I thought about this, too. Ordinary Time is usually easy to plan because there are many different topic discussed each week, but Cycle B is always the hardest because of the Bread of Life discourse.These weeks always provide a challenge for me. We have five weeks in a row on a continuous topic, longer than we have in Advent and with even less variation of topic. I am thinking next time around to pick two common songs and use them for an entrance and exit every week, tying all the readings together.
The choir director has appeared to ABSOLUTELY given up on following the theme. It’s hard, but it is also possible, and I agree with your suggestion of using two common songs.These weeks always provide a challenge for me. We have five weeks in a row on a continuous topic, longer than we have in Advent and with even less variation of topic. I am thinking next time around to pick two common songs and use them for an entrance and exit every week, tying all the readings together.
Do you know what tunes were used regarding the latter two hymns?We had a wonderful set of Masses for the Feast of the Assumption.
These were the hymns at the 9am Mass:
Hail O star that pointest
Virgin born we bow before thee
Tell Out My Soul
Sing we of the Blessed Mother
Ye who own the faith of Jesus
Yes:Do you know what tunes were used regarding the latter two hymns?
Good to hear. We do the same hymns to the same tunes. Abbot’s Leigh is one of my favourites, along with Kingsfold.Yes:
Sing we of the Blessed Mother sung to Abbot’s Leigh:
youtube.com/watch?v=AtnEv8F6dN4
Ye who own the Faith of Jesus sung to Daily Daily
Same with me. Although I do keep my lists from prior years and see what made sense to me the last time we had this set of readings. I also look a the Church’s entrance and communion antiphons and try to match hymns with those.I do not discern songs, as much as I just try to match the readings. I read through the Scriptures of that Mass, check the calendar, try and guess where the priest will go with it; then I see what comes to mind. If I have no clear idea, sometimes I just go through all the songs I have with all the above info in mind.
Our committee usually picks them out well in advance. We meet four times a year. Our next meeting will be to plan for Advent through the Sunday before Ash Wednesday; the meeting after that will be to plan from Ash Wednesday through Pentecost. I like doing it this way, and it helps the cantors that want to practice ahead of time.Things I grapple with:
Thanks!
- How far in advance do you choose the music? I do it week by week only (today I’m considering what to choose for next Sunday).
- Do you spend time in prayer specifically for each list of songs you choose. I “prayerfully consider” the lists I make, but can 't really say that I set aside time to focus in prayer about the song list and wait for God to “speak”. How do you pray about your hymn choices?
We do a prayer before every meeting for God to guide us in the best way possible. A lot of the time, there is a “click” with everyone on a suggestion. I think you can say that’s God working. We just like to stick with what the congregation knows and what they sing best.Thanks for your replies.
Does anyone out there have suggestions for how to pray about hymn selections? Like many of you, I review the readings, psalm and antiphons, then look over whatever liturgy aids are available to me that week as well as what I have chosen for those same readings in the past and then expect God to lead me to the best selections based on those thoughts and on where my parish and choir seem to be spiritually. Are there are other methods you are using to make it more likely that you are selecting hymns that God breathes to you?