Hymnody
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Discover Irish Hymns: A Living Cloud of Saints
A New Collection of Irish Hymns One of the books quietly sitting in the background of NeuroDivine is A Living Cloud of Irish Witnesses: Hymns for the Saints of Ireland, published in January 2026. The collection brings together 41 hymn texts inspired by saints commemorated in the Irish Church’s calendar and in local tradition. Some… Continue reading
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St Munchin. A tune for “By the Shannon’s flowing waters”.
A new voice for the Shannon. Composer Thurlow Weed sets “By the Shannon’s flowing waters” to ST. MUNCHIN—a melody capturing the river’s grace and a saint’s steadfastness. Continue reading
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“At Evening, God Has Spoken”: A Vespers Hymn on Psalm 110 (76 76 D)
Psalm 110 has long been one of the traditional psalms of Sunday Vespers. My new hymn, At Evening, God Has Spoken, reflects on that ancient text through the quiet landscapes of the Irish midlands—heathered hills, the Barrow’s waters, and the stillness of evening prayer—resting in Christ our High King through the night. Continue reading
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Braided Grace—A Hymn on Psalm 129 – “Long have burdens pressed upon us” (87 87 D)
Despite suffering and oppression, God’s enduring faithfulness and promise bring hope, resilience, and strength to His people. Continue reading
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One Faith, One Hope, One Lord: A Hymn for Unity
The hymn prayerfully calls for unity in the Church, invoking the Holy Spirit to heal divisions and reaffirm faith in Christ. Continue reading
AnglicanCommunion, AnglicanTradition, bible, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInAction, FindingConnection, Hymnody, InclusiveChurch, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHymnody, IrishReflection, IrishSpirituality, jesus, LiturgicalReflection, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, Pilgrimage, Poetry, PoetryOfPlace, ScriptureAndStillness, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney -
Singing Psalm 98 in an Irish Key
“Sing to the Lord a new song…” Psalm 98 is not shy. It is tidal. It calls rivers to clap their hands and hills to sing for joy. It insists that creation itself is caught up in praise—not as backdrop, but as choir. In the Anglican tradition, Psalm 98 can be used at Evensong as… Continue reading
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Writing a Hymn—and Learning Stabilitas Overnight
This hymn didn’t emerge in a chapel. It came overnight. In silence. In storm. In the unbuilt monastery of the mind. “Wild winds rise fierce across the plain,My refuge be.” The imagery came quickly. But the deeper formation came slowly—as most Benedictine things do. I’m part of a Benedictine community without walls. We are dispersed… Continue reading
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Unknown Paths, Rising Hills: Writing a Hymn for the Second Sunday in Lent (Year A) — “You call us out to unknown paths” (CM)
You call us out to unknown paths You call us out to unknown paths,Like Abram long ago;Through mist along the Barrow’s bends,Your pilgrim people go.You lift our eyes to rising hills,Where skylarks greet the dawn;Your keeping shade, like hawthorn’s bough,Stands guard till night is gone.Not by our striving, strength, or claimBut gift of grace alone,You… Continue reading
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Divinity in Difference: The Window That Says What We’ve Been Trying to Say
Every now and then, an image comes along that says in colour and light what pages of writing have been circling for years. This stained-glass window feels like that. It gathers the heart of NeuroDivine—the essays, the fiction, the hymns, the poetry—and holds them up to the light with one steady claim: Difference is not… Continue reading
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The Knot of Grace: A Lorica for the Wired Mind
I wrote the hymn in English first. It came out of lived places. Hospital corridors. Strip lighting. The hum of machines. Motorways. Rain over stone. The strange ache of being surrounded and alone. It wasn’t theory. It was my nervous system on paper. There are days when my brain feels like too much input and… Continue reading
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In the Thin Place of Forty Days
Rooted in the landscape, spirituality, and imaginative tradition of the Irish midlands, the text interweaves the great biblical “forty” journeys—the flood, the exodus, Sinai, the wilderness, and the risen Christ’s forty days—with the sacred geography of Kildare and its surrounding boglands. Drawing on Celtic Christian imagery and the rhythms of creation, it invites worshippers to… Continue reading
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Memory. Mission. Transformation.
This hymn was written for NeuroDivine as a song of Eucharistic continuity and hope. It situates the community within the great communion of saints of the Celtic world—Patrick’s fire, Hilda’s shore, Columba’s pilgrimage, Cuthbert’s solitude, Bede’s scholarship—bearing witness that Christ has fed his people in every age and in every kind of mind. At its… Continue reading
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Rule. Dawn. Praise.
This hymn embodies Saint Benedict’s vision of communal prayer, uniting hearts through psalmody at dawn. Continue reading
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Stop. Start. Stay.
A hymn capturing the beauty of life’s detours, celebrating gentleness and divine companionship. Continue reading
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Incense. Whisper. Hope. A hymn inspired by Psalm 141. “O Christ receive our evening prayer” (DLM).
This hymn is inspired by Psalm 141, the Church’s ancient evening prayer: “Let my prayer rise before you like incense.” Set in the landscape of Clonmacnoise, it joins the psalmist’s cry to the Shannon’s air and the long vigil of those who prayed on these stones before us. As night gathers, it asks Christ to… Continue reading
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Shepherd. Host. High King. “Christ calls us to the table here” (DCM)
This hymn began with a simple wondering: What if Christ doesn’t only meet us at the table, but walks the whole week with us? Faith is rarely confined to sacred hours. It unfolds in Mondays heavy with responsibility, Wednesdays full of noise, Fridays marked by grief, and Saturdays thick with waiting. This hymn traces the… Continue reading
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Silence. Suffering. Steadfastness.
A day of uneasy memory, quiet courage, and layered history. On 30 January, NeuroDivine holds space for complexity, conscience, and the land’s long remembering—and offers a new hymn rooted in Leinster’s fields for those who honour your servant Charles with tenderness rather than triumph. Continue reading
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Brigid. Pat. Sarah.
From Brigid’s fire to today’s Church, a hymn of gratitude and hope, attentive to calling and the Spirit’s movement in an Irish Church still becoming Continue reading
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Spark. Fire. Blaze. A hymn for the gift of sacred music. “Christ, bless the gifts of music made” (DCM)
Music in worship nurtures community and spirit, celebrating faith through hymns and divine connection. Continue reading
1 Corinthians 12:4–27, Acts 2:1–4, AnglicanTradition, Christianity, ChurchMusic, ChurchOfIreland, Colossians 3:16–17, Ephesians 5:18–20, Faith, Hymnody, HymnWriting, IrishHymnody, IrishSpirituality, Isaiah 55:12, Isaiah 6:1-8, jesus, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalReflection, Matthew 18:20, Music, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, ohn 4:23–24, Prayer, Psalm 100, Psalm 150, Psalm 33:1–3, Psalm 94:1-7, Psalm 96:1-9, Psalm 98, Psalm47:6-7, Revelation 4:8–11, Revelation 5:9-14, Revelation 7:9-12, Romans 12:4–8, SacredSpaces, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, Zephaniah 3:17 -
Faith. Truth. Welcome. A hymn for the Parish of Kilconriola and Ballyclug: “Where Patrick walked on Antrim’s heights” (DCM)
With the twelve bells of St Patrick’s overhead, I offer this hymn as a prayer for Ballymena: for its people, its churches, and Christ’s light in the valley we call home. Continue reading
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