Second Sunday of Advent

6 December 2009

Entrance	Longing, trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie Orbis Factor
Psalm 125	What marvels the Lord worked for us (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Winding Ways (Bill Tamblyn)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Rorate Caeli (chant)
Final	Blest be the Lord (Benedictus) (Alstott/Farrell )

Longing, trusting serves as an Entrance Song over the four weeks of Advent. The refrain or antiphon remains constant and the text of the verse changes to reflect the themes of the Liturgy of the Word. As the themes of the Sundays of Advent are consistent over the three years of Lectionary Cycle there are only 4 sets of verses rather than 12 (though there are also a set of verses drawn from Psalm 24). Apart from providing a unifying element to the season it does also make the business of choosing easier!

We sang Rorate Caeli with a Latin refrain and the verses in English. Luke Connaughton's translation shows that if you want to retain the shape of the Latin melodies the translation cannot be too exact. For example, the opening words of the English refrain Come, Saviour, come have no equivalent in the Latin.

The Benedictus is surprisingly absent from the Sunday Lectionary. It is a powerful Advent text and, I think, should be on people's lips and so we ended with Owen Alstott's versification of the text 'to guide our feet into the path of peace'.