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June 2008
2008: The Year of Duns Scotus, Lourdes and St. Paul!
This is a “mega” edition because there has been so much happening since our last issue and also so much still to come in 2008! The church music scene in Glasgow and elsewhere is alive and well, as you will see.
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The 2nd Millennium of St Paul
The celebrations marking the 2nd Millennium of St Paul begin on June 29th throughout the world. Here in the Archdiocese there have been discussions on how to celebrate the year, and plans so far include an ecumenical Vespers of St Paul at St Kessog’s, Balloch, at 3 pm on Sunday June 29th to launch the Year. Fr. Sean Fitzgerald will welcome the St Mungo Singers and instrumentalists along with representatives of other churches. A booklet and CD with some of the ‘Canticles’ or hymns which
are quoted in the Letters of St Paul will be available in September, and next year there will be a ‘St Paul’ Cantata for schools.
Amongst others, Dr Noel S Donnelly, Brother Stephen E Smyth and Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick have been working on and using the Pauline Canticles for some time. Isn’t it remarkable that Christians in the middle of the 1st century A.D. could express their faith and hope in the words of the hymn - or Canticle - quoted here:
We bless the God and Father Words © Stephen Smyth taken from Ephesians 1: 3-10 (Tune; Bunessan (as in Christ be beside me) here is also a new tune by Gerry Fitzpatrick available from St Mungo Music.)
We bless the God and Father of Jesus
for he has blessed us freely in Christ.
He chose to lavish spiritual blessings from highest heaven.
all this through Christ.
Long before founding all of creation,
God made his plan and chose us in Christ,
that we be holy, blameless and loving, children adopted.
All this through Christ.
God's will is always that we might love him,
source of all graces, witnessed in Christ; love manifested,
gift of redemption, pardon for sinners.
All this through Christ.
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What has been happening since the new Liturgical Year started
2007 went out with a flourish in Glasgow with a number of inspiring services which showed that the liturgy can be ever new. 2008 in turn got off to a exciting and very busy start, with every sign of continuing to build up the experience of vibrant liturgy, and we have a number of important anniversaries to celebrate in 2008 – as well as the beginning of the Year of St.Paul, there is the 7th Centenary of Blessed John Duns Scotus, and the 150th Anniversary of the Apparitions at Lourdes.
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It is good to report that the Blessing of the Crib in George Square, Glasgow continues to be part of the Civic calendar of events. It took place on 8 December and the Square was packed with parents and children, despite the heavy rain. The Lord Provost and church leaders, including Archbishop Conti and the Moderator of Glasgow Presbytery, led the service of blessing, with musical support from [ladies’ choir] and some St. Mungo Singers, some members of the Children’s choir from St. Leo the Great, Dumbreck and instrumentalists from the RSAMD. There was an air of joy and participation which was in no way diminished by the miserable weather or the competing noises from the skating rink and roundabouts occupying the rest of the Square!
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Some of the St. Leo’s Junior Choir at the service for the Blessing of the Crib in George Square, with some more senior support in the background!
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Carols for Peace
The final event for December was the now well-established ecumenical Carols for Peace service in the City Chambers on 16th December. This year it was a sell-out! We know this because we ran out of seats and leaflets. In addition to our regular musical support of Aisling Gheal, Carissa Bovill on clarsach, and Scott Glasgow on pipes, we were pleased to welcome a contingent of the South Side Fiddlers, and on the vocal side, as well as the St. Mungo Singers, we had members of Govan Gaelic Choir, fresh from recording a Christmas Songs of Praise from the Art Galleries. Baillie Cathy McMaster hosted the service, as representative of the Lord Provost.
The service is a mix of carols, liturgical music and prayers which aims to remind those present of the real meaning of Christmas and of the ongoing need to pray and work for peace, particularly in the Holy Land. We had old favourites such as “O Little Town” and “Silent Night” and new pieces – “The Little Road to Bethlehem” sung.
After a blessing by the church leaders present, we finished on a high note to the rousing singing of Adeste Fideles, which was followed by the lively playing of the South Side Fiddlers as we enjoyed the hospitality of the City Council.
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7th Centenary of Duns Scotus
In our October issue, we publicised the 7th Centenary of Duns Scotus. To initiate the celebrations in Scotland, Scotus College held a service for its patron on 7th December, to which family, friends, neighbours and guests were invited.
In an atmospheric setting, lit only by the light of the Advent wreath and candles held by the participants, and following gentle instrumental music provided by Carissa Bovill and Noel Donnelly (clarsach) and Clare O’Neill (violin), the service opened with the singing of Isaiah 55. Fr. Willie McFadden, the Rector, welcomed everyone to the celebration which had a Marian theme, reflecting Duns Scotus own particular devotion to Our Lady.
The liturgy then continued, fittingly, with a new hymn written by Br. Stephen Smyth for the 150th Lourdes Anniversary to the familiar and well-loved tune of “Immaculate Mary” (see opposite page), followed by Noel Donnelly’s setting of “Mary the Dawn”, Psalm 66 (a psalm often used for Marian feasts) and the sung Hail Mary.
In his homily, Fr. McFadden highlighted Duns Scotus’ balanced and mature devotion to Mary, which led to God, was Christ-centred and ecumenical. He described Scotus as a philosopher and theologian who expanded the boundaries of his area of study and the understanding of Mary’s role in salvation history, and as someone who has much to teach us today as a man of vision yet Franciscan simplicity, a Scot but never insular.
The service concluded with the Morar Magnificat, the Palestrina Alma Redemptoris Mater and a hymn in honour of Duns Scotus, specially written for the 7th Centenary by Br. Stephen to music by Fr. Gerry Fitzpatrick. The congregation then were invited to enjoy the hospitality of the College.
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St. Mungo Celebrations
2008 began with a series of civic events recalling St. Mungo, among which was a celebration on 12 January at the Mitchell Library to mark the handing over of a facsimile of the mediaeval Life of St. Mungo by Jocelin of Furness to the Library. As well as excerpts from the Life (read in the original Latin by Archbishop Conti and in the new English translation by Dr. Laurence Whitley, the Minister of Glasgow Cathedral), there was appropriate music in the form of the plainchant versicle and doxology from the Office of St. Kentigern and the anthem Let Glasgow Flourish, sung by a group of the St. Mungo Singers. This may have been a very unusual style of presentation for the Mitchell and its users but they took part with enthusiasm and the City are to be congratulated on a well-organised and enjoyable event. Copies of the Life of St. Kentigern have also been given to Glasgow Cathedral and the Archdiocese.
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Dr. Whitley, Archbishop Conti and some of the St. Mungo Singers at the Mitchell Library. Photo © Margaret Sainte Claire
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St.Mungo’s feastday itself (13th January) was marked by an ecumenical service in Glasgow Cathedral, involving singers, musicians, dancers and a full congregation, including representatives from local and national government as well as the various churches in Glasgow. Representing the Lord Provost, Bailie Gordon Matheson opened the proceedings with the proclamation 'Let Glasgow flourish!' and the gathering rose to sing Brother Stephen Smyth's hymn set to 'Highland Cathedral', before the Minister, the Rev Laurence Whitley, welcomed everyone to the celebration.
It was an evening devoted to acknowledging God's grace seen in the life of the 6th-7th century figure of St Mungo, and yet while it was prayerful it was also filled with wonder and joy - seen in the mystical beauty of Psalm 62/63, the country dancing of the children from St Catherine's Primary, the story of the Bird, the Tree, the Fish and the bell (from the city coat of arms) related by children of the High School of Glasgow, the Gospel story of the great catch of fish, the thoughtful and encouraging homily of Archbishop Conti, the delicacy of
Christina Sweeney-Baird's Harp, the breadth of intentions expressed in the intercessions, the loyalty and affection for Glasgow and its people expressed in the Glasgow Anthem 'Let Glasgow Flourish' led by the St Mungo Singers and warmly supported by the whole congregation.
The Rutherglen Salvation Army, led by Donald Orr,with its customary sensitivity and richness and the service concluded with Noel Donnell's lovely setting of
Newman's prayer.Bailie Matheson then laid the city's bouquet of flowers on St Mungo's Tomb in the crypt as a symbol of the ongoing esteem and affection felt even today for the city founder.All in all, the service and the support and attention given to it, can be seen as a sign of the times, a token of Glasgow's awareness of its long and distinguished Christian history.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was marked by a service in St. Pat’s Anderston on 25th January. In spite of miserable weather, there was a good turn-out to the warm and welcoming parish community. The theme for the Week of Prayer was “Pray without ceasing” and this was reflected in the reading from 1 Thessalonians and the sermon of Dr. Angus Kerr, the Presbytery Clerk Designate for the Presbytery of Glasgow who reminded the congregation that prayer lubricates the engine of faith and that, as Mother Teresa said, the family who prays together stays together. His challenge was that though we have many differences, we have a common bond in Jesus Christ and therefore we should be praying together more often.
The prayers of the service mixed scripture and reflections on current concerns in our world, interspersed with hymns which used tunes such as Cwm Rhonda and Taize chants which would be familiar to most present. A leaflet with “Action Stations” was circulated and the congregation invited to decide on an action to adopt. The service ended with the singing of the ELLC Our Father, before everyone enjoyed the hospitality of St. Pat’s.
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January finished with the Annual Mass of our Celtic Roots in St. Aloysius Garnethill. This service which takes place during the Celtic Connections Festival, has now become part of the “fringe” events and attracted a capacity congregation. The musical support came from a great mix of instrumentalists, including Claire O’Neill of Aisling Gheal (violin), some of the Southside Fiddlers (violin, cello and accordion), Scott Glasgow (pipes), Carissa Bovill (violin and clarsach), Theresa Irving (clarsach) Eddie Foley (violin), Anne Marie Berrie (guitar), who blended together to produce a warm and enthusing atmosphere which encouraged all present to sing. The vocal support came from the St. Mungo Singers and the choir of St. Mungo’s, Alloa. The music of the Mass reflects the Celtic theme. In addition to more familiar pieces, such as Ps. 62 to the tune “Iona” and “We cannot tell” to the Londonderry Air, Chilcott’s setting of “Be Thou My vision” was sung by the St. Mungo Singers and “Bhan-Rhighinn Nan Eilean” by Sineag MacIntyre from South Uist, a 4th Year student at the RSAMD.
The readings, as in previous years, were in English, Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic, and a welcome to the service in all three languages was also given, courtesy of Fr. Noel Colford (who presided), Fr. Noel Barry, and Fr. Angus MacDonald. Fr. MacDonald, in his homily linked up the threads of music, Education Sunday and the Gospel (the call of the first apostles). With modern technology, we can have so much music at our fingertips and it sounds almost live. It lights up our life, brings us joy and lightens the load. God has written his music in our hearts and the challenge to us, as to the apostles, is to respond to his music when he calls, and “play the music live”. We need to make the music of God become a habit of our heart, affecting how we live.
Baillie Catherine McMaster represented the Lord Provost at the service and at the end, expressed her pleasure at being invited to attend a service which celebrated the roots of our county and city, noting that the 1192 charter of the city called her the “Mother of many nations” a title which holds true still today.
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LOURDES HOSPITALITE
In February we celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the Lourdes Hospitalité in the Archdiocese which gave us another reason to celebrate Lourdes this year.
The Hospitalité is a charitable organisation committed to assisting the sick and handicapped of the Annual Archdiocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. They welcome new members and, as Elizabeth McQuade of the Hospitalité told us, membership is open to anyone over 18 who is willing to undertake the objectives of the Hospitalité which are:
• Commitment to promote the message Our Lady entrusted to Bernadette.
• In Lourdes, to care for the sick and handicapped of the pilgrimage and to do tasks required by the Hospitalité de Notre Dame de Lourdes.
• strengthen the sense of community amongst its members, support them in their Christian life, their responsibility within the Church and their devotion to Mary the Mother of God.
The important aspects of membership (whether as a Doctor, Nurse, Brancardier or Helper) are:
• Service
• Friendship
•Celebration and
•Commitment
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Some of the Hospitalité members at their 60th Anniversary Celebration
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The celebration of their 60th Anniversary took the form of a Vespers of Our Lady of Lourdes in St. Joseph’s, Tollcross. The music of the service reflected the Marian theme, opening with “Alma Redemptoris” by Palestrina, followed by the modern hymn “Mary Full of Grace” to the tune of O Sanctissima. After Psalms 121 and 126, the Magnificat was sung to the tune of Amazing Grace and the Vespers ended with Noel Donnelly’s setting of Mary the Dawn and Br. Stephen Smyth’s new hymn. The Hospitalité members then adjourned to the Church Hall for a celebration of 60 years of faithful service to the sick and handicapped at Lourdes.
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New version to mark the 150th Anniversary of Lourdes
While Brother Stephen devised this new text for the Lourdes tune to mark the 150th anniversary of the events at Lourdes, it is not specific to Lourdes and since it is based on scriptural events it should have a wider usefulness. There are lots of verses so people should choose the verses which are suitable for the occasion or the season of the year.
(NB. if you have downloaded and installed the SCORCH plug-in, you can playback the score here)
Additional Verses
Your Son in the Temple, presented to God; the eyes of the prophets both hope and pain saw. RS
In Nazareth Jesus was nurtured and taught. God’s favour was with him and faith filled your heart. RS
For fam’ly at Cana embarrassed for wine, your gentle attention led Jesus’ first sign. RS
How blest you the mother who nursed God-made-Man. More blest still are all those who keep to God’s plan. RS
The Passion of Jesus saw hope and faith fly. How dreadful, dear Mother, to watch your Son die. RS
Yet faithful through all pain you trusted God’s word: your Son’s Resurrection the proof of God’s love.
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The RCIA service on the First Sunday of Lent can be a difficult one in terms of liturgical music, as many of the congregation may have had limited experience of the music which is familiar to the community. In addition, there is a need for music which will lend itself to providing a suitable background to and supporting the various parts of the service where people are processing to or from the sanctuary. For these reasons, the choice made for this year, for example, included music whose words were linked to the theme of election (Lord, you have come to the seashore), or were based on scripture (The Canticle from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, Introit of Lent) or whose tunes were simple or familiar (Christ Be our Light) to encourage the congregation to participate. When required, the choir (the St. Mungo Singers) provided additional music from their repertoire to maintain the prayerful atmosphere of the celebration
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The White Mass
In February also, we had a new national celebration of service for those involved in the health care professions and voluntary care sector. This first holding of what is intended to be an annual service, the White Mass, was held in St. Andrew’s Cathedral, with Cardinal Keith O’Brien presiding and Archbishop Conti as Principal Celebrant, in the company of three other Scottish Bishops and a congregation drawn from the various health care sectors.
In his homily, Bishop Logan reminded the congregation that they were asked to be like Abraham in answering the call of God. He paid tribute to those who work in the caring professions which had particular relevance in this the 150th anniversary of the Apparitions at Lourdes which is a living sanctuary of prayer, penance and loving service to one another.
Among the music of the Mass, the opening hymn, the Hymn of St. Columba with its prayers for blessing, protection and the encircling love of God, and Peter McGrail’s Peace Song were particularly resonant for those whose vocation is to work with the sick.
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Argyll & the Isles May Music Weekend
The May Music weekend was declared the best ever by those who attended and who are we to argue. A total of 45 came to Kinnoull and enjoyed the well-tested mix of new and old music, liturgy, talks and socialising. As well as revisiting pieces learned at the previous Music Weekend in September 2007, the participants learned some new choral pieces including Liam Lawton’s setting of psalm 95, the Taize setting of Psalm 102, Fr. Gerry’s Psalm 117 (d), Martie Haugen’s Evening Hymn (from the Holden Evening Prayer) and a setting of the Sanctus, also by Lawton.
Mgr. Jamie MacNeil spoke at the Friday evening session on the importance of the Eucharist for preaching salvation in the modern world. There is much still to do to realise the Council’s view of liturgy which involved the renewed concept of the common priesthood of the faithful and the awareness of “being church”. The Sunday Mass of the Kinnoull parish community again provided the opportunity to put what we had learned in terms of music and liturgy into practice, and the warm response of the parishioners was very encouraging.
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Cantata:Scotus
More than 20 schools celebrated the 7th centenary of the death of Blessed John Duns Scotus with a Cantata (text by Fr. Sean Fitzgerald; music by Fr. Gerry Fitzpatrick) on Wednesday 2nd April in St Mary’s, Calton.
Song and dance, pageantry and prayer, humour and piety were the materials out of which the children built their celebration and learned about their very distinguished countryman - famed not only for his wisdom and knowledge, but for the holiness of his life.
In the cantata the children became pilgrims, exploring the journey of TheWise Men, and making their way across Europe in the footsteps of Duns Scotus, from Haddington to North Uist, Oxford, Paris and Cologne.Duns Scotus lived in the 13th century, at the time of Wallace and Bruce.Born in Duns, he was educated at Haddington, then at the Temple at Carinish in North Uist in the OuterHebrides, before going on to Oxford, Paris and Cologne - first as student and then as a scholarrenowned throughout Europe.
The children were prepared in their own schools, and the teachers were assisted by a CD recorded by Carissa Bovil – it all worked very smoothly and the singing whether together, or by smaller school groups, or soloists such as Brother Joseph, Philip the Fair,the Emperor, the page, and Scotus himself, was outstanding.
The beautiful banners,dancers from St Catherine’s,the scenery provided by St Roch’s Secondary helped create a marvellous atmosphere, which was added to by the musical support from a number of adult instrumentalists, together with the violinists from St Joseph’s, Milngavie.
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Baillie McMaster
some of the instrumentalists
St. Catherine's Primary dancing at the Scotus Cantata
Sineag MacIntyre from the RSAMD at the Celtic Roots Mass
Brother Joseph with children from St. Martha's with Philip the Fair and friends
Photos by Paul McSherry
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Sacred Threads Silver Jubilee
In our October issue, we reported the Silver Jubilee Mass of the Sacred Threads embroidery group, celebrated in St. Leo’s. This was just one of many joyful events held in the jubilee year. Others included a sail “doon the watter”, the publishing of the Guild book with lavish illustrations, and a fine retrospective exhibition at the Whithorn Museum opened by Bishop Cunningham. The Jubilee year also saw the completion of murals and altar frontal at St. Josephs and the blessing of the second of the great murals at St. Stephen’s, Dalmuir.
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Music for the Eucharist
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While people involved in planning and directing pastoral liturgy are generally aware of the need to promote ‘full, conscious and active participation’ so that God’s people may the more easily be involved in the Church’s worship, we can sometimes be confused by the vast variety of material available, and may even have difficulty in deciding on practical priorities.
The music in this book, published for us by Kevin Mayhew, has mostly been chosen to assist parishes in using the basic liturgical texts – the Holy, Holy, the Memorial Acclamations and the short but memorable texts which introduce or accompany the Communion Procession. The composers hope that it will support priests, cantors, choirs and schools in their service of God’s people and will make the business of the liturgy more graceful and natural.
A teaching CD with much of the material from this book is available, with a promotional leaflet, containing the following excerpts:
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All glory to God; As we eat this bread; Behold the Lamb of God; Come to me, all of you; Lourdes Benedictus with verses; Father, I pray for them; Great God, be near me; Lord, I am not worthy; This is the bread come down from heaven; Whoever eats my flesh; You must love the Lord your God; The Blessing of Aaron
The St Bride Sanctus and Memorial Acclamation
The 2nd Eucharistic Prayer for Masses with Children
Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick and the Glasgow Archdiocesan Music Committee want to thank the St Mungo Singers, Fr John Carroll and children from St Rose of Lima and St Conval’s Primary schools for their generous support in producing the CD.
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From the Rising of the Sun: 5 Morning Prayers:
a booklet and CD to support people at the start of the day whether at home or in the car. Each ‘morning prayer’ lasts about 10 minutes and contains the prayer, reading and intercessions of week one of Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. The rest of each prayer is taken up with introductory sung verse, a psalm and a verse of the Benedictus. This series is produced by St Mungo Music with the support of members of the St Mungo Singers, Fr John Carroll, Sister Pat Graham, Brother Stephen E Smyth, Jane McKenna on organ and Theresa Irving on the harp.
Cost £5.00 plus postage and packaging. A similar CD is being prepared with Night Prayers.
Music for the Eucharist: published by Kevin Mayhew and available at £12.99 from St Mungo Music, St Leo’s, 5 Beech Avenue, Glasgow G41 5BY 0141 427 0293
Psalms of the Seasons: published by Kevin Mayhew and available at £12.999 from St Mungo Music, St Leo’s, 5 Beech Avenue, Glasgow G41 5BY 0141 427 0293
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