Dear parishioners,

I would like to invite you on a musical journey through Ordinary Time. I hope the insights into the music selections and the attached recordings will help you carry the spiritual fruits of Sunday Mass throughout the week.

Introducing our Music for Ordinary Time: The Voices of Tradition, part 1

On the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, our song for the Presentation and Preparation of the Gifts is Precious Lord, Take My Hand. This very well-known gospel hymn was written by Thomas Dorsey in 1932 after the devastating loss of his wife and kid during childbirth. While improvising on a hymn with the title “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone” he came up with the music and lyrics we know and love today, replacing in the process “Blessed Lord” with “Precious Lord” to enhance the image of intimacy of walking with Jesus. As we sing this hymn, I like to imagine that along with the Servant from our first reading from Isaiah, with St. Paul whose Epistle reading follows, and St. John the Baptist whose powerful words are in the day’s Gospel, we can all lean on this intimacy with Our Lord as we strive to fulfill God’s purpose throughout our human journey. https://youtu.be/uYUwO6_lysw?si=CKXEI0qTGMgWKrK0

For the Third Sunday in Ordinary time, our song for the Presentation and Preparation of the Gifts will be Be Thou My Vision. This is an Irish hymn text dating back to the Middle Ages, first translated for use in English in the early 1900s. Around the same time, many traditional folk melodies entered liturgical use due to their popularity and memorable qualities. We have tireless aficionados and scholars, who travelled from place to place to record and collect the music of local people, to thank for these tunes. This particular melody was first recorded at the village of Slane in Ireland and took its name from it. The tune now known as SLANE (as you can see it listed on the top right of the printed music) is used to sing the words of Be Thou My Vision, but you can also hear it on a different Sunday with the words “Lord of All Hopefulness.” Be Thou My Vision is especially effective for this Third Sunday in Ordinary time to help us deepen our reflection on the theme of light and darkness. In this day’s Gospel reading, Jesus received the terrible news of the imprisonment of his beloved cousin St. John the Baptist. His response was to retreat to a spiritual and physical space where he could give light to those who had not seen it before, turning a time of personal tragedy into light for all mankind. I invite you to immerse yourselves in the lyrics that can speak equally of Our Lord’s and our own experience facing darkness with the never-failing power of the Divine Light, as “Thou my great Father and I, Thy true son;Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.”

https://youtu.be/e5Hy_eRmjqo?si=x7LInZiTW4pkc_Kk

For the celebration of the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, our Entrance hymn text Alleluia! Sing to Jesus is set to another popular tune, known as HYFRYDOL.  This melody came from Wales and was composed by the Welsh musician Rowland Huw Prichard in the mid-1800s.  Because it is not a folk melody recorded at a village, it was named after its musical character: “hyfrydol” is translated form Welsh as “delightful, melodious.” Indeed, its likeable quality made it suitable to use with more than one text, and we can recognize it also when sung with the words “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.” The text Alleluia! Sing to Jesus comes from the English poet William Chatterton Dix who is also the author of the beloved Christmas carol “What Child Is This.” Dix wanted to write a poem that praised the Lord’s victory in the Resurrection and had a strong eucharistic message. It is fitting to help us prepare for this Sunday’s message in the Beatitudes and to encourage the hearts of all those who are persecuted, suffering, meek at heart that their final victory will be, through the power of self-abandonment, very much like Our Lord’s on the day of his Resurrection,

https://youtu.be/QEDQPlJ5pFs?si=Mk57v-3hJCby79sD

Music Throughout the Mass 

Entrance Hymn:
Marks the beginning of the Mass and sets the tone for the liturgy.

Responsorial Psalm: 
A musical response to the Scripture reading, sung during the Liturgy of the Word. 

Gospel Acclamation: 
A sung response to the reading of the Gospel. 

Offertory Hymn: 
Sung during the preparation of the gifts for the Eucharistic prayer. 

Communion Hymn: 
Sung during the distribution of Holy Communion. 

Recessional Hymn: 
Sung as the congregation departs after the Mass. 

"Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Lamb of God": 
Specific parts of the Mass Ordinary that are sung by the choir or congregation.