Hymns and Spiritual Songs Volume 1 NEW 2025 Expanded Edition

Hymns and songs for the 2025 Jubilee and various occasions.

Spiral-bound A4 book, 142 pages.

Launched at Australian Pastoral Musician's Network 6th National Conference - "Pilgrims of Hope" - in Adelaide 1-3 October 2025!

Featured Composers and Writers

• Paul Mason
• Fiona Dyball
• Angela Gorman
• Mana Nankivell
• Marie-Louise Nankivell
• Carmelo Sciberras

Featured Arrangers

• Paul Mason
• Seth Harsh
• Fiona Dyball
• Roger Heagney
• Angela Gorman
• Ian Mills
• Mana Nankivell

Key Features of this 2025 compilation release

This 2025 compilation includes nine new songs. "God's Call" is a beautiful Marian hymn composed by Fiona Dyball especially suited to Advent, Annunciation, Mary Mother of God and other Marian feast days. "From Our Hearts" composed by Paul Mason is a scriptural reflection on the nature of faith, hope and love in living life to the full from our hearts. It has wide application as a processional song throughout the year. "We Are Called" is energetic and uplifting, based on the texts of the prayer, vision and mission of the Cathedral parish (Lumen Christi) in the Diocese of Wollongong, called to be bearers of Christ's love, called to reveal the light of Christ to the world.

Angela Gorman's "May the Lord Bless You" is a beautiful setting of the blessing prayer from the Book of Numbers. It was first sung at the ordination of Bishop Georg Kolodziej SDS (Bunbury) in 2025 during the Fraternal Kiss of Peace and has application in many ritual situations. Paul Mason's compositions of three Sequences "Christians to the Paschal victim," "Holy Spirit, Lord of Light," and "At the Cross Her Station Keeping" provide refreshing musical settings for use in Holy Week, during Easter, at Pentecost and other occasions.

"You Are So Deeply Engraved in My Heart" is a beautiful new song for use at celebrations of Marriage and Religious Profession, as well as Masses for Religious, Masses for Marriage Anniversaries and the feasts of St Mary Magdalene and St Scholastica. Texts from Song of Songs and a 12th Century love letter from Jordan of Saxony to Diana D'Andalo are set to a beautiful soaring melody resulting in a moving song about the love between Christ the bridegroom and his bride, the Church.

Rounding out the nine new releases is a wonderful contemporary piano arrangement by Seth Harsh of "Abide With Me." This version has been featured in Mass For You At Home (MFYAH). It provides a foretaste of Hymns and Spiritual Songs Volume 2, which will be released in 2026 as a digital ForScore e-Book of contemporary classic hymns for keyboard accompanists.

All the songs previously contained in the initial release of Hymns and Spiritual Songs Volume 1 are included with minor revisions and updated arrangements.

"Power of the Spirit" had its genesis during World Youth Day 2008, with a different refrain. It was sung during catechesis in Broken Bay. More recently it was updated to include a verse directly related to the plenary "listen to what the spirit is saying," and the World Youth Day refrain was replaced with "O Come, Holy Spirit, Come." It was recently recorded by Catholic Youth Ministry Wollongong (CYMW) as part of the Diocesan resource kit for the Wollongong Diocesan Plenary process. It featured in the Opening Prayer and Morning Prayer sessions at the Australian Pastoral Musicians Network 2019 Conference "Listen to the Spirit and Sing." It has broad application during Easter season, Ascension and Pentecost and for Confirmation and can be used as an entrance song, song of praise after communion, or for sending forth. Hear Power Of The Spirit.

I am pleased to introduce some new lyricists and composers in this edition. Mana Nankivell won a scholarship from the Australian Pastoral Musicians Network and presented her fine composition "We Are Called to Be Merciful" at the Perth Conference in October 2017. The lyrics she set to music were composed by her mother, Marie-Louise Nankivell. It is well suited as an entrance song or sending forth. The refrain is easily learnt and can be introduced to assemblies with cantors singing the verses and the whole assembly joining in the refrain. Two other compositions by these composers are also included in this compilation - "Dismissal For Children," for procession to children's liturgy, and "Laudamus," an a capella choral praise song for use at adoration or praise and worship. Fr Carmel Sciberras wrote some wonderful lyrics for the National Council of Priests Broken Bay Conference in 2002. He asked me to set them to music for the conference. "Lead Us From Good Will to Faith" has a place in RCIA gatherings as the perennial prayer of those in the catechumenate on their journey to Christian Initiation.

My first liturgical music composition, "Open Our Eyes," was written for confirmation celebrations at St Anthony's Parish Glenhuntly in 1993. It is a lively song, to which children easily relate in the context of their confirmation.

Two favourites from Holy Name Parish Wahroonga are "O Holy Name," based on the Christ Hymn in Philippians chapter 2, and "When We Eat This Bread." "O Holy Name" works well as an offertory song, as we join ourselves to Christ's sacrifice. "When We Eat This Bread" is easy to sing while walking in a communion procession. Verses taken from the Gospels are sung by cantors. "Love Never Ends," is a Wahroonga favourite for weddings and occasionally at Sunday Mass, when the song is particularly pertinent to the readings. I was fortunate to have Kamahl record it for his CD "Faith of Our Fathers." 

"God of Mercy (I Believe)" was recorded as part of the Wollongong Diocese Lenten Program in 2013, in the Year of Faith. It features numerous verses based on reflections on the Gospels of Lent and can be used as a seasonal chant during Lenten reflection groups, or as a chant during offertory, reflecting on the particular Sunday's Gospel.

The new setting of the Magnificat ("My Soul Rejoices in My God") has been sung for Mass For You At Home (MFYAH). It has been set to be used as a responsorial psalm or sung through with the antiphon used only at the beginning or end, the more traditional approach when sung in Evening Prayer. Using the same Grail psalm text for both Mass and Evening Prayer helps reinforce the role of the canticle as Luke's Gospel proclamation.

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