Christmas is more than a day – it’s a season. It seems to be a bit of a challenge to celebrate Christmas for the duration of the season, though. Partly because so much of it is pre-empted during Advent. But that doesn’t mean we need to stubbornly force ourselves to keep singing carols about the baby Jesus right up to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
As the days of Christmas unfold, we have the opportunity to ponder the incredible mystery of the Incarnation from different perspectives. It’s a mystery the begins with a new-born King, but which goes far beyond the manger, to the very ends of the earth.
The responsorial psalms continue to give melody to our meditations on the mystery of the Incarnation as celebrated these wonderful days of Christmas.
Here are accessible, contemporary settings of the responsorial psalms for some of the key dates and feast through the Season of Christmas – each one includes a free melody line PDF and MP3 audio: (click links below)
- Nativity of the Lord (Vigil) ~ “I will sing forever of your love, O Lord.” {Psalm 88}
- Nativity of the Lord (Midnight) ~ “Today a saviour has been born to us: he is Christ the Lord.” {Psalm 95}
- Nativity of the Lord (Day) ~ “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” {Psalm 97}
- The Holy Family ~ “Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.” {Psalm 127}
- The Holy Innocents ~ “Our life like a bird has escaped from the snare.” {Psalm 127} *coming soon
- 2nd Sunday of Christmas ~ “The Word was made flesh and lived among us.” {Psalm 32}
- Mary, Mother of God ~ “O God, be gracious and bless us.” {Psalm 66}
- The Epiphany of the Lord ~ “All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.” {Psalm 71}
Our Psalm Re-write Project
With the introduction of the new Lectionary in Advent 2024, the Catholic Church across England, Wales and Scotland now uses the Abbey Psalms & Canticles in the Mass, instead of the long-familiar Grail translation.
We are in the midst of the arduous task of revising or rewriting our entire catalogue of Responsorial Psalms to accord with this new translation.
If you, your school, or your parish have found value in this resource over the years, we would be grateful for any financial support you are able to give to help us fund this work, so that we can continue to offer these psalms settings as a gift to the Church.
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