The Epiphany (2010)

Entrance	As with gladness men of old
Gloria	Gloria de Noël (Thomas Niel)
Psalm	Every Nation on Earth (Marty Haugen)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic Alleluia (Fintan O’Carroll)
Preparation of the Gifts	O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Agnus Dei	Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion	Laudate Omnes Gentes (Jacques Berthier) & Reges Tharsis (chant)
Postcommunion	The Coventry Carol (trad., arr Martin Shaw)
Recessional	The First Nowell

For our Communion processional song we took the short responsories for Terce, Sext and None of today’s feast, and interleaved them between repetitions of the Taizé refrain Laudate omnes gentes. The chant is simple but the rhythm of alternating plainchant and people’s refrain was effective, I thought, in creating the right atmosphere of purposeful prayer.

In the Coventry Carol we contrasted the women’s and men’s voices, each in three parts, in successive verses, which allowed a more dramatic exploration of the cruelty and the grief at the heart of the story than if we’d sung it straight.