I am working though a book of mantras by Monica Brown called Holy Ground.
This site has background on the meaning of “Shekinah” and helpfully also has the lyrics of this song.
The sheet music can be downloaded for almost nothing at her site, Emmaus.
This being an acapella chant means I had to make up chords for a backing.
Entrance: Come to the Water (Andersen) AOV 1/74
Psalm 28 ( McKenna)
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Gifts: Baptised in Water (Saward; tune BUNESSAN) CWB II 99
Communion: Bread Broken, Wine Shared (Horner) AOV 2/155
Recessional: Springs of Salvation (Andersen)
Entrance: We Three Kings
Psalm 71 ( McKenna)
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you, will adore you.
Gifts: Star Child (Shirley Erina Murray – Carlton R. Young) AOV 2/43
Communion: The First Noel – verses 3-5
Recessional: Joy to the World
Entrance: Joy to the World
Psalm 127 (McKenna)
Happy are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Gifts: What Child Is This
Communion: Summoned by Love (O’Brien/Watts) AOV 2/18
Recessional: Angels We Have Heard On High
A long time ago in a parish far far away a liturgy team put together the Christmas liturgy of all time. Instead of a few hoary old carols there was a pre-mass extravanganza of readings and marvellously selected songs like a carols and lessons service. The mass liturgy itself was innovative, polished and practiced and was delivered with perfection and passion by the enthusiastic musicians and singers and liturgists.
… and didn’t the poor priest cop it. “We just wanted to sing carols, see the inside of a church for a change and get out,” said the less regular parishioners to their perplexed shepherd.
Hence selections for Christmas 2026 – as close as possible to 2025, 2024, etc ad infinitum.
Midnight Mass in George Town will of course be at 9pm with carols from 8.30pm. It will be still be light and something approaching summer weather has finally arrived in Tasmania.
Carols before Mass:
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Once in Royal David’s City
The First Noel
Star Child (Murray/Young)
Angels We Have Heard On High
Mary’s Boy Child
Mass of St Francis – as always – it’s the only one the assembly here knows.
Entrance: O Come All Ye Faithful
Christmas Psalm (Farrell)
Celtic Alleluia
Gifts: Away in a Manger
Communion: Silent Night
O Holy Night
Recessional: Joy to the World
We have a combined churches Carols night tonight, and all the arrangements of all the carols are different to what we will play next week so I will quickly have to unlearn all the tweaks for tonight.
Thank you to Chris W and Ryan for broadening the palate of music suggestions here for all these years and providing a rolling resource for years to come. All contributions of music selections are gratefully accepted – I have discovered many interesting hymns over the years from this source and I appreciate it.
This blog gets 700-1000 hits a day. It used to be mainly Australia and the US but recently there is a lot of traffic from China for some reason. There are also hits from all over the world. I can tell music groups are using it for practice because a random song will suddenly have hundreds of hits out of the blue. I hope it is still of use to people putting together liturgies.
Merry Christmas.
This is another of Monica Brown’s mantras that indulges her skill in mixing up time signatures. It is a sung prayer for private contemplation that would still fit in liturgy.
You can down load the whole sheet music collection, Holy Ground, that contains this mantra for $A5 at Emmaus.
Enfold me in you love/peace/grace.
Enfold me in you love/peace/grace.
Encircle me O God,
Surround me with your love/peace/grace.
Come fill me with your love/peace/grace.
© 1997 Monica Brown
This Monica Brown mantra from Holy Ground, is based on Luke 23:46.
You can buy the sheet music for almost nothing at Emmaus.
She is very fond of changes in time signatures in these mantras but it seems to work.
Into your hands I commit myself.
Into your hands I entrust all that is and all that holds my heart.
Into your hands I commit.
© 1994 Monica Brown
This mantra by Monica Brown is based on John 6:67-69 and has liturgical uses (eg Gifts) as well as being for private contemplation.
The sheet music is on the collection Holy Ground ($A5 at Emmaus).
To whom shall we go if not to you, O God.
You alone have the words of everlasting life.
We believe in You.
© 1992 Monica Brown
This is another marvellous mantra from Monica Brown that we used back at St Edwards in the day. It is a sentiment from the psalms and still most relevant for now.
The text is at Emmaus and the collection, Holy Ground, costs $A5 to download.
I blogged this some time ago, but made another backing:
I came across a hard copy of Monica Brown‘s book of mantras. Monica Brown is an Australian composer whose music just seemed to be there when I was at St Edward’s, Daisy Hill back in the late 1990s and 2000s, as part of the fabric and used in many liturgies.
These mantras would be a powerful tool for prayerful mindfulness.
This is the title track of the collection and I have blogged it before.
The whole collection can be downloaded for $A5 at Emmaus Productions. As soon as you click on “sheet music” it is in your cart, but it is only five dollars, making her pretty close to Brother Michael Herry’s giving it away philosophy.
The lyrics are at Emmaus.
I don’t know that this new backing is any better than the last one I made.
