Why a new Catholic Worship Book?

And Jesus said to them: ‘Therefore every scribe has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of their treasure what is new and what is old’.
(Matthew 13:52)

Catholic Worship Book II reflects a time of consolidation of liturgical resources for use in the Australian Catholic Church. Like the householder who knows the value of what is old and what is new, the new compilation is the fruit of ten years of research, evaluation, assessment of what is currently available, locally and world-wide.

Certain principles guided the choice of material

  • Enhancing the liturgical texts
  • Faithful to the Catholic tradition
  • Reflecting sound theology
  • Inspired by the Scriptures
  • Sensitive to the liturgical seasons
  • Awareness of the power of language
  • Promotion of music and text as instruments of Catholic memory
  • Complementing the repertoires of local parishes and choirs
  • Providing congregations with a much broader choice in music
  • Recovering elements of the universal Catholic memory, including some Latin texts
  • Offering music for the Divine Offices of Morning, Evening and Night Prayers

Catholic Worship Book II is part of the ongoing challenge to establish a liturgical music repertoire to serve the needs of the liturgy.

Catholic Worship Book II contains music for the Sung Order of Mass with six complete Mass settings:

  • The Mass of St Francis (Paul Taylor)
  • The Mass of Our Lady Help of Christians (Richard Connolly)
  • The Mass of Christ the Redeemer (Bernard Kirkpatrick)
  • The Mass of Glory and Praise (Paul Mason)
  • Missa Magis (Christopher Willcock)
  • Mass Shalom (Colin Smith and Paul Mason)

And selected Mass settings from fourteen other sources, including for Masses with Children

Catholic Worship Book II presents music that is worthy and text that is stylistically rich and theologically sound – sacred music that both speaks to our age and has stood the test of time.
Bishop Patrick O’Regan Chairman – Bishops Commission for Liturgy

A comprehensive new worship resource for the Catholic Church in Australia
Why a new Catholic Worship Book?
A comprehensive resource for sacraments and seasons
A rich mosaic of the Catholic Church’s library of ancient and modern liturgical music…
‘… a musical resource that will provide a basic repertoire for liturgical music in Australia … that is theologically, liturgically and musically appropriate…’
The indices
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