Church Music

This is an old song of mine and is short and simple. It is based in part on passages from the Didache.

1. We are broken bread

Scattered upon the hills,

But when we gather in Your name

We can become one still.

2. We are the branches

Of God’s holy vine.

Pressed to each other,

When we drink Your wine.

3. We will find the fish

To feed the poor,

And as we freely give

we shall receive more.

Rpt 1. We are broken bread

Scattered upon the hills,

But when we gather in Your name

We can become one still.

© Geoffrey Madden

Download Sheet Music: Eucharist

Entrance: You Are Welcome (Leo Watt)

Psalm: Taste and See (Robinson) AOV 1/88 refrain as response

Gifts: We Are Many Parts (Haugen) AOV 1/86

Communion: Table of Plenty (Schutte) AOV 2/20

One Body (O’Brien/Watts) AOV 2/146

Recessional: Go Make a Difference (Angrisano/Tomaszek) AOV NG 52

I have for some time been aware that the copyright situation on this blog is murky.  I have had little luck sorting out a way to continue.  Attempting to licence music through APRA/ASCAP would be ~$3000/year with a guarantee that the money doesn’t even go to liturgical composers. I can’t find a licence appropriate to publishing the lyrics on a blog such as this.

I have therefore taken the step of contacting the publishers themselves. I did this anticipating that I would bring down a whole lot of cease and desist orders on my head… and I wasn’t wrong.

I will be very busy working through the posts removing copyright material for some time so I won’t be posting any new material.

In particular, I was planning to blog the “Voices As One” Collection from WLP, but this has been prohibited.

This is a song for Offertory or Communion by Chris Allen and Andrew Chinn. We have sung it with the original lyrics but I note that they have been rewritten. You can buy CDs of the song at Butterfly Music but I wasn’t able to find sheet music there, so you may have to inquire there. This song is on Together As One.

It strikes me as being a power ballad with loud guitars in the chorus, but I could have got it all wrong.

When I asked Andrew Chinn about posting this song he asked that I only put up an excerpt of my backing. Please go to his website to purchase his CDs and music.

Verse 1

Take, take these gifts.

Gifts of bread and wine

Giver of all, God of life.

Chorus

Eat this bread, drink this wine.

Be my voice, be my eyes.

Eat this bread, drink this wine in mem’ry of me.

Verse 2

Bless, bless these gifts

Given, given for all

Spirit of God, make us one.

Chorus

Verse 3

Break, break this bread

Drink, drink this cup

This broken body, given for all.

Chorus

Verse 4

Give, give yourself

Give, give your life

One at the table, Christ in the world.

Chorus

Now there is an updated version, but I’m not sure it is an improvement. If we are the Body of Christ, then we are as a community his eyes and voice. However:

In July 2009, Take and Bless was re-written to be more faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Take and Bless, Break and Give
Music by Chris Allen
Words by Andrew Chinn

Offertory

Take, take these gifts
Gifts, of bread and wine
Giver of all… God of life

Take this gift, this gift of bread
Take this gift, this gift of wine
Take these gifts, these gifts of our lives
In memory of you

Bless, bless these gifts
Given, given for all
Spirit of God… Make us as one

Communion

Take, this is my body
Take, this is my blood
My body and blood.. given for all

Take and eat, this is my body
Take and drink, this is my blood
Take and eat, Take and drink,
In memory of me

Give, give yourself
Give, give your life
One at the table… Christ in the world

© Music: Chris Allen; Words: Andrew Chinn, 2009

This is Eucharist song for children by Michael Mangan, that has a lot to remind adults about as well. It is from the “Sing Your Joy” collection that can be purchased at Litmus Productions.

Chorus

We are one family at the table of the Lord,

We share this meal today at the table of the Lord.

1. We come here with our friends, we come to celebrate,

All the things the Lord has done, God’s love for us is so great.

2. The wine we pour to drink, the bread we break to eat,

This is Jesus here for us, this is our family feast.

3. Food and drink give life, fill our soul with song,

Jesus close here in our hearts, strengthens us to carry on.

© Litmus Productions, 1993.

If a liturgical song can be a hit, then this song by David Haas is a hit song. You can hear an excerpt and buy the music from GIA here. I love the major seventh chords in the verses.

When I play this in on guitar it sounds a bit like the Rainbow Connection and having had that thought can make it hard to sing the first line without, “Why are there so many songs about rainbows…”

This church has a red hot go and you can listen to the descant after the second verse. The pianist may be a little flowery for my taste.

In the unlikely event you aren’t using this song, do so. You will find it is a song that everyone sings, if perhaps not as legato as intended, and internalises as an understanding of the real presence.

The text rolls through this Youtube clip.

This is a very popular choice when selected at our church. It is written by John Michael Talbot and is best with minimal instrumentation as long as you can time the long intervals. It is a meditation on the real presence.

You can hear the original here. I can’t find the a link to buy the sheet music online, so you would need to contact his website.

 Christ has no body now but yours,

no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
compassion on this world,
yours are the feet with which He walks to do good.

Yours are the hands
with which He blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands,

yours are the feet,
yours are the eyes.
You are His body.

Christ has no body now but yours,
no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
compassion on this world,
Christ has no body now on earth
but yours.

© Birdwing Music, 1987.

http://www.johnmichaeltalbot.com/

This is another mantra, this time for evening prayer written by Sr Aideen O’Sullivan. It is published by Spectrum but I can’t find it on their website.

Stay with us Lord, for evening is at hand.

Stay with us Lord, for the day is now far spent.

© Spectrum Publications, 1996.

This is essentially a mantra from Daniel Iverson that we have used on occasion as a Vene Sancte. It sounds very modern for something written in the 1920s. This is a very lovely tribute from his son. I love the story of him trying to use this song before a sermon and never getting to it as the congregation wouldn’t stop singing. I also love the fact that a Presbyterian continues to enrich our Catholic liturgy.

It appears we sang an extra first verse with “fall afresh on them”.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me,
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.
Melt us, mold us, fill us, use us,
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.

© 1935, 1963, Birdwing Music

This is another song from Brian Boniwell, who has no internet presence that I can find.  It was the title track of a CD and music book that appears to be out of print. I wonder if those who know him can persuade him to put up a site so everyone can buy his music easily?

This song’s simple lyrics are all that is needed I think.

Our priest is away and he was kind enough to get a replacement priest and a deacon to take his place today. While I appreciated their effort to assist it was not exactly a pleasant experience.  As I sat through a tortuous homily from the Deacon, which boiled down to an argument that transubstantiation is true because Jesus said so, I wondered if he was aware of the true presence in the Body of Christ in the assembled people listening to him.

This song says it better.

Verse 1

Receive the Spirit of love, the holy face of God.

The power to nuture life, creation’s only song.

Refrain

Come with your fire, rest in our hearts, fill us with light.

Shine through our lives, sharing your gifts, sharing your love.

Verse 2

Receive the Spirit of joy, the healing touch of God.

The power of love to share, the burdens of our lives.

Refrain

Verse 3

Receive the Spirit of truth, uniting all who come.

To seek the stream of life, the waters of new birth.

Refrain

Verse 4

Receive the Spirit of peace, the moonlight through the trees.

A gentle silent tide, a whisper on the breeze.

Refrain

Verse 5

Receive the Spirit of hope, our brightly shining star.

To light and guide our way, to lead us safely home.

Refrain

© Brian Boniwell, 2000.