This beautiful canon was composed by Jacques Berthier of the Taizé Community, an ecumenical monastic community in France that prays for reconciliation and peace in the world. The distinctive chants and songs used at Taizé often set simple phrases (usually lines from Psalms or other pieces of Scripture) repeated until they work their way into the rhythms of the heart, a form of “praying without ceasing.”
This tune can be shared without printed music two ways:
1. Sing the canon from beginning to end, then line out each section of the canon using call and echo until the group is confident. Combine the phrases, then divide the group and cue one at a time.
2. Divide the group into three sections and teach one phrase of the canon to each. While the melody won't migrate around the group as it does with a canon, this strategy can be helpful when time is limited.
"Da pacem cordium"
Translation:
Give peace to every heart.
Copyright for the piece is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
Find sheet music for the chant on Hymnary.
Here's a recording by the Taizé Community:
Shalom chaverim is a beautiful Israeli folk song, a greeting that means "peace."
This song was written in 2003 by Miriam Klamkin, and can be found on the collection MotherTongue: Weaving the Web of Life. The Lyrics are as follows:
Peace in my heart
Peace between our hearts
Peace at the heart of the world
©2003 Miriam Klamkin
 | Weaving the Web of LifeMore about this product
| ||||||
This "peace" was written by Benjamin and Tamika Jancewitz who teach it in the video at an MMC event in Baltimore 2015.
Ruth Cunningham wrote this setting of a Celtic blessing, a variation or simplification of the beloved St. Patrick's Breastplate, and it was brought to the MMC community by Ana Hernandez. The song works beautifully as a blessing, prayer song, or as a gentle Passing of Peace. Gestures, as modeled in the video below, can also help a community experience this prayer with their bodies.
The focus of the song can shift easily from 'me' to 'you' to 'us,' slowly widening the circle of intention. It can also be treated like a zipper/pocket song, with variations offered alongside or instead of 'Christ.'
"Christ be with me, Christ before me,
Christ to the right of me, Christ behind me,
Christ to the left of me, Christ above me,
Christ below me, Christ within me."
Alternative text:
Love be with me...
Peace be with me...
Teaching note from Donald Schell: When I'm leading this song, I sing a minor scale (1,2,3,4,5) to myself and drop down one note (7 below 1) to find the starting note. I begin with people standing and ask them to "do what I do and sing what I sing" and I encourage large gestures - big arm motions, stepping forward, moving whole body and from center. The gestures help people learn the song including the sequence of directions'
I usually begin with singing the whole "Christ be with you" and have people echo phrase by phrase (overlapping slightly). Usually I'll do a second iteration (choosing to substitute 'me' or 'us' for 'you') still singing call and echo, phrase by phrase. Just ahead of beginning the third iteration (shifting pronoun again), I say, "sing with me" and the shift from call and echo to simple melody in unison.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress.
Here is a video of Donald leading the song:
Here's a recording of Ruth Cunningham with her singing partner Ana Hernandez:
This song is originally from Ghana, and the version we've sung at many MMC events is from a setting by Marty Haugen and Marc Anderson. You can find the sheet music and a recording of the song at GIA Music.
This contemplative, layered setting of Psalm 65 by psalmist Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan is a dialogue between two phrases in different languages.
Dumiyah
Tibi silens laus
Hebrew translation:
Silence
Latin translation:
For you, silence is praise
Richard's music is licensed through CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Be sure report use of the piece if you print the text or music for your community.
Sheet music for the song is available in the "Our Roots are In You" collection on the PsalmImmersion website.
Here's a recording of the song by Richard:
This song was composed by Pat Humphries and Sandy O. You can hear a clip, as well as buy a recording or the sheet music on their website Emma's Revolution. Here's a clip of AnnaMarie Hoos teaching it at an MMC event at Holy Cross Monastery in September of 2015:
http://emmasrevolution.com/listen/album/one/9-peace-salaam-shalom/