5th Sunday of Lent

22 March 2015

Entrance	For God so loved the world (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Psalm 50	A pure heart (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Lenten (mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	As the deer longs (Bob Hurd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Lamb of God	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion Antiphon	Amen, Amen I say (mtgf)
Communion	Unless a grain of wheat (Bob Hurd)
Final	Lift high the cross

I don't think we have sung Lift high the cross before but it's a stirring tune and I think it brought out the Johannine glory which contrasted with the other softer pieces today. The text of the verses are not quite satisfactory particularly how the words fits the melody.

As the deer longs was generic Lent mainly because we had noted that since we do another version of the vigil we had not sung it for a long time. Bob Hurd's Unless a grain of wheat was new to us with its hesitant harmony — neither settling or going very far. It was good to have an alternative setting to Bernadette Farrell's which pace Stephen Dean I had always presumed was written for one of the feasts of the English Martyrs at Allen Hall.