2nd Sunday of Easter
(First Communion / Divine Mercy Sunday)
A huge thanks to everyone who was able to sing or play for Holy Week! All of the liturgies were a massive success, and there were many positive comments on the music!
Good Friday was probably our strongest to date. The harmonies sounded great (especially on the a capella pieces); it was also wonderful collaborating with Barb P. and our 8:30 friends again. For next year, we'll probably tweak a few things with Veneration & Communion music, but that's on me :-).
An Easter Sunday Organ Mass was a first! We're not used to Organ Masses, and the 8:30 folks don't normally have a conductor, so things more-or-less balanced out :-). Thanks for your flexibility on how we approached things, and Barb for sharing that liturgy with us!
If interested, here's the audio & livestreams from Holy Week liturgies:
Holy Thursday: audio | livestream
Good Friday: audio | livestream
Holy Saturday: audio | no livestream
8:30 AM Easter Sunday: audio | no livestream
10:30 AM Easter Sunday: no audio | livestream
Also, feel free to bring any binders and/or loose music to return on Saturday. We can reuse these next time. Filing music and cleaning up the cabinet is on the list too -- I did a bit of organizing last week, but could definitely use help! Maybe we can find time at some point to work on this?
As discussed, we're celebrating First Communion as part of 5:00 Mass (we're almost done with special events this month, I promise!). Some notes:
- Since First Communion kids will be coming with their families, there will be a lot more activity in the bldg. than usual. We should also anticipate a larger-than-normal crowd at Mass.
- Victoria will be playing piano in Bev's absence (she & I are meeting tonight to review music).
- Formal Christmas/Easter attire would be great!
- Let's plan to meet at 3:30 PM, please -- that'll give us extra time to work through the program.
- I believe there will be songsheets, so we probably won't need to worry about the hymn boards.
- I know we're down a couple of people, but let's try to do as much as possible with voice & instrument parts. Whatever we can include would be wonderful!
- This Mass will likely be livestreamed. Please be careful with live mics immediately before, during & after Mass (all of our mics go into the feed).
- Our Parish Mission priest, Fr. Steve Bell, will be co-celebrating Mass with Fr. Jozef. Between this & First Communion, we may need to play some things by ear.
Looking ahead, Barb P. and I met last week to discuss Parish Mission music. We're finalizing a few details now, and will put out a plan later this week (probably after one last committee meeting on Wednesday). I realize we're just coming off of Holy Week, but we're definitely still in need of singers & instrumentalists for all three nights (April 28, 29 & 30th). If you're able to help, that would be great!
Finally, music for May is in the works. Stay tuned! I'm hoping to have that ready in the next week or so.
Thanks so much for all that you do, and see you Saturday!
(All Mass Parts, except the Gospel Acclamation, are from Mass of Remembrance, including the Gloria, Holy, Eucharistic Acclamation 'A' (We Proclaim Your Death), Doxology & Lamb of God)
Out: Bev, Maureen, Lisa*
Prelude:
SS #153 - I Am the Bread of Life (Talbot)
Materials (**links removed**))
**Let's plan to start the prelude at 4:50-4:55 PM. We'll do an instrumental intro, refrain & verse; then everyone's in. We'll sing both verses and end with an a capella refrain as usual.**
Entrance:
SS #196 (GC3 #651) - Open My Eyes (Manibusan)
Materials (**links removed**))
**Frank will accompany the kids on guitar for 'Open My Eyes' (no piano or choir). This will be done in front of the steps of the Altar. Amy, Frank & the kids will be rehearsing later this week.**
Sprinkling/Gloria:
**My understanding is we'll use the combined Gloria/Sprinkling above. For the parts marked 'All Sing', we'll sing the second half of the Gloria refrain only (like this). At the end of the Rite, we'll sing entire Gloria as written (while Father sprinkles the congregation).**
Responsorial Ps (Lisa):
SS #081 - Ps 118 - Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad (Tomaszek)
Materials (**links removed**))
**Since Anya is receiving her First Communion, Lisa won't be singing Mass with us (they'll be sitting with the other First Communion families). But Lisa still agreed to cantor the Psalm. We'll run this at some point doing rehearsal (whenever Lisa is free).**
Acclamation (Frank):
SS #005 (GC3 #844) - Alleluia! Give the Glory (vs 7) (Canedo)
Preparation:
GC3 #610 - Sing of the Lord’s Goodness (Sands)
Materials (**links removed**))
(Mass Parts)
Communion:
Instrumental Selection(s)
**We'll play instrumentals (probably the songs below) while the kids receive. Last year, this took a while -- we'll need to vary things to keep it interesting (but without being distracting!). Once the kids are finished, we'll sing one (or both -- depending on timing) of our Communion songs while everyone else receives.**
GC3 #930 - Taste and See (Moore)
Materials (**links removed**))
GC3 #938 - We Come to Your Feast (Joncas)
Materials (**links removed**))
Commendation:
Song of Farewell (Schutte) [if needed]
Song of Farewell (Schutte) [if needed]
Closing:
GC3 #607 - Sing a New Song (Schutte)
Materials (**links removed**))
**This will be taken at a fairy fast clip (it definitely shouldn't drag!), so let's plan sing all three verses. The studio recording is a good sample of how this should feel. Harmonies on the refrain and a gradual crescendo on the verses would be great!**
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