Church Music

This is another old Michael Mangan song that might suit an Australia Day liturgy. I have it in his out of print collection Sing Jubilee, but it resurfaced in True Colours Shine and so can be purchased in that collection at Litmus. Michael has his lyrics up on his site in word and powerpoint form, so I put them up below. As usual I made a backing on BIAB.

1 Gathering together to understand,

      To hear the whispers from this ancient land.

      Dreamtime people sing us your song,

      Tell us the story of where you belong.

      The Earth is our mother, this land is you and me,

      She holds us deep within her heart

      Now everyone can see

Chorus

      We’re building one future for this nation,

      Come together for reconciliation,

      Living in the land of the Southern Cross.

      We are many melodies making harmony,

      Lift your voice and sing your song with me,

      Living in the land of the Southern Cross.

      2 Our clans have come from far and wide,

      From the Rainbow Serpent, Mother of Life,

      Or on a refugee boat or a jumbo plane,

      Or a sailing ship in a prisoner’s chains.

      She welcome us with open arms

      And claims us as her own.

      We all belong together in this land that we call home.

Chorus

      3 Sing this song to everyone.

      The winds of change have now begun.

      Blowing clouds of pain away,

      Bringing in a bright new day,

      Where everyone is striving for justice in this land.

      We carry this dream within our hearts,

      Together we can make a stand.

© 1997 Litmus Productions, Brisbane, Australia. All Rights Reserved.

Australia Day falls on a Sunday this year, which I believe means you can use the liturgy for that day rather than the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We will have Australian music featured, including Michael Herry’s “A Blessing Hymn for Australia”.

Does anyone have suggestions for other liturgical songs about Australia for such celebrations. The song “We Are Australians” is often used but it is hardly liturgical.

I was thinking about church music specifically for Australia and remembered a couple of Michael Mangan songs from the out of print collection, Sing Jubilee. I can’t find these for sale at Litmus, so you might have to talk to Michael yourself if you want to use them.

It was written for the 2000 Jubilee so you substitute as indicated. The idea was to put your local places in the song. Since the song has disappeared I’ll put the lyrics up unless Michael tells me to take them down.

1 All through the ages since time began

Back through the mists of the dreaming

The Spirit has moved in this Great Southern Land

Making God’s creation sing.

Chorus

This Great Southern Land, Holy Spirit Land,

Sing out your praises to God.

Gathered side by side we’re standing hand in hand,

Singing Jubilee [to our Lord] in this Holy Spirit Land.

2 From Uluru and Alice to the Harbour Bridge,

From Perth to the Great Divide,

From Port Arthur to Bendigo and Lightning Ridge,

We celebrate God’s gift of life.

Chorus

3 From Broome to Ballarat and Bondi Beach,

To the land where the Murrumbidgee flows,

From Adelaide and Melbourne and the Barrier Reef,

That’s where God’s Spirit blows.

Chorus

4 We’ve gathered here from across the seas

to call this land our home.

We celebrate our differences with unity,

and make God’s peace our own.

Chorus

© 1998 Litmus Productions

This song by Genevieve Glen OSB has verses for Christmas and Easter and Ascension so is most useful liturgically. It is set to CANONBURY by Robert Schumann.

The sheet music is at OCP where the text is in their sample.

Usually found with “thy” for “your” this text by Henry E. Hardy (aka Father Andrew) is the next song in my survey of my old Guitar Accompaniment Book from OCP. It has an obvious use for veneration of the cross of Good Friday.

The text is at Hymnary. OCP set this song to DETROIT.

Entrance:  Baptised in Water (Saward; tune BUNESSAN) GA 179

Psalm 28 (McKenna)

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

Gifts:      Springs of Salvation (Andersen)

Communion: Gift of Finest Wheat  (Westendorf/Kreutz) CWB II 651

Thanksgiving:    Come to the Water (Andersen) AOV 1/74

Recessional:  Send Down the Fire (Haugen) AOV 2/164

I’ve found this Christmas song a week or two late, but as I have not come across it before and it is the next song the Guitar Accompaniment Book I’ll have a look at it.

The text is by Johann C. von Schmidt and translated by Melanie Schute. It is set to IHR KINDERLEIN, KOMMET by Johann Schulz.

There are many variants but this is the text used by OCP. They sell the sheet music here.

1 O come, little children, O come, one and all,
O come to the manger in Bethlehem’s stall
And see what the Father in heaven above
Has sent to us all on this earth with his love.

2 O see in the manger, so meek and so mild,
O see in the sift light the heavenly child,
In swaddling clothes folded, his beauty more sweet,
Than angels, whose voices his lowly birth greet.

3 His bed, little children, a manger with hay;
His mother and Joseph in ecstasy pray,
The shepherds in wonder their glad worship bring,
While chorus of angels sweet Glorias sing.

This hymn for morning prayer consists of five verses from the Scottish Psalter and a sixth by Cyprian Consiglio OSB, who wrote the tune SCOTTISH. The text is based on Psalm 95. I was not aware that hymn was a verb.

The sheet music can be purchased at OCP where the text is in their preview.

We move to evening prayer for this text by Genevieve Glen OSB set to MORNING SONG.

The sheet music is at OCP where the lyrics are in their preview.

Another Harry Hagan penned morning prayer. It is set to HERR JESU CHRIST, DICH ZU UNS WEND.

The text is here.

OCP sell the sheet music. The tune is by Bach and more information than you could possibly need about it is here.

A hymn for morning prayer or Lent adapted from Jam Christe sol justitiae by Harry Hagan OSB.

The range is a bit much for me in the the tune BOURBON, I’d drop it from Ab to F if you can start on a low A note.

The sheet music can be purchased at OCP where the text is in their preview.