Verses 1 and 5 were written by American Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, theologian and educator Armand Michael Nigro SJ (b 1928), while at-the-time religious sister of the Holy Names and music teacher Claudia Foltz SNJM wrote verses 2-4. The refrain is based on I Jn 4:17.
It was first published in 1973, and is still available today from OCP.
With meter 98.98.98, it was written for, and almost-always sung to the tune PICARDY - a French carol from the 17th century, composer unknown, most commonly recognised as the tune for Let all Mortal Flesh keep Silence.
Downloads
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Examples
Cantor with organ:
Robed youth choir, piano accompaniment:
Cantor with piano:
Small group with Latin-style guitar:
Single voice (very quiet) with piano:
Lyrics
The lyrics are copyright so cannot be reproduced here. But they are currently available on this website. A rough outline is:1 Christians let us love one another ...
Chorus:
Everyone who loves is born of God,
Jesus is our life, God is love.
2. We who break this bread are one body ...
3. We who eat and drink at this table ...
4. Wheat and grape incarnate a mystery ...
5. Jesus is the vine, we the branches ...
Correction: Chorus should be "Everyone who loves is born of God". Also, I'm concerned that the above quote might steer people to wrong understanding. It sounds Universalist (i.e., that everyone makes it to heaven) to me. But I know some of this is in ! John 4:7
ReplyDeleteThank you, that's fixed now.
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