Hear the Prayers That Rise

A Music Resource for Contemplative Prayer
Barbara Bridge and Sr Suzanne Toolan, RSM

Hear the Prayers That Rise offers 135 songs for use in and outside the liturgy. Simple and meditative, with easy-to-sing, repeating refrains, they can unite Christians of every background, drawing them into a place of peace and worship.

It is first of all a collection for prayer services. But it can be used on many occasions: for Communion and other processions, reconciliation services, Liturgy of the Hours, ordinations and more.

Hear the Prayers That Rise will be especially welcome in small faith communities, prayer groups, retreat centres and churches hosting contemplative prayer services. For those who already have Taizé music in their repertoire, it makes a valuable supplement. An ecumenical resource, Hear the Prayers That Rise cuts across denominational lines.

The book includes the most popular songs of Jacques Berthier, whose music has served the Taizé community for over three decades. But there are thirty new pieces, and more than 35 composers contributed to the project, including Barbara Bridge, Bernadette Farrell, Bob Hurd, Paul Inwood and Suzanne Toolan.

A variety of musical forms are represented: litanies, rounds and canons, responses, acclamations and ostinatos. Styles range from more energetic gathering and praise songs to quiet chants for centering and meditation. Many can be sung unaccompanied.

The preface offers practical suggestions for using the music in a prayer service and includes an order of service, scripture readings and sample intercessions. A topical/seasonal index helps the user find appropriate songs for each part of the service.

Sister Suzanne Toolan has used many of these chants in a first Friday service that’s been running for 25 years. It draws people from 100 miles away. ‘They arrive,’ she describes in the foreword, ‘they come into the dimly lit chapel and they find themselves singing a quiet chant, a chant that becomes, as it were, a ‘vestibule’ to the sacred.’ Powerful as it is, this insistent, meditative music doesn’t lead people to forget their troubles, she explains. Instead, it invites them to bring their troubles to the cross.

Assembly booklet