Hymns by Denis Hurley

Tune: Moira Birks

Firm is our faith in one true God.
Loving Father and King supreme.
Mighty Creator, Lord of all,
Visible world and world unseen.

And we believe in God’s own Son,
One with him from eternal dawn,
Who by the Spirit was conceived
And of his Virgin Mother born.

Man he was made and man he lived,
Man he suffered in cruel strife,
When on the cross he fought with death,
Conquered and rose to deathless life.

This is our faith in the Spirit too:
Lord and giver of life is he,
One with the Father and the Son,
Spirit of love and unity.

Faith we profess in one true Church,
Sin forgiven and grace restored,
Hope for the vict’ry over death,
Life without end in Christ our Lord.

Tune: Praise my soul, the King of heaven

Lord you sent your Son from heaven
To instruct us and to save
And to lead us on your journey
From the cradle to the grave.
May we listen, may we answer
To the summons: “Follow me”.

When our life is hard and heavy
And we find our strength has failed;
We recall that crucifixion
When his hands and feet were nailed.
May we face his loving challenge:
“Take your cross and follow me”.

As we honour the great glory
Of our risen King and Lord,
Knowing that he lives within us
With the Spirit he outpoured,
We look forward always gladly
To fulfil his “Follow me”.

We were called to share his labour,
Conscious of his saving power;
Conscious of his presence in us
As we serve him hour by hour;
Hoping that our future glory
Will complete his “Follow me”.

(New Hurley wording for verses 2 and 3)

God of mercy and compassion,
Look with pity upon me,
Father let me call thee Father,
‘Tis thy child returns to thee.

By my sins I have offended
One whose mercy knows no bounds,
Mercy that to thy great glory
Ever lovingly redounds.

When thy Son was sent among us
He proclaimed thy reign is near,
Summoned us to be repentant
And thy saving word to hear.

See our Saviour, bleeding, dying,
On the cross of Calvary;
To that cross my sins have nailed him,
Yet he bleeds and dies for me.

Tune: Beethoven

God, our maker, mighty Father,
All creation sings your praise,
Sun and stars in all their splendour,
Moon in ev’ry changing phase.
Earth with all its trees and grasses,
Sparkling rivers, oceans blue,
All unite to pay you homage,
Singing joyously to you.

Provident and wise Creator,
As your mighty plan unfurled,
You made us to share your labour,
In the building of the world.
Man and women you created,
That united heart and home,
They might work and strive together,
Till your endless kingdom come.

God of truth and love unbounded,
Further still your mercy went,
When uniting earth with heaven,
Your incarnate Son you sent:
First-born of your vast creation,
Holding all in unity,
Leading all in power and wisdom,
To a glorious destiny.

Aurelia 76 86 D

If God is our defender
Who will th’accuser be?
His only Son he spared not
But gave him graciously.
When God himself grants pardon
Who ventures to condemn?
Will Jesus Christ the Saviour
Who died and rose for all?

Can anything divide us
From that most loving Lord?
Can pain or tribulation?
Can famine, peril, sword?
No, none of these can cause us
From his great love to fall;
For by the strength he gave us
We triumph over all.

Of this we can be certain
And sing with ev’ry breath:
That nought that is or will be
And neither life nor death,
And nothing in creation,
Below us or above,
Can tear us from Christ Jesus
And from his Father’s love.

(Adapted by DEH)

Tune: Turris Davidica

I’ll sing a hymn to Mary,
The Mother of my God,
The Virgin of all virgins,
Of David’s royal blood.
O help us blessed Mother,
Through sorrow, praise or blame,
To seek the face of Jesus
And love and bless his name.

O noble tower of David,
Of gold and ivory,
The ark of God’s own promise,
The gate of heav’n to me.
Whenever we extol you
And sing our Mother’s fame,
We honour Christ our Saviour
And love and bless his name.

O dawn of our salvation,
And pledge of what shall be,
Pray God for all his people
That we too may be free.
In loving one another
May we this faith proclaim,
See Christ in ev’ry neighbour,
And love and bless his name.

PHB No. 178

Let us now in worship bending.
This great sacrament revere,
Ancient symbols have their ending
As the newer rites appear.
Faith supplies, its help extending,
For the failing senses here.

Sing with praise, with joy and blessing
To the Father and the Son;
Glory, honour, might confessing,
No due homage left undone.
Equal praise to him addressing
Who proceeds in Godhead one.

Tune: Stuttgart

Lord, assembled in your presence,
We direct our thoughts to you.
We have come, a sinful people,
To be sanctified anew.

We have come to hear instruction
In each sacred word and phrase,
By your light and truth prepare us
For the sacrifice of praise.

May we share with Christ our Saviour
All the gain and all the loss,
As he worshipped, priest and victim,
On the altar of the cross.

Glory to our heav’nly Father,
Glory to his risen Son,
Glory to the Holy Spirit,
Perfect Godhead, Three in One.

Lux: Sir A. Sullivan

Lord, this paschal time reminds us
How you came back from the dead.
Firm and true the faith that binds us
To our glorious, risen Head.
Alleluia, alleluia,
You have risen as you said,
Alleluia, alleluia,
You have risen as you said.

‘Neath the burden of our labour,
Mid our joy and pain and strife,
In our trying to be neighbour,
To be parent, husband, wife;
Alleluia, alleluia,
Be to us the source of life,
Alleluia, alleluia,
Be to us the source of life.

Make us true to our vocation
With the strength that comes from you;
Make our life a dedication
With the love that you imbue.
Alleluia, alleluia
Grace and peace in us renew,
Alleluia, alleluia
Grace and peace in us renew.

Hold this vision, Lord, before us;
In this hope our faith sustain:
That to life you will restore us
When at last you come again.
Alleluia, alleluia,
Make us worthy of your reign,
Alleluia, alleluia,
Make us worthy of your reign.

Adapted by DEH

My soul proclaims Magnificat,
My spirit sings God’s praise.
He saved and graced his humble maid,
And all shall call her blest.

His might has done great things for me
And holy is his name.
On all who hear his mercy pours
From every age to age.

His strength of arm he has revealed,
The proud he has dispersed,
The mighty from their thrones has hurled,
Not rich but hungry fed.

His servant Israel he has helped
And mercy’s promise kept:
The promise to our parents made:
The stock of Abraham.

Magnificat, praise God, praise God.
Magnificat, praise God.
Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God,
Magnificat, praise God.

(Translation from Latin)
Tune: Tallis Ordinal C.M.

O Holy Spirit, come we pray
To hearts by you designed,
And grant that in their inmost depths
Your presence be enshrined.

You are our friend and counsellor,
Our gift from God above,
The fount of life, the healing balm,
The flaming fire of love.

You are the finger of God’s hand,
The tongue’s prophetic sound.
In you the promise is fulfilled,
The seven gifts abound.

Give love to every empty heart,
Enlighten ev’ry sense,
And in our weakness be our help,
Our strength and our defence.

Through you may we the Father know,
Through you his risen Son.
Through faith in you may we extol
The blessed Three in One.

Passion Chorale 76 76 D: J S Bach

O Light forever dawning
Beyond the darkest night;
O comfort of the mourning,
Our strength and our delight;
Receive our humble pleading
For those whose course is run,
Lest pardon they be needing
For any evil done.

To him who like the eagle
Arose on conqu’ring wing,
The cross his regal banner,
O death, where is your sting?
There’s surely no rejection
For those who share his strife,
But hope and resurrection
And everlasting life.

St. Clement 98 98: C.C. Scholefield

Send forth your Spirit, God our Father,
As you have sent him in the past:
At Gabriel’s word, by Jordan’s water,
As Jesus went to pray and fast.

In this same Spirit he proclaimed you
On Judah’s hills, by Galilee,
He called us to your heav’nly kingdom,
He died and rose triumphantly.

And now though seen by us no longer
He rests not from the task begun,
But breathes the Spirit of his sonship
On those of ev’ry race and tongue.

May he be with us at this moment
And give us of your Spirit still,
That we may do the work that waits us
And strive your purpose to fulfil.

At confirmation:
May all who come for confirmation
Be richly with your Spirit sealed:
To love and serve you in their neighbour,
Until your glory is revealed.

(Arranged from Psalm 97)
Mary of Bethany

Sing to the Lord a song that is new:
Wondrous his deed, triumphant his hand,
Justice he shows to the nations around,
Steadfast and faithful his love for his land.

Joyously sing to the Lord, all the earth,
Praise God with music, praise and adore.
Praise God with harp, with the trumpet and horn,
Joyously sing to the Lord evermore.

Glad be the earth and its dwellers rejoice,
Mountains exult and rivers applaud,
Thunder the sea and its fullness give voice,
For God is coming to reign as the Lord.

Tune: Ewing

Written for the launch of the Renew project, 30 July 1989

We thank you God our Father
For sending us your Son
To call us to your Kingdom
Where we shall all be one.
As when the first disciples
Your Spirit set on fire
Through that same Holy Spirit
Your people now inspire.

Help us to act with justice.
In everything we do,
Be tender in our loving
And humbly walk with you.
Make us in Christian service
Community most true
Devoted to your purpose
The whole world to renew.

Tune: Rockingham L.M. (When I survey)

Hymn composed for Diakonia

You gave us Lord, by word and deed
The way of love your Father willed
That those who go where’er you lead
May find in you a life fulfilled.

It was your joy to call them blest
Who poor in spirit choose to be,
And find themselves of earth possessed.
The gentle heirs of all they see,

And blessed too are those who mourn.
The merciful, the pure of heart.
And those by thirst and hunger torn
That justice hold its rightful part.

Your blessing, Lord, embraces too
All those who strive that peace may reign,
Who right uphold and justice do
And face withal contempt and pain.

We humbly ask your pardon, Lord;
The ones that hear are all too few.
So speak again your healing word
Our sin forgive, our heart renew.