Church Music

This is a lovely short song/prayer with a text by Brian Anthony Moore SJ and set to WINCHESTER OLD – you know “While Shepherds Watched …” and all.

This is an Allans Music copyright and I can only find it in CWB and TIS, so it is likely Australian. Hymnary says the words are “by permission of D. Day, Father Provincial of the Society, Hawthorn, Victoria,” which I gather is the Jesuits. He appears to have written small devotional books. Pauline books say, “Father Brian Moore, SJ, (1931-1997) was an Australian Jesuit priest and writer.” One of his texts was set by fellow Jesuit, Christopher Willcock. Any other information gratefully received.

1 Lord Christ, true peace of all above, sure hope of all below,

Establish in your grace and love your people as we go.

2 Your blessing, Lord, who bless us all, abide with us today;

Your mercy, peace and watchful care surround us on our way.

3 Your presence in our life remain that all the world may know;

How Christ may walk the world again in us himself to show.

This is another “modern” song that was chosen by the editors of CWB in Australia.

It is a joyful song of praise that is noted have words by English folk hymn writer, Michael Cockett and music by Kevin Mayhew that has been adapted by the editors. The copyright is with the Medical Mission Sisters.

Apart from CWB, the sheet music is also in the 20th Century Folk Hymnal. It looks like it was originally published in Go Tell Everyone: Twelve Original Songs Recorded By The Sacred Heart Choir, which is available at great expense at Amazon.

The text is here.

My backing has made up chords:

This is a Marian hymn by Lucien Deiss with eleven verses in CWB.

Breviary Hymns supplies some background and the sheet music appears to still be available at GIA.

The text is here, interspersed with ads.

It looks like I just made up some simple chords for my backing. The young choir singing it below do a fine job.

As published in CWB, this is a funeral song of two verses written by Edmund Stuart Palmer and set to DUN ALUINN.

It does have the terrifying addition of “alt” to the text attribution so it is worth finding out what is going on.

CWB text:

1 Jesus, Son of Mary, fount of life alone,

Here we hail you present, we who are your own.

Think, O lord, in mercy on the souls of those

Who, in faith gone from us, now in death repose.

2 Rest eternal grant them after weary night:

Shed on them the radiance of yur heavenly light.

Lead them onward, upward, to the holy place,

Where your saints made perfect gaze upon your face.

Hymnary says he wrote it in Swahili and translated the song into English and it was a communion song of eight shorter verses:

1 Jesu, Son of Mary,
fount of life alone,
here we hail thee present
on thine altar- throne:

2 Humbly we adore thee,
Lord of endless might,
in the mystic symbols
veiled from earthly sight.

3 Think, O Lord, in mercy
on the souls of those
who, in faith gone from us,
now in death repose.

4 Here ‘mid stress and conflict
toils can never cease;
there, the warfare ended,
bid them rest in peace.

5 Often were they wounded
in the deadly strife;
heal them, Good Physician,
with the balm of life.

6 Every taint of evil,
frailty and decay,
good and gracious Saviour,
cleanse and purge away.

7 Rest eternal grant them,
after weary fight;
shed on them the radiance
of thy heavenly light.

8 Lead them onward, upward,
to the holy place,
where thy saints made perfect
gaze upon thy face.

DUN ALUINN is one of seven settings noted at Hymnary but being a mournful Irish tune, it makes sense for an Irish Australian funeral hymn.

I got the chords for the PD tune here.

Here is some personal reflections and background from Anthony Esolen about the hymn, and I know I am way out of my comfort zone hymn wise if I am linking to him.

This is another ICEL song that the editors of CWB got from the Resource Collection and Service Music for the Liturgy, which I note is still available from GIA.

The text was by Ralph Wright and the music Austin Rennick, both Benedictine monks and English hymn writers.

CWB says the text is from John 17 (actually 15). I can find little trace of this hymn on the net.

I made up some very basic chords and stuck to Antiphon 1. Antiphon 2 uses 1 Tim 2:11 and Antiphon 3, Psalm 24:1.

Antiphon 1

As the Father has loved me so have I loved you;

You will remain in my love.

Antiphon 2

If we die with Christ, we shall live with him.

Antiphon 3

I hope in the Lord, I trust his Word.

1 O Father, it is my desire that those you gave to me

Should be with me, that where I am my friends may also be.

2 To them I have revealed your love, your truth, your life, your way,

And now a word abides in them which shall not pass away.

3 The glory that you gave to me to them I have now given

That so they may be one on earth as we are one in heaven.

4 Do not, O Father, take from them the world your hands have made,

But keep them from the evil one from all that is depraved.

5 And teach them how to give their lives like grain into the ground,

That through them others may believe and new life may abound.

6 O Father, it is my desire that all may live as one;

With you in me and I in them that so your reign may come.

In my survey of songs from Australia’s original Catholic Worship Book, I am looking at songs I haven’t already covered from other collections. I am therefore coming across songs that have slipped out of use or were too traditional for the repetoire of the churches I have played at. Since I have already done CWB II, they are also the ones that were not selected for the newer collection.

This is a confirmation song based in part on Psalm 133, according to Google’s AI (eckk). The text is by Scottish congregational minister and academic John Brownlow Geyer. It is here set to Colin Mawby‘s STAFFORD PLACE.

I could not find any source for this sheet music even though it is from an ICEL resource. Picking useful songs from Great Britain made sense to the editors of CWB, but it makes it harder to track resources down all these years later.

(4/8/25: It is actually available from GIA in ICEL’s, Resource Collection of Hymns and Service Music for the Liturgy.)

It looks like I made up some very basic chords for this one.

1 How good and pleasant that we live by power that only God can give.

Our arms are ready to embrace the sons and daughters of God’s grace.

2 With oil of gladness God anoints the chosen servants he appoints:

His Holy Spirit comes in peace, and wisdom, truth, and joy increase.

3 In times of doubt, Lord, be their guide; in times of strength, be at their side:

To those they meet let them impart the faithful goodness of your heart.

4 Send out your servants, God most high, to speak good news no wealth can buy;

Let them return to sing your praise and tell the splendour of your ways.

I am finding some interesting obscurities in CWB.

This is a song for Eucharist with a text by James McMullen. I can find nothing about him, except that this song appeared in three hymnals other than CWB, but even then there is no mention of the music. Something about the words makes me think it is a translation, or does a chant setting just make me think the original text must have been Latin.

Here it is set to JESU DULCIS MEMORIA (Plainchant melody mode 1), which usually means I won’t touch it with BIAB, but this time I put in the intervals to make it metrical.

1 How blest are we who share this bread.

The flesh and blood of Christ our Lord;

May love unite us gratefully

As sons of God who live in peace.

2 O Lord, we eat this bread of life,

The bread you give your faithful sons,

The peace of Christ, your Son, is ours,

Uniting us to do your will.

3 Our fathers fed on heavenly food:

The manna gathered in the wild.

Your God sent bread we now receive,

Our daily food of lasting strength.

4 This banquet gives eternal life,

A life of love and unity,

For we now live in Jesus Christ

And share with him his risen might.

5 Give thanks to Jesus, saving Lord,

Our Paschal Victim, newly slain.

He shares his Father’s love with us,

He makes us worthy sons of God.

6 Lord Jesus Christ, we beg your grace,

We turn to you, our hope and guide.

This bread unites us, faithful sons,

Awaiting prfect unity.

7 Give praise to God for he is good,

To him who made us like himself,

To Christ, his Son, who set us free,

To God’s great Gift, our source of life.

This clip is a very different setting of the same text with no mention of McMullen.

This song was carried through to CWB II where a pretty setting by Richard Connolly was used, but in the original CWB, it was set to the Irish tune MISNEACH, which is also lovely. This was also the choice in the Canadian CBW III, while Hymnary notes seventeen other settings.

The text is by William Dalrymple MacLagan and is an obvious choice for Pentecost.

Holy Spirit, Lord of love,
Wisdom coming from above,
Gifts of blessing to bestow
On your waiting Church below.

Once again in love draw near
To your people gathered here;
Since our great baptismal day,
You have led us on our way.

You have been our constant guide,
Ever watching by our side.
May we now till life shall end,
Choose and know you as our friend.

Give us life to live for you;
Give us love, for ever new;
Come, then Holy Spirit, come;
Make each heart your happy home.

Since I am going through CWB I looking for songs not already covered on my blog to date, I am basically looking at songs that didn’t become popular enough to be collected in CWB II and AOV etc.

That may be why I’m seeing a lot of translations from French hymns, as they may not have particularly resonated in suburban Australia – just a thought. This one will be tough without an organ and choir.

This is a translation of Didier Rimbuad’s text by Ronald Johnson and Brian Wren. The tune is DIEU, NOUS AVONS VU TA GLOIRE by Jean Anglais.

There is further background here.

The text is available at Hymnary courtesy of Hope Publications, although I can’t find it on their site. You can also find them here.

It is an Easter song that covers a lot of aspects of the celebration.

This hymn is also in Together In Song (461), where I got the chords for my backing.

This clip attributes the translation to Anthony G. Petti, but it is the same words.

This is a recessional in CWB, which notes a text by J. Clifford Evers as set to SCHONSTER HERR JESU. It is neither.

On the other hand Hymnary notes it appears in One In Faith with a text by Omar Westendorf and is set to ST ELIZABETH. As an old WLP copyright the sheet music can still be purchased at GIA with those details. This tune is also known as CRUSADER’S HYMN.

Mary at Godsongs confirms the Evers attribution to be false, and I suppose CWB probably copied the mistake from The Veritas Hymnal.

The text is here.