Forth From on High the Father Sends

Jesus in Form of Bread and Wine

Forth From on High the Father Sends was written by the Scottish Jesuit Priest, Fr. James Quinn (1919-2010). It is sung to the tune: Melcombe, by the English composer Samuel Webbe (1740-1816). Initially published in 1782 as an anonymous chant tune in An Essay on the Church Plain Chant, it was ascribed to Webbe in later hymnals after 1791. In the Divine Office (1974), Forth From on High the Father Sends is used with Morning Prayer on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi).


Tune: Melcombe

Eternal Father, Through Your Word

We Render Homage and All Praise

Eternal Father, Through Your Word is written by the Benedictine Nuns of Stanbrook Abbey. The Abbey was chiefly founded by Gertrude More (1606-1633). Born Helen More, she was a descendent of St. Thomas More. At the age of 17 she entered the re-established Order of the English Benedictine Congregation. She and the other postulates were trained by the Benedictine mystic and writer, Fr. Augustine Baker (1575-1641) in a practice of contemplative prayer that continues down to the present day in the Stanbrook Community. Dame Gertrude More died of small-pox at the age of 27. Eternal Father, Through Your Word is sung to the 1782 tune, Melcombe by Samuel Webbe (1740-1816). In the Divine Office it is used with the Office of Readings.


Tune: Melcombe