Resources

• As One Voice 1, 2, and The Next Generation—AOV1, AOV2, AOVNG
• Catholic Worship Book and Catholic Worship Book II—CWB, CWBII
• Gather (3rd edition)—G
• Gather Australia—GA
• Psalms for Feasts and Seasons—PFS
• Digital download—DD
• Selected collection—SC

Advent Mass settings

In the season of Advent, it is appropriate to use a Mass setting that is well known to the singing assembly but different from the one used in Ordinary Time. Advent is a season of quiet but joyful hope, expectation and penitence: the music is not as exuberant as the music used in the Christmas season. The Mass setting chosen should be used throughout the Advent season. It is preferable to have carol services and nativity plays after 16 December, if possible, to preserve the character of Advent.

In Advent the use of the organ and other musical instruments should be marked by a moderation suited to the character of this time of year, without expressing in anticipation the full joy of the Nativity of the Lord.

—General Instruction of the Roman Missal, §313

Please note that there is no Gloria sung in Advent.

Some suggested settings are:

• Mass of Our Lady, Help of Christians (Connolly)—CWBII 23a, c, d, e
• Mass of St Francis (Taylor)—CWBII 22a, c, e, g, h
• Missa Emmanuel (Proulx)—DD (GIA)

Missa Emmanuel helps parishes to find the ‘sound’ of Advent through the familiar Advent hymn ‘O come, O come Emmanuel’, which also underpins this Mass setting.

Suggested psalm collections

• Catholic Worship Book 1
• Gather Australia
• Gather (3rd Edition)
• Marist Music Free Digital Download—DD (Marist Music)
• Praise the Lord My Soul (Connolly)—DD (Willow Publishing, Australia)
• Psallite: Sacred Song for Liturgy and Life—DD (Liturgical Press, Collegeville)
• Psalms for All Time (Paul Mason)—DD (Liturgical Song, Australia)
• Psalms for Feasts and Seasons (Willcock)—SC (Collins Dove)
• Psalms for the Church’s Year (Heagney)—SC (Liturgical Song, Australia)
• Psalms for the Sundays of Year A (O’Brien)—SC (self-published in Brighton, SA)
• Responsorial Psalms: Year A (Smith)—SC (Willow Publishing, Australia)
• Sing the Responsorial Psalms (McKenna)—SC (Willow Publishing, Australia)
• The Lyric Psalter: Year A (Alonso/Haugen)—SC (GIA Publishing, Chicago)

Suggested Gospel acclamations 

• Advent Alleluia—CWBII 42
• Celtic Alleluia—AOV1 13, CWBII 48, GA 141
• Hallel Alleluia—CWBII 49
• Mass of Light Alleluia—CWBII 50
• Mawby Alleluia—CWBII 51
• Taizé Alleluia—CWBII 53

Use the verse appropriate to the day. It is useful to use one Gospel acclamation consistently throughout the season.