available at Liturgical Song. You can also get it as a single sheet and they provide a preview of the sheet music there.

My backing has two verses then the mantra with the soprano harmony.

1 God of mercy purify my heart.

Come and bath me in your merciful love.

Wash and cleanse me. Purify my heart.

Come and save me in your merciful love.

Refrain

Lord I believe in your merciful love.

Lord I believe!

2 God of comfort purify my mind,

My foundation in your merciful love.

In the desert purify my mind

From temptation, in your merciful love.

3 Shining vision, purify my sight.

Light the nation in your merciful love.

Holy mountain, purify my sight.

My salvation, in your merciful love.

4 Patient gardener; welling up in me

A fruitful nature, in your merciful love.

Living water welling up in me

Life forever in your merciful love.

5 Faithful Father, drawing close to me,

Reconcile me, in your merciful love.

Loving Father, drawing close to me,

Walk beside me in your merciful love.

6 In my weakness, sanctify my soul.

Don’t condemn me, in your merciful love.

Loving Jesus sanctify my soul.

Make me holy, in yur merciful love.

7 You I long for, purify my will.

Fortify me in your merciful love.

In my trials, Lord, purify my will.

Sancify me, in your merciful love.

Mantra

I believe x15

Amen

© 2012 Paul Mason Published by Liturgical Song www.liturgicalsong.com

This is a song for the RCIA, with a text by Carmelo Sciberra and set by Paul Mason.

Mason notes:

Fr Carmel Sciberras wrote some wonderful lyrics for the National Council of Priests Broken Bay Conference in 2002. He asked me to set them to music for the conference. “Lead Us From Good Will to Faith” has a place in RCIA gatherings as the perennial prayer of those in the catechumenate on their journey to Christian Initiation.

The sheet music is available in the collection, Hymns & Spiritual Songs Vol 1, available at Liturgical Song.

Refrain

Lead us from good will to faith.

We’re ready.

For your Spirit we wait.

1 God, your good will conceived me,

Your faith in me redeemed me,

O Beauty, I loved you so late.

Change my goodwill to faith.

2 God, your good will called and chose me,

Your faith in me names and knows me,

Help me to walk in through your gate.

Change my good will to faith.

3 God you good will enfolds me,

Your faith in me keeps and holds me.

Your might, your power and state

will move my good will to faith.

© 2002 Text: Carmelo Sciberras Music: Paul Mason. Published by Liturgical Song www.liturgicalsong.com

This is Paul Mason’s setting of the Magnificat about which he says:

The new setting of the Magnificat (“My Soul Rejoices in My God”) has been sung for Mass For You At Home (MFYAH). It has been set to be used as a responsorial psalm or sung through with the antiphon used only at the beginning or end, the more traditional approach when sung in Evening Prayer. Using the same Grail psalm text for both Mass and Evening Prayer helps reinforce the role of the canticle as Luke’s Gospel proclamation.

It is really very good indeed.

It is available in this collection at Liturgy Song.

Antiphon

My soul rejoices in my God, rejoices in my God;

My soul rejoices in my God.

1 My soul glorifies the Lord,
My spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.
He looks on his servant in her lowliness;
Henceforth all ages will call me bless’d.

2 The Almighty works marvels for me.
Holy his name! Holy his name!
His mercy is from age to age,
On those who fear him, on those who fear him.

3 He puts forth his arm in strength
And scatters the proud-hearted.
He casts the mighty from their thrones
And raises the lowly, raises the lowly.

4 He fills the starving with good things,
Sends the rich away empty, the rich away empty.
He protects Israel, his servant,
Remembering his mercy, remembering his mercy.

5 The mercy promised to our fathers,
for Abraham and his sons for ever.

Praise the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit,

Both now and forever, world without end.

There is a YouTube clip for this song and I wish there were more of them for the collection as a whole:

This a joyous song of praise for a choir by Mana Nankivell.

I’m gradually piecing together the Nankivell story. I believe Mana Nankivell is the Administration Coordinator at Youth Inc in South Australia. I saw that her mother, Marie-Louise Nankivell was involved in the Laudamus choir in Adelaide, and with Mana Nankivell writing this she must also be involved with choirs. I would be happy to have their story inked in.

You can purchase this as part of the collection, Hymns & Spiritual Songs Vol 1, from Liturgical Song.

This song is has a soprano, alto, tenor, harmony and descant lines and I suspect is meant to be sung acapella. I would love to hear a recording of this but I can find nothing on the internet. It would make for a lively Adoration indeed. It would also suit a Trinitarian themed mass if you have the cattle for the arrangement.

Funnily enough BIAB can’t do that so I changed it to a slightly Latin styled solo. Since the soprano line actually drops out of the main melody at one point I borrowed the tenor melody and made up some chords. It would work with one melody line like this but it would be much better as she wrote it with all the parts. Their are lots of exclamation marks in the text, but as I have noted here before, in the words of the wonderful Father Frank Andersen, “Would you prefer question marks?”

Descant (not in my backing)

Laudamus! Benedictus! Adoramus! Glorificamus te!

Refrain

Sing praise, sing blessing, sing adoration, O God, we glorify you!

To God be the glory for ever and ever, Alleluia!

1 Sing praise to God, the Father of all! Creator of heaven and earth.

Who formed us all; who gave us life: to God all glory be!

Refrain

2 Jesus, Son of God, Redeemer of all the earth:

Who died on the cross to give us life. To Jesus all glory be!

Refrain

3 Sing to the Spirit, Sancifier and hope!

Proclaim our faith in every tongue: Soli Deo Gloria!

© 2016 Mana Nankivell.

Published by Liturgical Song www.liturgicalsong.com

I actually blogged this way back in 2011 because it was chosen to be in AOV NG, but I will highlight it again because it is a lovely wedding song with other applications, and to note it’s availability in Hymns and Spiritual Songs Vol 1, which is available at Liturgical Song.

Based on the famous passage from 1 Cor 13, this song has liturgical uses beyond weddings and in typical fashion, Mason lists them under the title: 8th Sunday Ordinary Time, Common Mass of Holy Men and Women, Reception into Full Communion of the Church, Mass for Charity, and Mass for Relatives and Friends.

I revisited the backing, but it is just BIAB piano noodling rather than his fine arrangement. The score, included with the collection, has all here proper string parts.

Kamahl covered it. Say no more…

I got emotional listening to this because my late mother loved Kamahl.

One of the lovely things about getting my copy of Hymns & Spiritual Songs Vol 1, is that it appears to be only way to get to know some Australian songs that should be more widely known.

The Liturgical Song site tells me there are still 59 copies available if you want to buy one there.

I can find no other trace of this delightful song by Marie-Louise Nankivell and Mana Nankivell and I know nothing about them apart from that they are from Adelaide.

This song would work at Anointing, Reconcialiation, during Lent and obviously any liturgy focussed on mercy. It would be suitable for young people who will learn what a “balm” is. I appreciate the emphasis on our need for mercy from God and then that impelling our mercy to others.

I can’t find Youtube clips or audio on the internet so my backing may be off style wise.

Refrain

We are called to be merciful to all:

To offer kindness to everyone we meet,

To be the face of Jesus in everything we do.

Be merciful, as God is merciful to you.

1 Pour out the balm of God’s mercy on all who ask from the heart,

Search for society’s outcasts, help the wayward to make a new start.

Refrain

2 No-one can plce any limits on the love of our merciful God.

The justice of God exceeds justice with mercy, forgiveness and love.

Refrain

3 Throw open the doors of mercy and let forgiveness blow through;

The change in our lives to change others, rebirthing the church anew.

Refrain

© 2016 Marie- Louise Nankivell and Mana Nankivell

published by Liturgical Song www.liturgicalsong.com

One of the nice things about the APMN conferences is to get hard copies of the sheet music from the booths. I caught up with Paul Mason at the Liturgical Song booth and they have an expanded version for 2025 of Hymns and Spiritual Songs Vol 1. It contains some of Paul’s music as well as songs by Fiona Dyball, Angela Gorman, Mana and Marie-Louse Nankivell, and Carmelo Sciberras. It has full keyboard arrangements with guitar chords (CWB II please note) as well as full scores for many of the tracks.

I have already looked at this song, but I wanted to have another look at it. A feature of Mason’s books is the extensive guide to suitable liturgies, which he sometimes places in spare places at the end of other songs so you have to go looking for it – it’s a puzzzle book too. For this song, however, under the title he notes its use at the Plenary Council in 2020 and rightly highlights its suitability for Easter, Ascension, Pentecost and Confirmation.

The range for a low A to D is daunting for me but if you have the voices and especially if you have two violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute and oboe to get the most out the score you can start practicing now for Holy Week next year (Ok after Christmas perhaps). It would survive solo guitar accompaniment and since even the basic keyboard arrangement is six pages we are obviously going to have to get it down to two pages somehow.

This song is also available as a single download, which also mean yiu can have a look at sample pages here.

I did look at the amazing full score but baulked at putting that all into Realband (I did start but it my hands it sounded baaaad), but I did tone down my P&W version and incorporate more of his keyboard arrangement into a revised backing:

The Power of the Spirit (O come, Holy Spirit, come!)
Composer: Paul Mason

Verse 1:
Enter his presence singing his praises.
Jesus, the Lamb, is arisen!
Worthy of power, wisdom and honour,
riches and glory and blessing!
He said at table he’d send us
what, in Scripture, the Father had promised:
send out the spirit, pour out the spirit,
the Holy Spirit, the pow’r of the Spirit!

Refrain:
O come, Holy Spirit, come!
Kindle in us
the fire of your love.
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
Speak to our hearts,
Holy Spirit, come!

Verse 2:
Anyone having ears to hear,
Then, let them hear! Let them listen!
The Spirit is speaking to the Churches!
If you have ears, let them listen!
I know your faith, works and service,
and your patient endurance. So listen:
Listen to what the Spirit is saying.
the Holy Spirit, the pow’r of the Spirit!

Verse 3:
You, yourself, humbled. Worthy are you, Lord,
Word of the Father almighty!
So we walk humbly, Lord, to be worthy
clothed with the power from on high,
burning with fire of your love,
building bridges of peace for your kingdom,
pow’r of forgiveness, pow’r of our witness,
the Holy Spirit, the pow’r of the Spirit!

Text based on Lk 24:49; Jn 14:26, 17:26; Acts 1:4, 2:3-4; Rev 2-3, 4:11, 5:12.

Text: © 2007, 2018 Paul Mason. All rights reserved.
Tune: POWER OF THE SPIRIT © 2007, 2018 Paul Mason. All rights reserved.
Published by Liturgical Song, PO Box 1871 Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia.
www.liturgicalsong.com. Liturgical Song is a One License Member Publisher.

We have a meeting coming up to look at seasonal songs selections for Advent this year.

What I would like is the same music across the whole month – laying it on with a trowel liturgy wise.

Entrance: Advent Song (Browne/Wood) GA 281

Candle Lighting: Like a Candle (O’Brien/Ogilvie) AOV NG 91 – it has a verse for each week.

Seasonal Psalm: To You O God, I Lift Up My Soul (Hurd) AOV 2/14

Advent Gospel Alleluia to the tune of “O Come O Come Emmanuel”

Gifts: All the Hungry, Come (Doherty)

Communion: Maranatha (Smith) tune O WALY WALY

Recessional: O Emmanuel (Mangan)

It is mostly Australian. I like Paul Mason’s “To You O God” but we know the Hurd one very well.

Don’t forget all the Advent resources at liturgyshare.

Including this one:

This is the last song added to Breaking Bread by OCP for 2026.

It says something that this gentle minor key song for Easter is one of the more uplifting songs added. I can’t really fault any of the songs chosen individually, but there isn’t a lot of range in the songs selected and there is a lot of looking back to traditional sources.

This one is a Sarah Hart text set by Katie Wills in part based on O FILII ET FILIAE.

The sheet music can be purchased at OCP where there provide the text in their previews.