Wednesday, February 13, 2008

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Second Sunday of Lent / February 17, 2008

10 AM (Ordinary Form)
Hospice St. Antoine, North Smithfield, RI

This is a Catholic "nursing home" type facility right near the city of Woonsocket. There is Mass weekly, yes. But, from what I've learned, they don't have music very often. What I found that's quite nice there is that the Mass is recorded through the intercom so those patients who can't leave their rooms can at least hear the Mass from their beds.

This is a memorial Mass for someone there, and the family is having a flautist work with me. I did compromise with her on a couple of requests. There were originally five "suggested songs", but I cut it down to two (and she agreed). The reason being - it's still a Sunday Mass, and I emphasized the need for the bulk of any hymns to reflect the Second Sunday of Lent. So, here's what we've got:

The glory of these forty days..."Old Hundredth"
- (I prefer ERHALT UNS, HERR, but since they don't always do music there, I opted for something these elderly patients would most likely pick up quick)
UPDATED 2/13/08: Lord, let your mercy be on us...Proulx/Gelineau
UPDATED 2/13/08: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ...Psalm Tone 2
Attende, Domine...Mode V
Sanctus/Agnus...Vermulst/"People's Mass"
Memorial/Amen...Danish
Panis Angelicus...Franck
J'irai la voir un jour...French
How great thou art..."O Store Gud"

5 PM (Extraordinary Form/Low Mass)
St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

'Tis good, Lord, to be here..."Swabia"
Parce, Domine...Mode I, w/verses of Ps. 50 (51) in Latin to Tonus Peregrinus
Attende, Domine...Mode V
The glory of these forty days..."Old Hundredth"
- (Here the people could have done ERHALT UNS, HERR. However, the hymnal in the pew has OLD HUNDREDTH - it's Gather Apprehensive, the 2004 maroon edition. GIA's had this knack lately for putting too many hymns to the same tunes - actually in every hymnal from the 1994 green edition Gather Apprehensive up to now - and eliminating some mighty fine tunes.)

Peace,
BMP

3 comments:

Motherhen said...

J'irai la voir un jour...French

Oh, I love this song! Do you happen to have the translation into English? When I sang in the choir, we sang it at funerals as the older folks around here are all French.

Brian Michael Page said...

I don't have the English. I knew a singer or two that did, but that was at least a decade ago. I have the French from the book "Cantiques Choisis", from back in the 1950's.
BMP

Motherhen said...

Darn! but thanks anyway. My dad used to speak French very well when he was a kid, but since everyone he conversed with has passed on, he's forgotten his French!