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

5th Sunday of Lent - any room will do ?

On this the fifth Sunday of Lent, Father Mark told us of the story of Brian Moore and his 'story' about 'The room'. You can read it here: -

http://www.stagnesalumni.org/BriansEssayTheRoom.shtml

Whatever you think of the origins of this tale and there is some controversy (http://www.snopes.com/glurge/room.asp), it is a powerful testimony that should make all of us think about the nature of our lives and how we live them.

On the musical front in the absence of Mary who was ill, choirboy had to make a last minute change to the music liturgy. However, despite our depleted numbers our music went well and we sang the psalm which choirboy had set to music for the organ. Let's hope Mary is better next week, thanks to Kevin for the guitar stand (and good luck in Norfolk).

Entry Gather us in
Kyrie

R. Psalm With the Lord there is mercy
And fullness of redemption

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

Offertory All that I am

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)

Lamb of God, Lamb of God
You take away the sin of the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us
Have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion I am the bread of life

Recessional Freely freely

Emergency ward 10

How apt that on this Sunday we heard of the healing of a blind man by Jesus as one of choirboy's offspring has been in hospital and in need of the same divine help. He was swiftly followed into the local hospital by Jimmy's son - the previous week Paul's daughter had been unable to play her bass because of illness. There must be something about playing the guitar at Holy Trinity !
The picture on the left comes from
http://www.scripturepics.org/gallery/
The site has some fantastic pictures which will probably feature regularly on this blog ! Back to the music - we managed to complete our new mass setting again and added a new Amen which choirboy thought went well. Unfortunately it foxed the Deacon who launched into an alternative Amen !

Entry: - Gather us in

Kyrie

Alleluia: - Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V4)

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 Lord’s my shepherd

Recessional: - Walk in the light

Surrenderment

Wierd word but this is the title of a beautiful song written by our own Louise and sung in her own inimitable way as part of our celebration of the 3rd Sunday in Lent. Of course the theme of this song was about surrendering to the will of Our Lord and giving ourselves to Him. Such were the power of Louise's words that at least one member of the congregation was reduced to tears. Accompanying Louise on guitars were choirboy and Paul with Jimmy on the djembi drum. There was a resonance with our gospel reading and Brian's sermon - again the theme being the giving of ourselves to Christ. The map shows Samaria as one of the main characters in today's reading was a Samaritan woman. How sad it is that the names on the map are more familiar to most of us as places associated with conflict rather than the sort of message that Christ gave 2000 years ago in the simple act of talking to a Samaritan woman.

Half way through Lent and we have introduced another 'Newquay' mass setting. Fingers crossed for our new Amen next week. Let's hope choirboy remembers to sing it all !

Entry The Church’s one foundation

Kyrie

Alleluia Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V3)

Creed Credo/I believe

Offertory In bread we bring You

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (iii)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen - We will sing

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Lamb of God, Lamb of God
You take away the sin of the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us
Have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion Bless the Lord my soul

Louise’s song - Surrenderment

Recessional Oh Lord, all the world

Mission

It was great privilege this Sunday to welcome Father Joseph Udoh from the Missionary Society of St Paul who was making an appeal on behalf of the Kiltegan Fathers and their mission in Africa. He might well have said 'Smile Jesus loves you' for it was in using an anecdote from Fr Anthony Barrett that Father Joseph told us that smiling is a universal language. Consequently with a radiant beam he led us through a joyful liturgy on this second Sunday in Lent. The choir and the congregation sang enthusiastically, our new music went well and choirboy went home happy. However, it could have gone completely pear shaped as Father Joseph and Deacon Brian decided to start mass a full 3 minutes eaerly as choirboy was rehearsing the congregation through our new mass setting. We swiftly launched into the opening hymn, albeit with a handful of wrong notes but a deft recovery by Mary saw us safely through to the finish. With the promise of a new song next week by Louise and the hopeful arrival of Helen's bass, the immediate future is looking bright !

Entry All our welcome

Kyrie

Alleluia Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V2)

Offertory Take our bread

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (iii)

Mem Accl Christ has died

Amen Amen - We will sing

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Lamb of God, Lamb of God
You take away the sin of the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us
Have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion Immortal, invisible

Lord I am not Worthy

Recessional Shine Jesus shine

Lent - the journey begins...........

We began our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday and if today was anything to go by, it will be an arduous journey for Choirboy. With Jimmy and Choirboy doing their best to encourage a subdued choir and the congregation deciding en masse not to participate, we kicked off our musical liturgy with Marty Haugen's 'All are welcome'. Choirboy really likes this hymn - its music and its sentiment but I think we needed Marty's help for it did sound a bit limp. Still, with the Kyrie to follow it could only get better - one missed F#m later, Choirboy wasn't too sure. It was left to Father Mark to talk to us about the three strands of Lent - fasting, prayer and almsgiving and to relate a short tale about temptation. Ironically it was just after this tale that Choirboy was sorely tempted to have a rant at a couple talking rather loudly - something that seems increasingly prevalent. Never mind noisy children, it's noisy adults who get me going. Phew......

With a new mass setting for Lent, there were always going to be some issues and Choirboy pulled his new Sanctus before mass as he has re-written it (again). Still we managed to sing the new Angus Dei and we didn't murder 'On Eagle's wings' so it all ended on a high, depsite the fact that the final blessing was like the starting pistol of an olympic race as the Church emptied in the blink of an eye before we had even got to verse 3 of our concluding hymn. Still, there's always next week - how long is Lent again ?

Entry All our welcome

Kyrie

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

Offertory O Bread of Heaven

Holy Holy Gathering Mass

Mem Accl Christ has died

Amen Amen - We will sing

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Lamb of God, Lamb of God
You take away the sin of the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us
Have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion There is a longing

Recessional On Eagle’s wings (V1-3)

Blaise of glory ?

Today was the feast of St Blaise. Here he is on the left. Blaise is confronting the Roman governor: scene from a stained glass window from the area of Soissons (Picardy, France), early 13th century.

Following mass we had our throats blessed in a rather old and peculiar ceremony which allowed choirboy to offer up a few additional songs whilst the rather slow process unfolded. Knocking on Heaven's Door (plagiarised by Choirby), I can feel You moving in me and Lord I know that You love me were knocked out with gusto by Paul, Jimmy and Choirboy.

Being the last Sunday in Ordinary time before Lent, we were reminded by Bishop Christopher in his pastoral letter that Easter is 'the feast of feasts, the solemnity of solemnities'. So as we prepare to prepare to be the Lord's 'Easter People', we need to revisit the meaning of Easter and review how we live. Not easy !

Entry This is the day

Gloria Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Creed Credo/I believe

Offertory Take our bread

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (ii)

Mem Accl Christ has died

Amen Amen - We will sing

Lamb of God Newquay mass (ii)

Communion There is a longing

Recessional All the world belongs to You

Follow me

There was a lot on the religous agenda today, as it is Holocaust Memorial Day, Homelessness Sunday. Indeed last Friday was the end of the week of prayer for Christian unity - a movement which Father Mark reminded us started 100 years ago. It was on this theme that he chose his sermon with the challenge to each of us. 'What did you do last week for Christian unity ?'

Musically we tackled songs both old and new, in English and Latin and even had a Peruvian Gloria accompanied by a djembi drum. Our entrance hymn in fact originates from Hawaii. Diversity reigns in Newquay.

Entry We come to share our story

Gloria Peruvian Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia


Offertory Lord accept the gifts we offer

Holy Holy Newquay mass (ii)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross and resurrection

Amen Amen, we lift our hearts

Lamb of God Newquay mass (ii)

Communion Sweet sacrament divine

Tantum ergo

Recessional Follow me, follow me

Ding ding round 2 !

Regular readers of this blog may well remember round 1 of the contest that evolved before mass this weekend. The setting, not quite Maddison Square Garden but pew 3 behind Choirboy's normal seat. In the red corner, our very own Ginja Ninja (choirboy minimus) and in the blue corner the Penbrea Pugulist (choirboy minor). With no Mrs Choirboy to intercede in the normal fraternal Sunday tensions the pugnacious pair let loose a number of body shots that Ricky 'the hitman' Hatton would have been proud of. Not withstanding Choirboy's tension over the music (see blogs passim), blood pressure was in danger of a new record high as it proved difficult to referee this particular contest. With the numbers of punches rising and the beginning of mass approaching, various attempts were made by well meaning onlookers to intercede. However, the terrible twosome were not to be denied their opportunity to heap embarassment onto Choirboy and it was only after he had thrown in his own towel and declared the match a draw that hostilities were halted. With the brooding pair sitting at either end of the pew, it was a brave soul who would have attempted to sit between them.


Meanwhile (#1) - in a far flung corner of the universe (OK - Torquay), Mrs Chorboy was strutting her catechecetical stuff and presenting a major new resource for catechecists - funnily enough to other catechists. This booklet provides resourcses for those catechists and teacher involved in the preparation for First Holy Communion. Choirboy is certain that it requires some wider publicity, so here it is. He does, however, request something of the organisers for next year's conference - please make it on a day other than a Sunday !

Meanwhile (#2) - Deacon Brian taught us the meaning of the phrase 'Ordinary time' and how it was not at all ordinary (and the fact that Choirboy can remember even this small snippet is an achievement for you Brian).

Meanwhile (#3) - Music. With Jimmy out of action (flu and injured shoulder) and Maz supposedly away (but strangely at the back of Church), the surrealness of Choirboy's Sunday was almost complete. We enjoyed a joyous musical celebration of our liturgy ! Phew.....


Entry All people that on earth do dwell

Gloria Gloria !

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Offertory Gifts of bread and wine

Holy Holy Newquay mass (ii)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross and resurrection

Amen Amen, we lift our hearts

Lamb of God Newquay mass (ii)

Communion Song of a young prophet

Recessional Here I am Lord

Baptism and Limbo - what's the connection ?

Well, on the this Sunday when we remember the Baptism of Our Lord, Father Mark asked us to consider where we had got to with regard to a number of misconceptions surrounding our Catholic faith. OK - time for a little theology: -

Limbo was concocted in the 13th century as a solution to the theological conundrum of what happened to babies who died before they were christened. According to doctrine, they could not go to heaven because their original sin had not been expunged by baptism. Yet they had not harmed anyone, so they scarcely deserved purgatory, let alone hell.
Limbo also proved a useful solution to other problems, such as where to put holy people who lived before Christ and who had no chance of baptism.
Pope John Paul II was deeply troubled by limbo and had it dropped from the church's 1992 catechism. He asked the International Theological Commission, which advises the Vatican, to take up the issue.
When he was still a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI said he was in favour of dropping the concept and on April 22 2007, the advisory body known as the Commission released a document entitled "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptized."
The document stated its conclusion as follows:
'Our conclusion is that the many factors that we have considered above give serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptized infants who die will be saved and enjoy the beatific vision. We emphasize that these are reasons for prayerful hope, rather than grounds for sure knowledge. There is much that simply has not been revealed to us. We live by faith and hope in the God of mercy and love who has been revealed to us in Christ, and the Spirit moves us to pray in constant thankfulness and joy.
What has been revealed to us is that the ordinary way of salvation is by the sacrament of baptism. None of the above considerations should be taken as qualifying the necessity of baptism or justifying delay in administering the sacrament. Rather, as we want to reaffirm in conclusion, they provide strong grounds for hope that God will save infants when we have not been able to do for them what we would have wished to do, namely, to baptize them into the faith and life of the Church. '

Still with me ?

Well that was what Father Mark basically said.....

Musically, we were one organ and one guitar. Where are you guys ? However, we enjoyed a very joyous liturgy culminating in a rousing rendition of 'Give me joy'

Entry: - Meekness and majesty

Gloria: - Gloria !

Alleluia: - Plymouth Alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Open your ears, open your eyes, open your hearts, to hear God’s word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Offertory: - Blessed be God

Holy Holy: - Newquay mass (ii)

Mem Accl: - Lord by Your cross and resurrection

Amen: - Amen, we lift our hearts

Lamb of God: - Newquay mass (ii)

Communion: - Be still for the presence/Father we adore You

Recessional: - Give me joy in my heart

Happy Christmas

A very happy and peaceful Christmas to all readers of this blog detailing the music liturgy of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Newquay, Cornwall, England.

As last year our music liturgy was split into a more tradional organ and carol service on Christmas Eve and a guitar led family mass on Christmas Day. The message, however, was the same - Rejoice, Jesus Christ is born !

Entry: - Ding dong merrily on high

Gloria: - Gloria (Anderson)

Alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia. Today our Saviour is born. Today we welcome our King. Alleluia, alleluia. Alleluia, alleluia

Offertory: - This is my body

Holy Holy (Gathering Mass)

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

Lamb of God (Burntwood Mass)

Communion: - The Servant King

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

Recessional: - Mary’s boy child

Alleluia, Lord by Your Cross, Amen we will sing, Hallelujah, Jesus Christ is born © petermerrin, carnebo hill and CCLI

4th Sunday in Advent

Despite a broken d string during the kyrie, a series of duff chords in our memorial acclamation and an advent candle that wouldn't light, we embarked on the and of our journey through advent with a joyous celebration. The theme was that of Mary and we listened to Graham Kendrick's 'Thorns in the straw' at communion. The beautiful words of this hymn remind us of the mystery, humility and faith that surrounded her life as the mother of Christ. And so to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ -see you there !

Entry O come, O come Emmanuel

The truth we seek

Kyrie Newqua

Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Prepare a way for the Lord
Prepare a way for our King

Credo/I believe

Offertory Gifts of bread and wine

Holy Holy Gathering Mass

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

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

Lamb of God Burntwood Mass
Communion Wait for the Lord

Thorns in the straw

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 O come, all ye faithful (V1-3)

Prepare the way for the Lord. Have you ?

Although these are the words of Benjamin Franklin, Father Mark reminded us that although Advent is a time of preparation we should have been preparing for a much longer period for the coming of Our Lord. In essence, the message of 'are you ready' is one that pervades the entirety of our Advent preparation. Whatever our state of unreadiness there is always the prospect of redemption in the sacrament of reconciliation.

'If only Catholics were as interested as non-Catholics in confession'. We were reminded by Father Mark of the historical basis for this most Catholic of traditions and the opportunities that it offers us in terms of grace, forgiveness and remediation. The Sacrament of reconciliation affords us the chance to prepare more fully for Christ's birth - can we afford not to take it ?

Entry O Jesus Christ remember

The truth we seek

Kyrie Newquay

Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia
Prepare a way for the Lord
Prepare a way for our King

Offertory Bread of life

Holy Holy Gathering Mass

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

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

Lamb of God Burntwood Mass
Communion God beyond all names

Let it be, Jesus is the answer

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 Here I am, Lord