4 June 2017
| Opening |
Veni Sancte Spiritus (Walker) |
| Reading |
Ezekiel 37:1–14 |
| Response |
Give us, Lord, a new heart (Farrell) |
| Silence |
|
| Song |
Veni Creator Spiritus (Chant) |
| Reading |
Joel 3:1–5 |
| Response |
Spirit of God (Farrell) |
| Silence |
|
| =========== |
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| Entrance |
Come down, O love divine |
| Penitential Rite |
Lux et origo (mtgf) |
| Gloria |
Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco) |
| Psalm 103 |
Send forth your spirit (mtgf) |
| Sequence & Gospel Accl |
Pentecost Sequence (Hurd) |
| Preparation of Gifts |
The Spirit comes to us in our weakness (mtgf) |
| Eucharistic Acclamations |
Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco) |
| Lamb of God |
Lux et origo (mtgf) |
| Communion Antiphon |
They were all filled (mtgf) |
| Communion |
There is one Lord (Alstott) |
| Final |
Celtic Alleluia (O'Carroll/Walker) |
Unusual circumstances this Sunday. At 10.25 a message came from security that the chaplain would be between 30-45 minutes late. I was correct in my guess that the supply priest for the Mass in the parish at 10.30 failed to turn up. Looking back we were in some ways lucky it was Pentecost Sunday as it meant we could easily use some the vigil readings - I asked the reading to look at the 3rd and 4th and went from there. We have a history of singing Chris Walker's Veni Sancte Spiritus for long periods so it was an obvious place to start — though I though the full 30 minutes might be a bit much. There was some thinking on our feet — Give us, Lord was only thought of during the Ezekiel reading. By 11.30 I had thought we had probably 'vigilled' long enough and guess that the chaplain would be with us by the Gospel we began Mass; he arrived during the psalm - so I could give a quick report and suggest there was still a sequence to catch one's breath.
We tried a different Sequence setting this year. I had come across Bob Hurd's setting while preparing for a music day recently. Its appeal was that it used the same o filli et filliae Alleluia refrain as our Easter Sequence so made a nice seasonal bookend. It also had the bright idea of including the Gospel Acclamation verse. In the end I was not sure — I think its faux-medievalism lack melodic character at the end of the day.
The final hymn changed a number of times. In my list it was going to be Lord, you give the great commission but before Mass I had decided that would be too much. it then became Holy is God as a seasonal marker and something shorter. In the end I decided to have just the Celtic Alleluia as a swift ending — people had been there approaching 90 minutes — it seemed to be one of the congregation's most forthright sings!
