Holy Week 2018 got off to a strong start with Palm Sunday Mass. Everything flowed very smoothly. The new Psalm went off without a hitch, and we ended six weeks of singing Make Us Worthy on a high note. After Mass, we had a productive small group rehearsal to go over music and voice parts.
Apologies in advance for such a long post, but below is the final plan for Good Friday/Easter Sunday. Please read carefully and let me know if any questions. Looking forward to a wonderful Holy Week, and thanks again for all your efforts!
Good Friday (Church):
Friday, March 30th
Setup & Rehearsal @ 12:30 PM
Prelude @ 1:50 PM
Service @ 2:00 PM
The music for Good Friday is below. Bev, Maggie, Jonathan (tentative), Frances, Ginny, Lisa and I have instruments/vocals covered. Singers from the Sunday Choirs have been invited to join us.
Please keep in mind that this is a Service, not a Mass, so it won't follow the usual format. The Mass Parts won't be used. There's no Gathering or Offertory songs; a Communion Rite will be done in place of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Finally, at the end of the Service, the ministers and congregation will depart in silence (no Closing song, but we'll do an instrumental to fill the time).
Our Prelude, Who is That Man?, was introduced by Eva last year. This is written in four parts with piano accompaniment and optional c-instrument. As it stands now, we have enough singers to cover the soprano, alto and tenor lines. Please look at your parts before Friday.
For the Veneration, Father and the ministers will bring the cross up the isle, stopping at three points along the way. At each stop, we'll provide a cue note and Father will sing 'behold, behold, the wood of the cross, on which is hung our salvation'. We genuflect and respond with 'o come, let us adore'.
The Veneration will be handled much like Communion. Instrumentalists will start playing Behold the Wood while the rest of the choir goes up to Venerate. We probably won't need the second Veneration song, but it's listed just in case.
We've traditionally done Calvary as our Meditation, although it's usually long enough to cover the Communion Rite as well. If that's the case, Jesus, Remember Me will be used at the end of the Service as our instrumental piece. Calvary isn't in the new Gather, so I'll provide sheet music. Please work on the voice parts if you're able.
Prelude:
Who is That Man? (Don Besig)
Materials (audio & sheet music)
(no Gathering)
Response (Maggie):
SS #058 – Ps 22 – My God, My God
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Gospel Acclamation:
GC3 #511 – Were You There
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
(no Offertory)
Veneration of the Cross:
GC3 #514 – Behold the Wood
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
GC3 #491 – Jesus, the Lord
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Communion Meditation:
Calvary (African-American Spiritual)
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Communion:
GC3 #510 – Jesus, Remember Me
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Closing:
Instrumental
Easter Sunday Rehearsal (Hall):
Saturday, March 31st, 1-3 PM
Since some folks weren't able to stick around last Saturday, it was suggested that we meet again this Saturday, 03/31, to work on the Easter Sunday Program. The Church is in use for a Minister/RCIA rehearsal, so we'll meet in the Hall instead. This will also give us a chance to set up the choir space, meaning we won't need to worry about this Friday afternoon/Sunday morning. Please feel free to bring any equipment and leave it standing for Sunday. Much like our last Christmas rehearsal, we'll go through the entire program, sorting out arrangements and voice parts as needed.
Easter Sunday (Hall):
Sunday, April 1st
Setup & Rehearsal @ 7:45 AM
Preludes @ 8:45 AM
Mass @ 9:00 AM
The music for Mass is below. Jim, Jonathan, Bev, Maggie, Joe, Ginny, Lisa and I have instruments/vocals covered. We have lots of familiar, upbeat songs planned, so let's have some fun with this program -- we're celebrating the Resurrection of Christ, after all :-)
If you're able, please bring your own books, music stands, sound equipment, etc.. We'll borrow what we need from the Church, but keep in mind that we'll be sharing with the folks covering the other 9 AM Mass. Anything we borrow will also need to be returned in time for the 11 AM Mass.
A few quick notes:
- Don't forget to review The Strife is O'er -- this is a pretty traditional, chorale-style piece in four parts.
- We'll be reintroducing the Gloria and regular Gospel Acclamation at this Mass.
- Maggie will be taking point on the verses for Wade in the Water.
- Jim will be cantoring This is the Day (we need to decide how many verses to sing, though).
- Jim will also be using the Cat Stevens arrangement of Morning Has Broken (I found a piano part that should work with this as well).
- Lastly, Whom Do You Seek? will be done as our post-Communion Meditation (we'll finally be able to do this with piano accompaniment).
Preludes:
SS #126 – Lift Up Your Hearts
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
GC3 #525 – The Strife is O’er
Materials (audio & sheet music)
GC3 #537 – Easter Alleluia
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Gathering:
SS #179 – He is Exalted
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Glory to God:
Mass of Remembrance
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Response (Jim):
SS #082 – Ps 118 – This is the Day
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Gospel Acclamation (TBD):
Mass of Remembrance
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Sprinkling Rite:
GC3 #898 – Wade in the Water
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Offertory:
SS #120 – Morning Has Broken
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Holy, Holy, Holy:
Mass of Remembrance
Eucharistic Acclamation:
Mass of Remembrance
Eucharistic Doxology:
Mass of Remembrance
Lamb of God:
Mass of Remembrance
Communion:
GC3 #535 – Resucito
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
(Post-)Communion Meditation:
Whom Do You Seek? (Killoren)
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Closing:
SS #121 – In the Day of the Lord (vs 1, 4 & 5)
Materials (audio) (sheet music)
Holy Thursday & Easter Vigil:
As far as the rest of Holy Week, Barb's group is covering Holy Thursday (03/29 @ 7 PM) and Easter Vigil (03/31 @ 8:30 PM). These are always beautiful liturgies, so please feel free to come help out. Note that due to Vigil, there's no regular 5:30 Mass on 03/31. Our normal schedule will resume next Saturday, 04/07.
UPDATE: 03/27: Easter Vigil program linked above.
That's all I have for now. If I don't see you, have a happy, blessed Easter!
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