Psalm 100 / Vous qui sur la terre habitez (Taizé)

Vous qui sur la terre habitez
Chantez à pleine voix, chantez
rassemblez-vous dans le Seigneur
célebrez-le d'un même cœur.

Car il est Dieu et Créateur,
il est Sauveur et seul Seigneur
de tout son peuple qu'il bénit;
tel un berger il le conduit.

Pour toi, Seigneur, que notre amour
se renouvelle chaque jour,
qu'il s'entracine dans la joie
qui de nos cœurs monte vers toi.

See also the English version: All People That On Earth Do Dwell

From Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (Geneva, 1551)

See my other blog postings in the "Taizé" series of chants.

Official Taizé Community Website

Wikipedia information on the Taizé Community
- in French
- in English

Psalm 95 / Venez, crions de joie pour le Seigneur (Taizé)

Antiphon: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Venez, crions de joie pour le Seigneur,
Acclamons le rocher qui nous sauve,
Allons devant sa face avec actions de grâces,
Au son des musiques, acclamons-le.

Car c'est un Dieu grand que le Seigneur,
Un Roi grand par-dessus tous les dieux.
En sa main sont les creux de la terre,
Et les hauts des montagnes sont à Lui,
A Lui la mer, c'est Lui qui l'a faite,
La terre ferme, ses mains l'ont façonnée.

Entrez, courbons-nous, prosternons-nous,
A genoux devant le Dieu qui nous a faits.
Car c'est Lui notre Dieu,
Et nous le peuple dont II est le berger,
Le troupeau que mène sa main.

Aujourd'hui puissiez-vous écouter sa voix:
"Ne fermez pas vos cœurs comme à discorde
comme aux jours de tentation dans le désert,
quand vos pères m'ont éprouvé et tenté
et pourtant ils voyaient mes actions"

Antiphon: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

See my other blog postings in the "Taizé" series of chants.

Official Taizé Community Website

Wikipedia information on the Taizé Community
- in French
- in English

The Voice of God (Tune: TOULON)

The voice of God goes out to all the world;
God's glory speaks across the universe.
The great King's herald cries from star to star:
With power, with justice, he will walk his way.

The Lord has said: 'Receive my messenger,
My promise to the world, my pledge made flesh,
A lamp to every nation, light from light':
With power, with justice, he will walk his way.

The broken reed he will not trample down,
Nor set his heel upon the dying flame.
He binds the wounds, and health is in his hand:
With power, with justice, he will walk his way.

Anointed with the Spirit and with power,
He comes to crown with comfort all the weak,
To show the face of justice to the poor:
With power, with justice, he will walk his way.

His touch will bless the eyes that darkness held,
The lame shall run, the halting tongue shall sing,
And prisoners laugh in light and liberty:
With power, with justice, he will walk his way.

Text: Luke Connaughton (1970)
Tune: TOULON 10.10.10.10 (Genevan Psalter, 1551)

公義、權能正進行 (Tune: TOULON)

See the English Original: The Voice of God

[1] 神發出呼聲廣佈遍全球，
祂神聖光榮充溢滿宇宙。
至高者信息傳揚遍眾星：
公義和權能祂作道路行。

[2] 祂曾說：接待我差傳訊人，
世人得應許，聖道化肉身，
真光照萬民，仰瞻光之光：
公義和權能祂作道路行。

[3] 壓傷的蘆葦祂不會折斷，
將殘的燈光不會吹滅。
祂包裹傷處，祂親手醫治：
公義和權能祂作道路行。

[4] 蒙聖靈膏抹，天父賜大能，
祂普施安慰，勉勵軟弱人，
福音濟貧窮，十架彰正義：
公義和權能祂作道路行。

[5] 瞎子祂撫摸，得重見光明，
跛子再走動，啞巴要唱頌，
囚者獲釋放，歡然得自由：
公義和權能祂作道路行。

See the English Original: The Voice of God


Text: Luke Connaughton (1970)
Tune: TOULON 10.10.10.10 (Genevan Psalter, 1551)

Lift Thine Eyes (Mendelssohn)

Lift Thine eyes, O lift Thine eyes,
to the mountains, whence cometh,
whence cometh, whence cometh help.

Thy help cometh from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
He hath said, thy foot shall not be moved.

Thy Keeper will never slumber,
will never slumber, never slumber.

Lift Thine eyes, O lift Thine eyes,
to the mountains, whence cometh,
whence cometh, whence cometh help.
whence cometh, whence cometh,
whence cometh help.

Composer: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847)

Dieu fidèle, Dieu très bon (Taizé)

1. Dieu fidèle, Dieu très bon,
Dieu sauveur, gloire à ton nom !
Jésus vient briser nos fers,
Et les cieux nous sont ouverts.

2. Des peuples qui l'attendaient,
Des saints qui le prédisaient
Les vœux sont enfin remplis:
Dieu nous a donné son Fils.

3. Sois le bienvenu, Seigneur,
Viens habiter dans mon cœurs :
Possèdele désormais
Pour y régner à jamais.

4. O toi qui laissant le ciel
pris pour nous un corps mortel
Viens Jésus, régner en moi
et que je demeure en toi.

5. Je veux t'aimer ici-bas,
jusqu'à l'heure où tu viendras
rassembler ton people élu
qui t'appartient, ô Jésus.

See my other blog postings in the "Taizé" series of chants.

Official Taizé Community Website

Wikipedia information on the Taizé Community
- in French
- in English

Hymn Do Trójcy Świętej (Hymn to the Holy Trinity / Christopher Tin)

Już słońce wschodzi ogniste
Ty jedność, światło wieczyste
W sercach naszych, Trójco Święta
Rozlej miłość niepojętą
Ciebie my z rana wielbimy
Ciebie wieczorem prosimy
Racz to sprawić byśmy Ciebie
Z Świętymi chwalili w niebie.
Ojcu razem i Synowi
świętemu także duchowi
Jak była, tak niechaj wszędzie
Wieczna chwała zawsze będzie.
Amen

You are the unity, eternal light
In our Hearts, Holy Trinity
spread the inconceivable love.
We adore you in the morning
we beg you in the evening
bring us to you
with the Saints in heaven adored.
Together Father and Son
and the Holy Spirit
As there was, and ever will be
Eternal Glory, always and forever. Amen

From the album, Calling All Dawns

Composer: Christopher Tin (2009)

Perfect Praise (Oh Lord How Excellent!) [Brenda Joyce Moore]

Oh Lord How excellent! How excellent! How excellent!
How excellent is Thy name

There is none like you, none like you, none like you
Jesus excellent is Thy name

In all the earth, in all the earth, in all the earth
Jesus excellent is Thy name

In all the Earth, in all the earth, in all the earth,
Jesus excellent is Thy name

Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord
Jesus excellent is Thy name

Composer: Brenda Joyce Moore

See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) series.   

Baba Yetu [Our Father / Swahili / Christopher Tin]

Baba yetu, Yetu uliye
Mbinguni yetu, Yetu amina!
Baba yetu Yetu uliye
Jina lako e litukuzwe.
Utupe leo chakula chetu
Tunachohitaji utusamehe
Makosa yetu, hey!
Kama nasi tunavyowasamehe
Waliotukosea usitutie
Katika majaribu, lakini
Utuokoe, na yule, muovu e milele!
Ufalme wako ufike utakalo
Lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni. Amina

Background Information

Composer: Christopher Tin (2005)

God Beyond All Names (Bernadette Farrell)

1. God, beyond our dreams,
you have stirred in us a memory,
you have placed your powerful spirit
in the hearts of humankind.

Refrain:

All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth.

2. God, beyond all names,
you have made us in your image,
we are like you, we reflect you,
we are woman, we are man. (Refrain)

3. God, beyond all words,
all creation tells your story,
you have shaken with our laughter,
you have trembled with our tears. (Refrain)

4. God, beyond all time,
you are labouring within us;
we are moving, we are changing,
in your spirit ever new. (Refrain)

5. God of tender care,
you have cradled us in goodness,
you have mothered us in wholeness,
you have loved us into birth. (Refrain)

Composer: Bernadette Farrell 

 See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Catholic series.

Restless is the Heart (Bernadette Farrell)

Refrain:

Restless is the heart until it comes to rest in you.
All the earth shall remember and return to our God.

1. Lord, you have been our refuge through all time,
from one generation to the next;
before the mountains were born, or the earth brought forth,
you are God, without beginning or end.

2. To your eyes a thousand years are like a day,
no more than a watch in the night.
You sweep us away like a dream,
like the grass that springs green in the morning, but faded by night.

3. Make us know our life’s shortness
that we may gain true wisdom of heart.
In the morning, fill us with your love.

Paraphrase of Psalm 90

Composer: Bernadette Farrell 

 See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Catholic series.

O Beautiful for Spacious Skies (Tune: MATERNA)

O beautiful for spacious skies,
for amber waves of grain,
for purple mountain majesties
above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for heroes proved
in liberating strife,
who more than self their country loved,
and mercy more than life!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
confirm thy soul in self-control,
thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for patriot dream
that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam,
undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.


Text: Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929)
Tune: MATERNA, CMD, by Samuel Augustus Ward (1848-1903)

The King of Love My Shepherd Is (Tune: ST. COLUMBA)

See also: The King of Love My Shepherd Is (Tune: DOMINUS REGIT ME)

The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine for ever.

Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul he leadeth,
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
but yet in love He sought me,
and on his shoulder gently laid,
and home, rejoicing, brought me.

In death's dark vale I fear no ill
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spread'st a table in my sight;
thy unction grace bestoweth;
and O what transport of delight
from thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
thy goodness faileth never:
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house for ever.

Paraphrase of Psalm 23

See also: The King of Love My Shepherd Is (Tune: DOMINUS REGIT ME)

Text: Henry Williams Baker, 1868
Tune: ST. COLUMBA 87.87

This is my song, O God of all the nations (Tune: FINLANDIA)

In celebration of Independence Day, 4th July 2013

1. This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

2. My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.

3. This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth's kingdoms:
Thy kingdom come; on earth thy will be done.
Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him,
And hearts united learn to live as one.
O hear my prayer, thou God of all the nations;
Myself I give thee, let thy will be done.

Text: vv. 1-2 Lloyd Stone (1912-1993), v.3 Georgia Harkness (1939)
Tune: FINLANDIA 11 10. 11 10. 11 10, by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

God of Our Fathers

In celebration of Independence Day, 4th July 2013

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
leads forth in beauty all the starry band
of shining worlds in splendor through the skies,
our grateful songs before thy throne arise.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
in this free land by thee our lot is cast;
be thou our ruler, guardian, guide, and stay,
thy word our law, thy paths our chosen way.

From war's alarms, from deadly pestilence,
be thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
thy true religion in our hearts increase,
thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Refresh thy people on their toilsome way,
lead us from night to never-ending day;
fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
and glory, laud, and praise be ever thine.

Words: Daniel Crane Roberts (1876)
Tune: NATIONAL HYMN 10.10.10.10

Yerusalem Kota Surgawi (Jerusalem, Heavenly City)

Source: Madah Bakti, no. 834 (Indonesia)

See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Catholic series.  

Behold, O God, Our Defender (Herbert Howells)

This introit was originally commissioned for the coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.

Composer: Herbert Howells (1892-1983)

Te Deum (William Walton)

We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.

To thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory.

The glorious company of the apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee.
The noble army of martyrs praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee,
the Father, of an infinite majesty; thine honourable, true, and only Son, also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ; thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants,whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy saints, in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage.
Govern them and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee, and we worship thy Name ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

Originally composed for the coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II

Text: Te Deum
Composer: William Walton (1902-1983)

The King Shall Rejoice (Bob Chilcott)

The King shall rejoice in thy strength, O Lord:
exceeding glad shall he be of thy salvation.

Thou hast given him his heart's desire:
and hast not denied him the request of his lips.

For thou shalt prevent him with the blessings of goodness:
and shalt set a crown of pure gold upon his head.

He asked life of thee, and thou gavest him a long life:
even for ever and ever.

His honour is great in thy salvation:
glory and great worship shalt thou lay upon him.

For thou shalt give him everlasting felicity:
and make him glad with the joy of thy countenance.

"The King shall rejoice" is a new anthem setting by Bob Chilcott for mixed choir and organ, composed for the service at Westminster Abbey on 4th June 2013 to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. The work was commissioned by The Dean and Chapter of Westminster and sponsored by many of the choristers who sang in the Coronation Service in 1953. The anthem combines two texts. The first takes the opening six verses of Psalm 21, "The King shall rejoice in thy strength, O Lord". Four verses of the same text were set famously by George Frederick Handel in his Coronation Anthem "The King shall rejoice", written in 1727 for the Coronation of George II. The second text uses an adapted version of the same six Psalm verses set by William Byrd in his anthem "O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth our Queen" in honour of Queen Elizabeth I.

Text: Paraphrase of Psalm 21: 1-6
Music: Bob Chilcott (b 1955)

When we are called to sing your praise (KINGSFOLD)

1. When we are called to sing your praise with hearts so filled with pain
That we would rather sit and weep or stand up to complain,
Remind us, God, you understand the burdens that we bear;
You, too, have walked the shadowed way and known our deep despair.

2. When we are called to sing your praise and cannot find our voice,
Because our losses leaves us now no reason to rejoice.
Remind us, God, that you accept our sad laments in prayer;
You, too, have walked the shadowed way and known our deep despair.

3. When we are called to sing your praise and life ahead looks grim,
Still give us faith and hope enough to break forth in a hymn,
A thankful hymn, great God of Love, that you are everywhere;
You walk the shadowed way with us and keep us in your care.

Text: Mary Nelson Keithahn (b. 1934)
Tune: KINGSFOLD, CMD