Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 6, 2025

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2nd Sunday of Advent

Thanks for a great start to the Advent season! Everything flowed pretty well -- Prepare! Prepare! and O Come, Devine Messiah were probably our strongest of the night! Here's the audio.

Also, thanks so much for all of the kinds words, prayers and help with my grandfather's funeral. Considering the circumstances, we pulled together a nice ad hoc group! I had many family & friends from outside the Parish comment on how much they liked the Church, music and how things were handled. It's definitely been a challenging week, so my family appreciates the support!

Our December music & cantor schedule is ready (except Christmas Eve -- stay tuned!). Let me know if you see any issues; as always, we can tweak if needed.

Don't forget that Lisa and I are out this week for the SCCS Christmas concert. Bev is in charge. Please be extra careful about counting, listening to one another and watching for cues! That'll help keep everything together. If you have any questions on the plan, give me a shout before 3 PM Saturday :-).

Looking ahead, Masses for Immaculate Conception are next Monday, December 8th, @ 9 AM & 7 PM. Barb P. & Bev have the morning Mass; Joanne & Jeff T. have evening. The music is posted to our website. Feel free to join them if you're able!

Could we plan to meet at 3:30 on December 13th? That'll give us time to work on Christmas music. We'll probably do the same on the 20th (depending on timing for the Pageant). I'm hoping to nail down as many details as we can in the next week; that way, we can prep what music we need to. 

Finally, as promised, here's the program for the Pageant on December 20th from 1-3 PM (ignore the dates/times on the first page). Music is linked below. The only 'special' piece is a modified arrangement of Mary, Did You Know? For everything else, it would be great to include all four parts:
In the meantime, I'm checking with the organizer on the rehearsal. Last year, it was the weekend before, and included both us and all of the kids. I'll let you know once I hear back.

That's it for now. See you next week!

(All Mass Parts, except the Gospel Acclamation, are from Mass of Joy & Peace, including the Penitential Rite, Holy, Eucharistic Acclamation 'B' (When We Eat This Bread), Doxology & Lamb of God)

Out: Karen, Cris, Lisa, Maureen

Entrance:
GC3 #778 - Anthem (Conry)

**Since this is a bit long, I'd recommend two verses only. Please also make sure that you're comfortable with the rhythms on both the refrain and verses!**

Candle Lighting:
GC3 #406 - Wait for the Lord (Berthier)

**As a reminder, the refrain will be sung twice (no verses) after the prayer and while the candles are lit. I'd suggest melody-only the first time, and adding parts the second time.**

Penitential Rite (Ginny):
Mass of Joy & Peace

**This will immediately follow the candle-lighting; please be ready to start right after Father says something like "Now, as we do at the beginning of each Mass, let us pause for a moment...". The cantor will sing the 'presider' parts, with everyone joining in on the sections marked 'All'.**

(no Gloria)

Responsorial Ps (Jake):
SS #070 - Ps 72 - Lord, Every Nation (Manibusan)

Acclamation (Ben):
SS #021 - Alleluia (vs 1) (Angrisano)

Preparation:
GC3 #414 - The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns (Brownlie)

**The verses go by quickly! I'd suggest being ready to either repeat verses, or add an instrumental to fill time.**

(Mass Parts)

Communion:
GC3 #415 - My Soul in Stillness Waits (Haugen)

**The trickiest parts on this are the fermata (during the refrain) and tempo. Please don't rush! I'd also recommend deciding how long that fermata should be held ahead of time (perhaps 3-4 beats). That way, it's consistent and everyone cuts off together :-).**

Closing:
GC3 #761 - God Has Chosen Me (Farrell)

**I'll leave it up to you whether there's an interlude, or if the verses are done back to back. We've certainly debated that point before! This is also a good one to split in parts, if there's enough voices.**

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