Between the triumphant season of Eastertide and the quiet anticipation of Advent is a long stretch of Ordinary Time. While we don’t find ourselves in a particular season of celebration, there are many wonderful feasts and solemnities during the summer months.
Here’s our round-up of Responsorial Psalm settings and other song suggestions to help you with your your liturgical planning for the summer solemnities!
Pentecost
7 WEEKS AFTER EASTER
This great solemnity, celebrated 49 days after Easter Sunday, recalls the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church.
Responsorial Psalm for Year A, B, C ~ “Send forth your spirit, O Lord and renew the face of the earth.” (Psalm 103)
Pentecost Sequence ~ In this setting of the “Holy Spirit, Lord of Light”, the many verses are broken up with a simple refrain to give a point of immediate accessibility for the whole congregation.
Come O Lord (Gospel Acclamation) ~ “Come O Lord, open our hearts to receive Your Word.”
Mary, Mother of the Church
MONDAY AFTER PENTECOST
This memorial instituted in 2018, reminds us that the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of the Christ, is also the Mother the mystical Body of Christ – the Church.
With Mary We Ask You ~ This simple sung response is a reminder and a petition for Mary to join her prayer with ours, as we come before God’s throne of Grace.
Blessed One in 8 Contemporary Marian songs for the feasts of Our Lady ~ Each of the double couplet verses helps to reflect on Mary’s role in the story of our salvation and her place in the life of the church.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest
THURSDAY AFTER PENTECOST
This feast focuses on the role of Our Lord Jesus Christ as mediator between God and man, a priest according the order of Melchizedek.
Responsorial Psalm setting for Year A ~ “Behold I have come, Lord, to do your will.” (Psalm 39)
Responsorial Psalm setting for Year B ~ “You are a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 109)
Responsorial Psalm setting for Year C ~ “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” (Psalm 22)
Lord May Your Kingdom Come ~ “For the Church, God’s royal priesthood, may we be builders of the kingdom and instruments of peace and justice for all.”
Most Holy Trinity
SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
The solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity celebrates the mystery of love and unity in the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm setting for Year A ~ “To you glory and praise for evermore.” (Daniel 3)
Responsorial Psalm setting for Year B ~ “Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.” (Psalm 32)
Responsorial Psalm for setting for Year C ~ “How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth.” (Psalm 8)
Song to the Trinity ~ This song has been a firm fixture in our Trinity Sunday services and explores how the relationship of love that lies at the heart of the Catholic worship is available to each of us.
Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord
SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY SUNDAY
Also known as Corpus Christi, this great solemnity invites us to focus on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist – body, blood, soul and divinity.
Responsorial Psalm for Year A ~ “O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!” (Psalm 147)
Responsorial Psalm for Year C ~ “You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.” (Psalm 109)
10 Contemporary Eucharistic Communion Songs ~ Any of the songs on this list would make a great addition to Corpus Christi liturgies.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
SECOND FRIDAY AFTER TRINITY SUNDAY
The feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus focuses on the love and compassion of Christ.
Responsorial Psalm for Year B ~ “With joy you will draw water from the wells of the Saviour.” (Isaiah 12)
Responsorial Psalm for Year C ~ “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” (Psalm 22)
Sweet Heart of Jesus ~ This Boyce & Stanley arrangement puts a jazzy twist on this classic hymn about the heart of Jesus.
The Nativity of John the Baptist
24 JUNE
The feast celebrating the birth of John the Baptist, the one who proclaimed the coming of Messiah, and later baptised Jesus in the river Jordan.
Responsorial Psalm for Year A, B, C ~ “I thank you for the wonder of my being.” (Psalm 138)
Prepare His Way ~ This song tells the story of John the Baptist declaring his message to the world, “Prepare his way, his path make straight.”
Ss Peter and Paul, Apostles
29 JUNE
This feast honours these two great apostles and saints, who are considered the founders of the See of Rome, through their preaching, ministry and martyrdom there.
Responsorial Psalm for Year A, B, C ~ “The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.” (Psalm 33)
Litany of the Evangelising Saints ~ In this responsive setting the Saints were grouped according to their particular evangelistic charism, “St Peter and St Paul, the messengers of the Good News of the early church.”
The Transfiguration of the Lord
6 AUGUST
A feast celebrating the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory upon the mountain.
Responsorial Psalm for Year A, B, C ~ “The Lord is king, most high above all the earth.” (Psalm 96)
Ave Verum Corpus ~ Boyce & Stanley gave this familiar Latin text a contemporary melody with a six-part vocal harmony.
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
15 AUGUST
A Holy day celebrating the bodily taking up of the Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.
Responsorial Psalm for Year A, B, C ~ “On your right stands the queen, in garments of gold.” (Psalm 44)
With Mary We Ask You ~ This simple sung response is a reminder and a petition for Mary to join her prayer with ours, as we come before God’s throne of Grace.
Magnificat ~ Mary’s great canticle of praise reminds us to trust and praise God for his promise of mercy.
Hail Mary ~ A beautiful setting for this familiar ‘song of the Annunciation’.
The Exaltation of the Cross
14 SEPTEMBER
This feast, also known as the Triumph of the Cross, honours the cross on which Jesus Christ died.
Responsorial Psalm for Year A, B, C ~ “Never forget the deeds of the Lord.” (Psalm 77)
Saviour of the World (Lord by Your Cross) ~ Anthemic and worshipful in equal measure, this has become the official song for the epilogue of our Born for This presentation.
* If you do not find a psalm setting for a certain year, that is because we haven’t written it yet, but feel free to check back in the future and you may find it!
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