Holy Family

Today was a rare day off for Mary our organist and for good reason - it was her 40 th wedding anniversary and, together with her husband Ray, she received a special blessing from Father Mark. How apt on this feast day to see her with her family. Mary's absence left Kath B with the dubious honour of playing the organ and although she was suffering from some sort of viral infection she did marvelously well. Musically it was a traditional post Christmas celebration.

Entry Once in Royal David’s City

Gloria: -

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Offertory Take our bread

Holy Holy Newquay Mass #4
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven
And earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, hosanna. Blest is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, hosanna. Hosanna,
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna.

Mem Accl When we eat this living bread and when we drink Your saving cup, we proclaim Your death my Lord, until You come in glory. Until You come in glory, until You come in glory.

Lamb of God Newquay Mass #4
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world, the sin of the world (repeat). Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your
Peace and grant us Your peace.
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen


Communion Bread of Life
Lord I am not worthy

Recessional The first Nowell

Hallelulah -it's Christmas !

Firstly, Happy Christmas to one and all. The theme of our daytime Christmas music liturgy was certainly Hallelujah, with one of choirboy's own compositions and a re-working of the current Christmas number 1 (the Leonard Cohen composition) by Alexandra Burke, Hallelujah with words by Choirboy (if anyone is interested they can email me for more details).

Entry Come, come come to the manger

Crib Procession Today our Saviour is born, his name is Christ our Lord.
Today our Saviour is born, Christus natus est
Gloria

Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia (repeat x4)

Credo/I believe
Chorus: - Glory, glory Lord, I believe. Glory, glory Lord, I believe. Glory glory Lord, I believe. I believe in You, Lord, I believe
We believe in one God the father, the almighty. The maker of all, seen and unseen.
We believe in Lord Jesus Christ, the only son of God, Eternally begotten, God from God. Chorus
Light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, three persons in one.
For all mankind and for our salvation, by the power of your Spirit, He came down to earth. Chorus
And by that same power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary (pause) For the sake of man, He was crucified died and was buried to rise again. Chorus
He will come again to judge us all, living and dead, His kingdom has no end.
We believe in the Spirit, the giver of life with the father and son we shall glorify.
Chorus
We believe in the catholic church the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sin and life without end. Chorus

Offertory This is my body


Holy Holy Newquay Mass #4
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven
And earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, hosanna. Blest is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, hosanna. Hosanna,
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna.

Mem Accl When we eat this living bread and when we drink Your saving cup, we proclaim Your death my Lord, until You come in glory. Until You come in glory, until You come in glory.

Lamb of God Newquay Mass #4
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world, the sin of the world (repeat). Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your
Peace and grant us Your peace.
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen

Communion Oh Holy night
O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices! Oh night divine, oh night when Christ was born, Oh night, divine, oh night, oh night divine.

Hallelujah, Jesus Christ is born

Recessional Mary’s boy child

Mary’s Boy Child

V1
Long time ago in Bethlehem,
So the Holy Bible say,
Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ,
Was born on Christmas day
V2
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
They saw a bright new shining star,
They heard a choir sing through the night
The music seemed to come from afar,
V3
Now, Joseph and his wife, Mary,
Come to bethlehem that night,
They found no place to bear her child,
Not a single room was in sight.
V4
By and by, they find a little nook,
In a stable all forlorn,
And in a manger cold and dark,
Mary's litlle Boy was born!

Chorus
Hark, now hear the angels sing,
A newborn King was born today,
And man will live forever more,
Because of Christmas day.
Trumpets sound and angels sing,
Listen to what they say,
That Man will live forever more,
Because of Christmas day.
Hallelujah, Jesus Christ is born
V1
Today in David’s house is born
A saviour who is Christ the Lord
Born of a virgin, holy and pure
God incarnate to save us all

V2
In a manger the baby lies
Born that man no more may die
Born to save the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth

V3
Choirs of angels sing for joy
Shepherds find the newborn boy
In a stable, lowly and meek
They gather around the Prince of Peace

V4
So rejoice this heavenly morn
Jesus, Lord, our saviour is born
Peace, goodwill to all men on earth
Today we celebrate our saviour’s birth

Chorus
So with our voices we shout and sing
We sing the praise of our newborn king
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Jesus Christ is born





Christus natus est, Credo-I believe, Newquay Mass #4, When we eat this living bread, Amen we will sing, Hallelujah, Jesus Christ is born © petermerrin, carnebo hill, Goonhavern and CCLI

Praying for mothers to be - 4th Advent

Today, the 4th Sunday in Advent is the day when the Church celebrates the trust and faith that Mary had in God - the reading is the well known one where an angel visits Mary to give her the 'Good News'. It is, therefore, the day when we are asked to pray for mothers-to-be. There are plenty of them apparently but none in the Choirboy household ! Muscially today we enjoyed some traditional Christmas fare and Choirboy sang Graham Kendrick's 'Thorns in the straw'. The latter had obviously gone on long enough as far as Father Mark was concerned, for as Choirboy was applying the finishing guitar lick, Father was saying the final blessing. I suspect he was concerned about the time as the Concluding Doxology was replaced (delayed) by the draw for the Parish raffle !

Entry O come, O come Emmanuel 522 L112

Advent candle Prepare ye the way of the Lord (repeat)

Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Prepare ye the way of the Lord (repeat)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory Gifts of bread and wine S3 L643


Holy Holy Newquay Mass #4
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven
And earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, hosanna. Blest is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, hosanna. Hosanna,
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna.

Mem Accl When we eat this living bread and when we drink Your saving cup, we proclaim Your death my Lord, until You come in glory. Until You come in glory, until You come in glory.

Lamb of God Newquay Mass #4
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world, the sin of the world (repeat). Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your
Peace and grant us Your peace.
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen


Communion There is a longing

Thorns in the straw

Recessional O come, all ye faithful (V1-3)

Gaudete

It's Gaudate Sunday - it's an exortation to 'Rejoice'. Why ? Well the answer lies in the fact that very shortly we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus and the wait is nearly over. Deacon Brian talked to us today about Jesus in our midst - would we recognise Him. I suspect not unfortunately.
Today was a day of firsts for the choirboy family as Choirboy minimus made his debut on the alter and Choirboy minor third joined the music group with his guitar. The normal choirboy bench was looking very spartan with only choirboy minor one left during the homily as Mrs Choirboy was taking the childrens' liturgy. Muscially it is clear that the congregation are still learning the latest Mass setting but we will plough on. Friday saw carols at Trerice (an Elizabethan Manor House) which was by all accounts a great success.

Entry O Jesus Christ remember

Advent candle Prepare ye the way of the Lord (repeat)

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Prepare ye the way of the Lord (repeat)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Offertory Blessed be God

Holy Holy Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven
And earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, hosanna. Blest is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, hosanna. Hosanna,
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna.

Mem Accl When we eat this living bread and when we drink Your saving cup, we proclaim Your death my Lord, until You come in glory. Until You come in glory, until You come in glory.

Lamb of God Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world, the sin of the world (repeat). Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your
Peace and grant us Your peace.
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen. Amen, Amen, Amen


Communion God beyond all names

Let it be, Jesus is the answer

Recessional Here I am, Lord

A voice in the wilderness

It can sometimes feel that espousing belief in this unbelieving age of immediate gratification that we are voices in the (spiritual ) wildernesss. We were reminded both by Father Mark and in our readings that preparation requires time and patience. Choirboy was somewhat crestfallen to be reminded by St Peter 'That with the Lord a day can mean a thousand years' - Patience has never been one of his greatest virtues !

Musically today we progressed through the second Sunday in Advent with some musical references to John the Baptist as well as our new mass setting. Father Mark also sang the Concluding Rite and although nervous at first soon got into the role and sang very well - we will repeat this in two weeks.

Entry Hark ! A herald voice is calling

Advent candle Prepare ye the way of the Lord (repeat)

Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Prepare ye the way of the Lord (repeat)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Credo/I believe

Offertory In bread we bring You


Holy Holy Newquay Mass #4
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven
And earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, hosanna. Blest is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, hosanna. Hosanna,
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna.

Mem Accl When we eat this living bread and when we drink Your saving cup, we proclaim Your death my Lord, until You come in glory. Until You come in glory, until You come in glory.

Lamb of God Newquay Mass #4
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world, the sin of the world (repeat). Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your
Peace and grant us Your peace.
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen


Communion Wait for the Lord

Living Lord

Concluding Rite: -

Priest: The Lord be with you
All: And also with you
Priest: May almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Spirit. Forever and ever
All: Forever and ever, Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen. We go in peace to love and serve You
We go in peace to love and serve You Lord. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Recessional On Jordan’s bank, the Baptist’s cry

First Sunday of Advent

There is no such thing as bad publicity so they say, so here we go . What on earth has Trago Mills got to do with the First Sunday in Advent. Well, apparrently if you go to Trago Mills or at least the Liskeard branch, there is a a guy (presumably employed by Trago) shouting out how many days and hours of shopping there are left until Christmas and with a leap of poetic (or preaching) licence, Father Mark likened the start of Advent to the beginning of such a countdown. Musically it marked a change for us with a new Mass setting (Newquay Mass #4 penned by choirboy) and a new memorial acclamation (also by choirboy). We have also purloigned our Alleluia from the 70s musical Godspell with a bit of musical adaptation by choirboy.

Entry Song of body of Christ

Advent candle Prepare ye the way of the Lord (repeat)

Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Prepare ye the way of the Lord (repeat)
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Offertory Sweet sacrament divine

Holy Holy Newquay Mass #4
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven
And earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, hosanna. Blest is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, hosanna. Hosanna,
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna.

Mem Accl When we eat this living bread and when we drink Your saving cup,we proclaim Your death my Lord, until You come in glory. Until You come in glory, until You come in glory.

Lamb of God Newquay Mass #4
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world, the sin of the world (repeat). Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your
Peace and grant us Your peace.
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen


Communion God to enfold you (six times)

Abba, Abba Father

Recessional Like a sea without a shore

Christ the King

Today we celebrated the feast of Christ the King and were reminded by Father Mark about the origins of this feast. You can read about it and its originator Pius XI here.

Choirboy was today left with a degree of guitar envy as Jimmy unveiled one of his six new guitars - it's a long story about bartering services. The particular model that he used today was a Crafter , all that was missing were the cowboy boots and stetson. Wow !

Musically we had hoped to sing a version of 'My sweet Lord'. Unfortunately in the absence of sufficient choir members at last weeks rehearsal, we had to change our mind. Maybe later in Advent.

Entry Majesty

Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Creed Credo/I believe

Offertory Take our bread, we ask You

Holy Holy Newquay Mass I

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross

Amen We lift our hearts

Lamb of God Newquay Mass III

Communion The servant King
Air I breathe

Recessional Hail redeemer King divine

Remembrance Sunday

'You cannot reap what you have not sown. How are we going to reap love in our country if we only sow hate?' Oscar Romero

Entry: - Meekness and majesty

Taize: - Kyrie

Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Offertory: - Lord accept the gifts we offer

Holy Holy: - Newquay mass I

Mem Accl: - Dying you destroyed our death

Amen: - Forever Amen

Lamb of God: - Newquay mass III

Communion: - God beyond all names /Jesus Lamb of God (V1-4)

Recessional: - Abide with me

For all the Saints - whoever they may be.....

Today we celebrated the feast of All Saints, although the pedants among you will have noticed that the date being the 2 November, we should have been celebrating All Souls ! Nevertheless All Saints it is and we were reminded by Fr Mark that during the papacy of John Paul II more saints were canonised by him than all of his predecessors put together. I guess we all have some idea of what constitutes a saint and for most of us labelling people as saints is neither here nor there - after all we are not the final arbiters of someone's worthiness . So what is the purpose of making saints ? Probably to acknowledge goodness and as an example for the faithful. The process is long and complicated. Few of us have a deep understanding of it. There are books written about the process. It is a controversial and confusing peculiarity of Roman Catholicism. Recent speculation about the proposed beatification of Pius XII has led many within and outside the Church to question the process.

So what about the music ? OK - we had a veritable mixture of styles and musical textures today particularly when choirboy's tin whistle started to sound as though he was strangling a cat during Amazing Grace. It is a tune that evokes string emotions - two comments today were; 'I absolutely love it' and 'I hate Amazing Grace' - heady stuff ! In addition to Jimmy's broken string and Father forgetting the sung Kyrie, it was an eventful morning.

Entry For all the Saints

Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Creed Credo/I believe

Offertory In bread we bring You Lord

Holy Holy Newquay mass I

Mem Accl Christ has died

Amen Forever Amen

Lamb of God Newquay mass III

Communion Amazing grace

Ubi Caritas

Recessional Follow me, follow me

Which is the greatest commandment ?

This is the question asked of Jesus by the Pharisees after he had silenced the Sadducees. Before I give His answer, I'll bet that most of us couldn't really explain who these people were. The image that immediately springs to mind for me is of John Cleese in the film 'Life of Brian' ! And I probably shouldn't own up to seeing that yet alone enjoying it - it does, however, contain in choirboy's view one of the funniest scenes in any film. Back to the subject of these mysterious people who crop up regularly in the scriptures. They seem to provide Jesus with the perfect foil with which to illustrate the divine nature of his ministry. You can read more about the Pharisees here and the Sadducees here.
The answer - well that's here in Matthew's Gospel 22:34-40.

Entrance Hail Queen of Heaven

Kyrie Taize Kyrie

Gloria Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth alleluia

Offertory Gifts of bread and wine

Holy Holy Gathering Mass

Mem Accl Christ has died

Amen A-men, we lift our hearts and voices to you as we sing A-men
so shall it be forever Amen.


Agnus Dei Newquay mass III
Communion Love is His word
Confitemini Domino

Recessional I’ll sing a hymn to Mary

Social death ?

Odd title, odd concept - this was the message from Father Mark on the fate awaiting Catholic converts ! OK - it's out of a necessity in a way for the Church to be unfashionable and unmoving in its beliefs, not simply following the social mores of the day.

The gospel reading had on the other hand both a secular and a spiritual message - 'render unto Caesar'

Musically we survived a depleted congregation, an absent Laura (Choirboy sang the Kyrie), a broken string on Choirboy's guitar (and the disintegration of the offertory hymn), an incorrect number for the final hymn (mea culpa) and a problem with Gill's throat (he was due to be singing a solo) ! Phew....

Entry O purest of creatures

Kyrie Taize Kyrie

Gloria Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth alleluia

Credo Credo/I believe

Offertory Lord we come to Your table

Holy Holy Gathering Mass

Mem Accl Dying You destroyed our death, rising you restored our life
Come, Lord Jesus come, come again in glory.
Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (rpt)

Amen A-men, we lift our hearts and voices to you as we sing A-men
so shall it be forever Amen.

Agnus Dei Newquay mass III

Communion Be still for the presence of the Lord
Bless the Lord my soul
1st time instruments/hum 2nd time all sing 3rd In Polish

Recessional Holy Virgin by God’s decree

Wedding Banquet - are you coming ?

You are invited to the wedding feast - are you coming ? For 'Many are called but few are chosen'.

There was an apt theme to today's gospel as we celebrated John and Frances Whybrow's Diamond wedding anniversary. On a beautiful day, the Church was full with regulars and visitors. We were fewer in number in the choir today as Jimmy and Paul were absent (they were at a charity ball last night - draw your own conclusions) and Choirboy's daughter sat out, tired after spending most of last week in hospital. She is now minus her appendix and judging by her bossy demeanour is on the road to recovery. October is the month of Our Lady and our music liturgy today strongly reflected this.



Entry Immaculate Mary


Gloria Gloria

Responsorial Psalm As the deer pants


Alleluia Plymouth alleluia

Offertory Blessed be God


Holy Holy Gathering Mass

Mem Accl Dying You destroyed our death, rising you restored our life
Come, Lord Jesus come, come again in glory.
Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (rpt)


Great Amen Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei Newquay mass II

Communion There is a longing in our hearts


Recessional O Mother Blest

Plymouth 150

If you didn't go or haven't heard of this event, you can look here.

Last weekend the young people of our diocese (helped by a few oldies) celebrated their faith in joining together for a day of prayer, reflection and song starting at Plymouth Cathedral. Choirboy was fortunate to have been part of this magnificant event and the memory of the Cathedral rocking to the sound of 'Glory, glory I believe' will live with him for a long time. If somehow we can catch the essence of that joy in our parish liturgies then surely we need not worry for the future of our Church. Let's hope so - next stop National Youth Sunday, we'll see if we can give it a go.

Who is my neighbour ?

This practical and philosophical question is on the one hand easy to answer but challenging at the same time. We used this 26 th Sunday of the year to remember the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society named after Vincent de Paul whose feastday was celebrated yesterday. Choirboy blogged about the SVP this time last year. Once again Helen Connolly told us of the good works that the people who belong to this society do in our own community, quietly, without fanfare and with great humility and love.

Musically today was very Graham Kendrick. Regular readers of this blog will know that Choirboy is a great fan of his but in an effort to balance old and modern we had enough room for the Tantum Ergo - Choirboy likes a bit of Latin too from time to time !

Entry Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Kyrie Taize

Gloria Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth alleluia

Credo Credo/I believe

Offertory Take our bread

Holy Holy Gathering mass

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross and resurrection, You’ve set us free, You’ve set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world (repeat)
Saviour, Saviour Saviour, Saviour
You set us free, You set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world

Great Amen Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei Newquay mass II

Communion The Servant King

Tantum Ergo

Recessional Shine Jesus shine

They're at it again - yawn !

They just cannot stop themselves, choirboy minor and choirboy minimus (AKA the Ginger Ninja). The last occasion they decided Church was a good place for a punchup was here. This time Mrs Choirboy was the arbiter of the pugilists' endeavours. A draw having been declared we were able to continue with Mass.

The message from Father Mark today was that 'Those to whom much has been given, much will be expected'. A challenge for us all !

Our music liturgy today concluded with four verses of 'O Lord my God' but really only one was required as Father Mark left the altar like Usain Bolt with Brian in hot pursuit. Why ? The answer was in the fact that there was a parish outing to The Minack Theatre - he had to complete catechism classes before they left and by all accounts he was well and truly into the lesson as those of us left in the Church hit verse 4.

Entry Gather us in

Kyrie Taize

Gloria Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Offertory This is my body

Holy Holy Newquay mass II

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross and resurrection, You’ve set us free, You’ve set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world (repeat)
Saviour, Saviour Saviour, Saviour
You set us free, You set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world

Great Amen Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #2)
Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us. And grant us Your peace

Communion Bread of life, Truth eternal

Recessional Oh Lord my God

Speak Lord to me

The link for this song is here:-

www.myspace.com/plymouth150

The triumph of the cross

I 'borrowed' this picture from here. An Anglican Church with the same name as ourselves - fitting as apart from our normal mass, today we were able to join with Churches Together in Newquay at a Songs of Praise event at Newquay harbour to mark the end of the annual Fish Festival. Our chosen hymn 'Shine Jesus shine' was somewhat shorter than Graham Kendrick had intended (by one line). The cause of this was, as Mary O'D had predicted, due to lack of proof reading of the printed order of service. The consequence was yours truly and Jimmy completely out of kilter with the congregation which caused us some difficulty which we managed to resolve by end of the final chorus.
Our mass today was interupted by a mobile phone during the consecration (Father Mark said nothing - perhaps he didn't hear it) and finished with a rather risque joke. Sunday's will never cease to amaze and apall sometimes in equal measure - did I mention the Dambuster's March ? Well maybe another time, but just try and imagine singing a hymn to this well known piece of music. Not possible ? Well not quite impossible - we tried it at our Songs of Praise !

Entry : - We walk by faith

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Take our bread

Sanctus:: -Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Dying you destroyed our death
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen. Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #2)
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your peace. Grant us Your peace.

Communion: - Sweet Sacrament divine
Open out eyes to see

Recession: - Oh Lord, all the world belongs to You

BIg brother community ?

In what was something of a first, the programme 'Big Brother' was the focus of Fr Mark's sermon, likening the Big Brother house to a community with all its problems. It was a bit of a mental stretch for Choirboy to imagine that our own community was similar to those in the TV house but we can run with it for a bit - the issue raised was about living together, forgiveness, love and a connection with the psalm - 'Harden not your hearts'. Well you had to be there really but the answer is love and love in the person of Jesus Christ...

With Jimmy's shoulder playing up again last week, a visit to his local physio enabled him to be fit enough, thankfully, to play today. One thing that cannot be repaired is his eyesight which, in common with many of us, is deteriorating. So replete with spectacles he attacked the music liturgy with gusto......

Entry : - My God accept my heart this day

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Lord accept the gifts we offer

Sanctus:: -Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Dying you destroyed our death
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen. Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #2)
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your peace. Grant us Your peace.

Communion: - Be not afraid

Recession: - Follow me, follow me

Who does the Church belong to ?

The Church doesn't belong to our priests, bishops or even the Pope - it belongs to God and we are merely the building blocks, small but essential to its wholeness. This was the challenging message from Brian, our Deacon as we draw to the end of our summer season. The Church was almost full for a joyful celebration that musically included something new (Open our eyes to see by Angela Reith, published by CJM) and saw the return of Jimmy (following a rotator cuff tear - it's a shoulder thing) and the arrival of Danny (guitar).

Entry : - The Church’s one foundation

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Take our bread

Sanctus:: -Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Dying you destroyed our death
Amen Amen, Amen, Amen We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen. Amen, Amen, Amen

Sign of Peace Peace be with you, peace be with you always (x3)

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #2)
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your peace. Grant us Your peace.

Communion: - On Eagle’s wings

Open our eyes to see

Recession: - I watch the sunrise

Good news for all...

It was all change at Holy Trinity today with the return of choirboy to the music liturgy but the departure (for a week) of Mary with Kath as substitute - Jimmy was absent injured (in injury to the strumming arm). We were told by Father Mark that the message of the gospel was an inclusive one - for all peoples and races and that we should find joy in our faith. I hope that we were able to reflect some of that joy through our music liturgy.

Entry : - All are welcome

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Gifts of bread and wine

Sanctus:: -Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen, Amen, Amen We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen. Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #2)
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your peace. Grant us Your peace.

Communion: - Be still for the presence of the Lord

Eat this bread

Recession: - Guide me, O thy great Redeemer

Summer Holiday

Regular readers of this blog (if there are any) will notice that there has been a shortage of posts recently. There is a simple answer - the choirboy clan has been on holiday to foreign parts. The liturgy at Holy Trinity has been in the capable hands of Mary our organist with the help (hopefully) of a few other willing volunteers. I can report from Northern Spain that Churchgoers are enthusiastic singers whereas the French approach appears slightly different (we went to a large Church where a good proportion of the congregation where engaged in activities not related to prayer or participation for a fair proportion of the mass). So feeling (somewhat) renewed we approach the end of the summer looking forward to the next big liturgical event - Christmas ! Hope you have/had a good holiday if you are lucky enough to have one.

Here comes summer !

Although the weather is telling us otherwise, the fact that our small Church is increasingly full on Sundays, tells us that the holiday season is here. It's a great pleasure to meet all of those holidaymakers who organise liturgy in their home parishes. Choirboy is always happy to share musical ideas - leave me a message on the blog with your email address and I will contact you. We had a very contemporary liturgy today and judging by the comments after mass, I think it was enjoyed by the congregation - we hope that it enhanced your participation in the celebration of the mass. We certainly enjoy having visitors at Newquay - it's fantastic to have the Church full and the volume turned up !

Please check out the following blog: -

www.plymouth150.blogspot.com

Entry : - Meekness and majesty

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Blessed be God

Sanctus:: -Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Lord by Your cross and resurection

Amen Amen Amen. All glory to Our Lord and King. Songs of praise to You we sing in honour of Your sacrifice; Christ our Lord who brings us life. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #2)
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Lord have mercy on us and grant us Your peace. Grant us Your peace.

Communion: - This is my body

Knocking on Heaven’s door

Recession: - Praise my soul the King of heaven

Reap what you sow

The phrase 'reap what you sow' is a familiar one - it is also the end line of Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day', a song that Choirboy hopes to use at some point in the future. The challenge today was wondering what sort of witness we are providing to others, what sort of crop will we produce. I guess that only others can answer that for us.........meanwhile our Sunday celebrations expand to include the large numbers of holidaymakers visiting Newquay. It's fantastic to see our small Church so full. Regular readers will be interested to know that a ceasfire was observed by the younger members of the choirboy family -they simply listened to a reasoned a logical argument and worked out that fighting was pointless (and if you believe that you'll believe anything - Mrs Choirboy has her methods !)

Entry : - Eternal Father, strong to save

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Gifts of bread and wine

Sanctus (Newquay Mass # 3)

Mystery of faith : - Lord by Your cross and resurection

Amen Amen Amen. All glory to Our Lord and King. Songs of praise to You we sing in honour of Your sacrifice; Christ our Lord who brings us life. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #3)

Communion: - Love is His word

Recession: - Freely, freely

Ding ding round 3

Regular readers of this blog will notice two things, one the absence of the blog for the last two weeks (week 1, pressure of work, week 2, week off) and secondly the similarity to a previous post: - (http://holytrinitymusic.blogspot.com/2008/01/ding-ding-round-2.html)

Today the two protagonists chose the Eucharistic prayer to loose off a few blows, the majority of which were from choirboy minimus who was clearly more up for it than his older brother. I am at a loss to explain the whys and the wherefors of this particular happening - let us hope that like all amateur boxing matches, they only have three rounds ! Today there was a first and a last. The first was a Taize chant sung in Polish by Patrycja and the last was Maz's last appearance at Holy Trinity before she disappears (posted to South Wales). Notwithstanding her work committments (taking her to Afghanistan) she has been with us for the past 4 years - her contributions to our liturgy have been fantastic and one of the aforementioned pugilists has cause to give her thanks as he is the now the proud owner of Maz's clarinet. Thank you for everything Maz.

Entry : - All are welcome

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Gifts of bread and wine

Sanctus (Newquay Mass # 3)

Mystery of faith : - Lord by Your cross and resurection
Amen Amen Amen. All glory to Our Lord and King. Songs of praise to You we sing in honour of Your sacrifice; Christ our Lord who brings us life. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #3)

Communion: - Sweet sacrament divine

Bless the Lord my soul

Recession: - Walk in the light

Apostles - called to serve...

The Apostles we were reminded today were ordinary men. They did, however, do an extraordinary thing. When called by Jesus, they left everything to follow him - such was their belief. Are we listening ? Would we answer the call in the same way ? Are we ready to something extraordinary for Jesus ?

In the musical sense today, fortunately (or unfortunately) nothing extraordinary happened, unless you count one of choirboy's strings breaking during the Agnus Dei. It was the same string which broke no less than a month ago - getting too carried away apparrently. As luck would have it choirboy had a spare guitar in the sacristy (as you do). So in between birthdays (happy birthday Francis) and Father's day, we managed to navigate through a joful liturgy with no Jimmy or Mary but we welcomed back Jess and her flute !

Entry : - Song of the body of Christ

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Folk Alleluia

Offertory: - All that I am

Sanctus (Newquay Mass # 3)
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, Hosanna

Mystery of faith : - Christ has died

Amen Amen Amen. All glory to Our Lord and King. Songs of praise to You we sing in honour of Your sacrifice; Christ our Lord who brings us life. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #3)
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us, have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion: - Bread of life, Truth eternal

Recession: - I will be with you

He came to call sinners

Our gospel reading today reminds us that Jesus came to call sinners. This is good news as there cannot be anyone who does not fit into this category. The almost revolutionary nature of this calling by Christ was put into an historical context by Father Mark who reminded us of the multiplicity of rules prevalent in organised religion at the time of Christ. He pointed out that Christ reached beyond all of those regulations (and hierarchical red tape). This was somewhat ironical for Choirboy, the thought that we were hearing this in our own Catholic Church. I think sometimes we forget the true message of the historical Christ and get wrapped up in our own Church's rules and regulations - only a thought ! The Church was rather empty today and the choir severely depleted (the weather was glorious and this is a possible cause). It was slightly frustrating as we had rehearsed some music that most of the congregation were unfamiliar with. Still, there is always next week. MAz was absent with a dislocated knee but we were able to welcome Patrizia who hopefully will sing something for us very soon in Polish !

Entry : - Dear Lord and Father of mankind

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Offertory: - Lord we come to Your table

Sanctus (Newquay Mass # 3)
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, Hosanna

Mystery of faith : - Christ has died
Amen Amen Amen. All glory to Our Lord and King. Songs of praise to You we sing in honour of Your sacrifice; the bread and wine that brings us life. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #3)
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us, have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion: - Living Lord

Recession: - Go tell everyone

The boys (and girl) are back in town !

It was great to welcome back Jimmy and Maz to our celebrations today. Maz unfortunately will be moving on soon as she has been posted elsewhere, but there will always be a place for her clarinet at Holy Trinity. The picture shows what happens when you don't build your house on firm foundations - our readings today were all about building our lives on the firm foundation of the message of the gospel. Choirboy toyed with the idea of using the famous hymn 'Rock of ages' today but instead we chose a Wesley hymn for openers. A good version of 'Rock of ages can be found here and a discussion of the origins of the hymn can be found here.

Entry : - The Church’s one foundation

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - In bread we bring You, Lord

Sanctus: - Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Christ has died

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei
Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us. And grant us Your peace

Communion: - There is a longing

Recession: - Colours of day

Corpus Christi

Traditionally this is the 'Run to the Sun' weekend which usually leaves us with great difficulties in getting to Holy Trinity. Despite or in spite of the rain, the Church was almost full for our celebrations. A thoughtful sermon from our ex-footballer Deacon Brian lifted the dampened spirits of those brave enough to make their way to Holy Trinity. Musically we were without Jimmy again (where are you ?) but we managed to get through our celebrations with the addition of Choirboy's Hail Holy Queen and Air I breathe (made famous by Hillsong). Choirboy was even asked by two visitors whether or not we had a CD of our music - perhaps one for the future.

Entry : - Song of the Body of Christ

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Take our bread

Sanctus: - Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Christ has died

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Die: - Newquay Mass III

Communion: - Jesus, Lamb of God

Recession: - Hail Queen of Heaven

Wonderful world !

In a beatiful celebration today we were witnesses to a number of our young parishioners making their First Holy Communion. It was a double celebration as Sunday is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity - - our patronal feast. The children looked wonderful and a packed church joined in with our joyful liturgy. Mrs Choirboy is responsible for catechising our new Communicants so it was a special day for the Choirboy family. Thanks to John for 'looking after' the Choirboy boys. Musically we mixed old and new and Choirboy reworked Louis Armstrong's 'Wonderful World' to include some more appropriate liturgical words.Hopefully it was enjoyed by all.

Entry : - Walk in the light

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - This is my body, broken for you

Sanctus: - Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith
Lord by Your cross and resurrection, You’ve set us free, You’ve set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world (repeat)
Saviour, Saviour Saviour, Saviour
You set us free, You set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Die
Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us. And grant us Your peace

Communion: - Be still, for the presence of the Lord

Reflection: - What a wonderful world

Recession: - Sancta Trinitas

Chorus Sancta Trinitas
Unus Deus
Miserere nobis (repeat)
1.One God, three Persons, one life in You, Lord. All glory and all power are Yours forever and ever.
Chorus
2. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our divine mystery. All glory and all power are Yours forever and ever.
Chorus
3. Risen Lord, our redeemer, all our hope is in You. All glory and all power are Yours forever and ever.
Chorus
Amen, Amen.

Pentecost

50 days after Easter is the feast of Pentecost - the birth of the Church. Ordinary men transformed by the power of the Spirit. As Father Mark put it, the love of the Father poured out for the Son in the form of the Holy Spirit - a power that can transform our lives today. In the liturgical sense, things are happening thick and fast as next week will be our patronal feast and the day that a number of our young parishioners make their First Holy Communion. Yesterday, was first Reconcilliation (confession to us older types). Mrs Choirboy was in attendance as she and Pat A have been the chief catechists for this group. Mrs Choirboy took over from Pat O'C who thankfully is back with us after her illness. We were also blessed with the presence of Father Baruti from Tanzania to tell us first hand of the impact of Tukae (one of our parish charities). We were able to hear how our small efforts are having a big impact in the Tanzanian Highlands. Finally we were all given gifts of the Spirit as mass ended (pieces of paper distributed by the children). Choirboy's youngest must have been blessed for having cycled over a snake this aftern0on which was quietly dozing, he picked it up not once but twice before Choirboy confirmed to him that it was an adder and that it was well and truly alive ! Phew.....


Entry: - Breathe on me breath of God

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Offertory: - Blessed be God

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass # 1

Mem Accl: -
Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life
Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat)


Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass # 1

Communion: - Come Holy Ghost

Spirit of the living God

Recessional: - As I kneel before you

Confirmation

In an emotional (for the choirboy family) service at St Austell, choirboy's only daughter ( a regular member of our music group) was confirmed at St Augustine's at St Austell in addition to a dozen other young people from St Austell, Newquay, Perranporth and St Mawes. Why St Austell ? Well, it's a long story but in the words of Fred Pontin, you need to 'Book early'. In the beautiful Church of St Augustine (you are very lucky, St Austell people), the music groups of Newquay and St Austell combined to produce a liturgy that illuminated our celebrations and also provided some challenging guitar work for Paul and myself- - Jimmy is holding the fort back home. In celebrating confirmation, Bishop Christopher also reminded us of the importance of the feast of the Ascension and reassured the confirmands that the Holy Spirit would guide them to the Father. He also defined Christianity as being about what Christ stood for and how, with the help of the Spirit we should make this the focus of our lives.

Gathering Veni Sancte Spiritus

Entrance Breathe on me breath of God

We shall draw water

Gloria Millenium Mass (Paul Inwood)

Alleluia Easter Acclamation (Dean)

Confirmation Come Holy Ghost

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Bidding Prayers Lord in Your mercy hear our prayer

Offertory Be not afraid

Holy Holy Holy, Holy

Amen We lift our hearts

Lamb of God Jesus, Lamb of God

Communion Behold the Lamb

Reflection I can feel You moving in me

Recessional Go out to the whole world

More love, more power

Can you handle it ?

The challenging message from Deacon Brian today was 'Can you handle it ?' - that is the message of truth that Easter has delivered, of the risen Christ. Furthermore are we ready to proclaim that truth ? Are we ready to bring the reality of that message to our community, not only within the confines of our Church building but within our local community in Newquay and then throught the county and the country ?

Musically our liturgy followed the post Easter liturgy that we have been using and added more mellow reflections for communion and a rousing Allelulia to finish that went on for a verse longer than planned ! We were also treated to a rousing Amen from young Danny and the noise of his toy guitar punctured the solemn atmosphere much to the amusement of many parishioners. Our choir was depleted with holiday committments and Joyce has been unwell - we hope she is back to full fitness soon !

Entry: - Gather us in

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Offertory: - Blessed be God

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass # 1

Mem Accl: -
Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life
Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat)
Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat)

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass # 1

Communion: - Song of a young prophet

Abba, Father send Your Spirit

Recessional: - Alleluia, sing to Jesus

I am the way

We would have had the beautiful hymn 'I am the way' based on this very well known piece of today's gospel. However, Choirboy was surprised that no one in the choir knew it and it was consigned to the 'one to be learnt' pile. It has in fact been around since the late 70s and it was during Choirboy's youth in the Charismatic Renewal when he first heard it. Written by Mary Barrett, it can be found in Laudate but also in the originnal 'Songs of the Spirit' hymn book. Never mind, we previewed another tune that was probably unfamiliar to most of the congregation - 'Air I breathe' written by Michael Smith is well known within the Christian worship community. Choirboy found it quite by accident on iTunes sung by a worship community in Australia - well worth a listen.

Entry: - Meekness and Majesty

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - This is my body

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass #1

Mem Accl: -
Dying You destroyed our death, rising You restored our life. Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat) Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory. Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass #1

Communion: - Be still for the presence of the Lord

Breathe

Recessional: - Mine eyes have seen the glory

The Lord is my shepherd

It was a funny day in the musical sense for choirboy on this the 4th Sunday of Easter. Apart from the fact that he forgot a chord change in the Holy Holy, Jimmy's guitar lost its tuning for some reason and no matter what he did it could not be rectified. We were grateful to Kath for stepping in as Mary enjoyed a break and we said goodbye to Veronica for the time being as she returns to Switzerland (she will be back in the summer). A surprise sprinkling of Holy water left us with an unforseen musical gap but our junior members (in this case Jamie) managed to add joy to our closing hymn with the shakers. In the absence of a pastoral letter from the bishop, we were reminded by Father Mark of the importance of prayer in our lives and the purpose of silent reflection - to listen to the Lord.

Entry: - Praise my soul the King of heaven

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - One bread, one body

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass # 1

Mem Accl: -
Dying You destroyed our death, rising You restored our life. Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat) Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory. Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass #1

Communion: - The Lord’s my shepherd

Recessional: - You shall go out with joy

Did not our hearts burn ?

Our gospel story of Jesus meeting two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus prompted choirboy to think whether or not he recognises the presence of Christ in the world around him. Whilst pondering this thought, Father Mark reminded us of the true living presence of Christ in the Eucharist, present in our Church. He also gave us the bleak statistic that Church attendance has halved in the last 20 years - this is one of choirboy's hobby horses, the connundrum of falling attendance at Church. Too many distractions ? Lack of practice ? Lack of faith ? Don't feel it is relevant ? Not interesting/stimulating ? Certainly in Cornwall, where Catholic schools are few and far between we are at a bit if a disadvantage to start with. A fact that was brought into sharp relief when choirboy visited a brand new Catholic primary school on saturday for a muscial event. Wow !

Choirboy must have been well and truly distracted this morning as he made a hash of the first reading and even forgot the chords to one of his compositions. Still it didn't spoil the enjoyment for a couple from Wigan who thought that the music was fantastic - well done choir !

Entry: - All are welcome

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Take our bread

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass # 1

Mem Accl: -
Lord by Your cross and resurrection, You’ve set us free, You’ve set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world (repeat)
Saviour, Saviour Saviour, Saviour
You set us free, You set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass #1

Communion: - Be still for the presence of the Lord

Be still and know that I am God
Recessional: -Thine be the glory

Wrong number, wrong time

No, the title is not because today is the second Sunday of Easter despite being the first after Easter Sunday. For some time we have been using the Laudate hymnal at Holy Trinity but as we only have one music copy, the musicians have been using the Celebration Hymnal where appropriate. Obviously the hymn numbers are not the same in each book and this is a frequent recipe for confusion. Today was a case in point as choirboy put the wrong Laudate number on the choir's music sheets and on the boards at the front and the side of Church. Fortunatley Mrs Choirboy spotted the error before we launched into the opening number. However, determined not to be saved by his eagle-eyed wife choirboy decided to announce the number for the gospel acclamation (in case of confusion) but gave the completely wrong number and merely enhanced the confusion already present in many people's minds.

The clocks of course went forward last night and although to choirboy's mind not widely publicised, the Church was full and there were only a few regulars missing. Our own Sue, however, failed to make provision and had to sneak in shortly after the start of mass - better late than never Sue !

Entry: - We come tell our story

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Take our bread

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass #1

Mem Accl: -
Lord by Your cross and resurrection, You’ve set us free, You’ve set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world (repeat)
Saviour, Saviour Saviour, Saviour
You set us free, You set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass #1

Communion: - There is a longing

Recessional: - Lord of the dance

Thank you

In this immediate post-Easter post I would like to thank all members of our choir, musicians and parishioners for their support and contributions to our Easter celebrations. Hopefully, through our music worship we are not only augmenting the prayer and worship life of our community, but also bearing witness to the risen Lord in our lives.
Alleluia !

Alleluia, He is risen

Finally we have arrived in the liturgical and the spiritual sense. Renewed with the joy of the resurrection we celebrated on Easter Sunday in a Church so gloriously filled that people were on the altar, in the aisles, the sacristy and the confessional. What an act of witness to the risen Lord !

Our Holy week celebrations began on Holy Thursday with the Mass of The Lord's Supper - to choirboy's mind one of the most beautiful and poignant celebrations in the liturgical calender. In a stark contrast to Easter Sunday, the Church was 3/4 full but we enjoyed the liturgy as we marked the beginning of the most important 3 days in our liturgical year. It marked the use of 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' (modified by choirboy and augmented vocally by Jimmy and Paul to great effect) as part of our continuous musical motif over the Easter period. We sang it during the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, the veneration of the cross on Good Friday and communion on Easter Sunday. 'Will I see You again' is a choirboy composition based on what he imagines St Peter is thinking having denied Christ - it featured some great guitar work by Paul.

Holy Thursday March 20th 2008

Entry - Song of the body of Christ

Gloria - Glory, glory, glory to God

Gospel Accl - Plymouth Alleluia

Washing of feet – Knocking on Heaven’s door

Offertory – This is my body

Mem Accl - Lord by Your cross and resurrection

Holy Holy – Gathering Mass

Amen – A-men, we lift our hearts


Communion – Let all mortal flesh

Will I see You again (song of St Peter)

Transfer of Eucharist – God to enfold you/Tantum Ergo

In a simple Good Friday liturgy, we invoked Our Lord to answer our pleadings using a simple muscial construction that was also used during the Vigil.

Good Friday

After each prayer the cantor intones: -

C Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer
R Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer
C Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer
R Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer
All Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer

Veneration of the Cross

Knocking on Heaven’s door
When I survey the wondrous cross

Communion: - Soul of my Saviour/Sweet Sacrament Divine

Our Vigil started in the Church Hall and the ceremony went smoothly inspite of events trying to conspire otherwise (a dodgy paschal candle being the chief culprit)

Gloria – Misa de Angelis 467 L498

Alleluia – Plymouth Alleluia

Rite of Blessing of Water
Baptised in water


Sanctus – Gathering Mass

Memorial Acclamation - Lord by Your cross and resurrection

Amen – Amen – A-men, we lift our hearts

Agnus Dei – Burntwood Mass

Communion - Alleluia sing to Jesus
There is a longing in our hearts

Recessional – Jesus Christ is risen today

And so to Easter Sunday and an uplifting and joyous celebration of the resurrection. The Church literally rocked through the Creed and once again we sang 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' as the drudgery of 'Battle is O'er' was soon forgotten. In a reflective piece redolant of perhaps a different worship environment, we sang the moving 'More Love, More Power' with great lead guitar from Paul and synthesiser from Choirboy's only (and much loved) daughter, Caitlin - fantastic !

Entry Jesus Christ is risen today 322 L267

Gloria Glory, glory , glory to God 406 L532

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory This is my body 730 L627

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (i)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen – We lift our hearts and voices

Lamb of God Newquay mass (i)

Communion Battle is o’er

MORE LOVE, MORE POWER

Recessional Alleluia #1

The final countdown

The title is not a prelude to the camp rock hit of the same name by Europe (can you remember anything else by them ?) but to the most important week in our liturgical calender. Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week and Choirboy has lifted the picture from another blog where the picture is headed with the apt title 'The Week that changed the world'). Our liturgy was dominated by the two themes of Palm Sunday - the blessing of the palms and the reading of Our Lord's Passion.
On the musical side of things Mary was well enough to return to the organ (although I have learnt that Ray has been in hospital and is now fortunately recovered). Choirboy once again played the psalm on the organ but I fear it was a bit too much for Father Mark - a bit over/melodramatic. It certainly is a powerful and moving psalm with the despair of the psalmist showing through the words. Perhaps we wil modify it next year ! Now we gear up for the Easter Tridium but we will not be singing the Sanctus or Agnus Dei from the Misa de Angelis at the Vigil. This would be a shame but I must assure you dear readers that the glorious Misa de Angelis has received a reprieve from the butchery that would have befallen it had we tried to sing it - Phew !!!!!
Finally, Paul tells me he is getting a new guitar (everyone should have at least three guitars). This is a great coincidence as choirboy himself is convinced that he needs another guitar and has embarked on the tortuous journey of convincing the redoubtable Mrs Choirboy that this is indeed the case. This will not be an easy journey for choirboy but he is prepared to be strong in the face of adversity.

Entry All glory laud and honour 16 L229

Kyrie

R. Psalm My God, my God, why have You forsaken me

Alleluia Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V1)

Offertory Gifts of bread and wine

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (iii)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen – All glory to Our Lord and King
Songs of praise to You we sing
In honour of Your sacrifice
The bread and wine that brings us life
Amen, Amen, Amen

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Communion The servant king

Eat this bread

Recessional Give me joy in my heart