I am about to have a break from blogging for a couple of weeks, so I’d better have a look at Advent. This might be provisional, because we are going to get suggestions from our coordinator, but barring any of my suggestions being too jarring, this is a plan.
I would like all Australian music, so none of this stuff about cold nights and snow, and keep much the same music for the four Advent celebrations and pick one distinct, matching song for the readings for each week.
Entrance: Advent Song (Browne/Wood) GA 281 – Chorus/Verse 1/ Chorus will get us gathered with a summer feel for Advent.
Seasonal Psalm: To You, O God, I Lift Up My Soul (Mason)
Gifts: Like a Candle (O’Brien/Ogilvie) AOV NG 91
Recessional: O Emmanuel (Mangan) CWB II 241
I have found that with the small numbers here 15-20 or so, it works better to have instrumental backing that I have made during the communion procession, and have a Communion/Thanksgiving song afterwards, otherwise the Priest is left hanging, waiting for me to finish playing and singing.
For that song then:
Week 1: A Voice in the Wilderness (Robinson) AOV 1/60
Week 2: Prepare the Way of the Lord (Boniwell) CWB II 250
Week 3: Shout to the Lord (Zschech) AOV NG 114
Week 4: God’s Call (Dyball)
Addendum 27/11/2024: Advent Chant (Porter/Kirkland) AOV 2/123, has been added for the lighting of the candles and we are going to use Hurd’s “To You O God” as the seasonal psalm as we won’t be playing the same mass each week this Advent. and we thought it better to use something familiar. We will have silence and contemplation after communion. The selections are still mostly Australian.
First Sunday…
Gathering: A Voice Cries Out (Joncas)
Psalm: To You, O Lord (Haugen – The Lyric Psalter)
Mass Parts: Mass of St. Ann (Bolduc)
Gifts: Waiting in Silence (Landry)
Communion: Bread of Life (Farrell)
Beyond the Moon and Stars (Schutte)
Closing: City of God (Schutte)
Second Sunday…
Gathering: Ready the Way (Hurd)
Psalm: The Lord Has Done Great Things for Us (Alonso – The Lyric Psalter)
Mass Parts: Mass of St. Ann (Bolduc)
Gifts: Come, Emmanuel (Thomson)
Communion: Taste and See (Moore)
Christ, Be Our Light (Farrell)
Closing: Emmanuel (Angrisano)
Third Sunday…
Gathering: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (tr. Neale)
Psalm: Cry Out with Joy and Gladness (Haugen – The Lyric Psalter)
Mass Parts: Mass of St. Ann (Bolduc)
Gifts: Ready the Way (Stephen)
Communion: Seed, Scattered and Sown (Feiten)
The Summons (Bell)
Closing: Let the Valleys Be Raised (Schutte)
Old age is catching up with me: I didn’t see this post when it came out a few weeks ago!
With perhaps the exception of Eleanor Farjeon’s “People, Look East” I don’t believe that any mainstream Advent hymns used in the northern hemisphere make much of a thing about the cold and winter, and there are loads of them!!!! Admittedly, it’s not the same story for Christmas.
Of the 16 hymns I am using for this season, only two are Australian (by McAuley/Connolly, as you might expect), and all would work anywhere in the world:
30 November: 1st Sunday of Advent, Year C
248 The Coming of Our Lord [Petti / FRANCONIA]
252 Wake, O Wake, the Night Is Dying [Hagan / WACHET AUF]
236 Eternal God Who Made the Stars [Mt. St. Bernard Abbey / CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM]
232 Come, O Long‐Expected Jesus [Wesley / STUTTGART]
7 December: 2nd Sunday of Advent, Year C
244 On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry [Chandler / WINCHESTER NEW]
238 Comfort, Comfort Now My People [Winkworth / GENEVAN 42]
479 Come, Lord Jesus [McAuley / SECOND COMING]
239 Hark, a Herald Voice Is Calling [Caswall / MERTON]
14 December: 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C
377 Rejoice, the Lord Is King [Wesley / DARWALL]
249 When the King Shall Come Again [Idle / GAUDEAMUS PARITER]
65 Come, O Jesus, Come, O Lord [McAuley / NEW TOWN]
621 The Voice of God Goes Out through All the World [Connaughton / WOODLANDS]
21 December: 4th Sunday of Advent, Year C
246 Saviour of the Nations, Come [Reynolds / NUN KOMM DER HEIDEN HEILAND]
247 The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came [Baring‐Gould / GABRIEL’S MESSAGE]
212 My Soul Rejoices in My God [Alstott / MAGNIFICAT]
242 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel [Neale / VENI EMMANUEL]
A selection of over 33 Advent hymns can be found on my website and YouTube channel:
https://LiturgyShare.org/Advent.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCydUKQB1c8&list=PLOQYVwrmbEkU3BZ0ZxJ2rBo_FLCsHPyKK
Also worth considering, particularly for the Procession of Gifts: Michael Joncas’ “Within Our Hearts Be Born” collection contains modern hymn texts set to traditional hymn tunes, each one designed for specific liturgies:
https://LiturgyShare.org/Within-Our-Hearts-Be-Born.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgstC0RQ-LU&list=PLOQYVwrmbEkXnDnN7owesAD8GlkNWla09