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This piece can work for the beginning of a worship service – or before prayer. It comes in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. You can sing it congregationally, and led by a choir or small ensemble. It will work in contemporary or traditional settings. Click link to purchase from GIA Music.

This introit from the Psalms opens prayer services in several traditions. It can also be used in other worship services. I once heard theologian John Witvliet say that this prayer is another form of saying, Come Holy Spirit!

Este introito sacado de los Salmos sirve para comenzar los servicios de oración en varias tradiciones. Puede utilizarse también en otros servicios de adoración. Yo escuché una vez al teológo John Witvliet decir que ésta oración es otra manera de decir, ¡Ven, Espíritu Santo! 

Lyrics by University Chaplain Burt Burleson (BA ’80) Music by Kathy Gladen Johnson (BM ’76)

Arranged by Assistant Director of Chapel Carlos Colón (MM ’93) Performed by the Baylor Religious Hour Choir

“Vencerá el amor/Love Shall Overcome” Words: Carlos Colón; English tr. Greg Scheer © 2015 Birnamwood Publications, a division of MorningStar Music Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net A-703303. Recorded with permission at Worship Symposium 2017 at Calvin University. Buy score, including a version with instruments, here.

Members of Capella, under the direction of Dr. Pearl Shangkuan recorded this song recently. You can hear it here.

GIA Publications has published this choral composition based on an ancient Greek prayer, the Phos Hilaron. It is also appropriate for a choral anthem on Sunday morning (A morning text is included). For college, community, and High School choirs: it would make a great way to begin or end a concert. You can purchase it from GIA.

Pearl Shangkuan, director of choral activities at Calvin University and director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus, reflects on her top ten bilingual sacred choral pieces.

Some of the pieces recommended include:

4. “Noche anunciada / Night Long-Awaited,” arranged by Carlos Colón. The original music is by Ariel Ramirez, an Argentine composer and music director best known for his “Missa Criolla” who was a chief proponent of Argentine folk music. 

• Calvin University’s Campus Choir

5. “Restáuranos, oh Dios / Restore Us, O God,” by Carlos Colón. This is a setting of Psalm 80, arranged for either a two-part treble or mixed choir by the composer himself, Carlos Colón, assistant director for Worship and Chapel of the Office of Spiritual Life at Baylor University. 

•  Calvin University’s Women’s Chorale

7. “Alegre luz / O Gladsome Light,” by Carlos Colón (G-9793, GIA Publications). This new musical setting uses the text of the Phos Hilaron, an evening hymn drawn from ancient Christian custom, especially Byzantine and Ambrosian rites, and referenced as far back as AD 379 by St. Basil the Great. 

• Calvin University’s Capella

You can find the full list here: