AcWriMo 6: Domine, fac me servum pacis tuae CM

I’m pleased with this one. Some months ago I asked a few friends if any of them would like to write a metrical version of the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi, as I’ve long been mildly dissatisfied with “Make me a channel of your peace”. Alex Roberts obliged with this lovely Common Metre version:

Make me an instrument of peace,
To do your bidding, Lord.
With love let me bid hatred cease,
And bring about accord.

Where there’s offence and human spite
Let pardon be my gift;
Where discord lurks, let me unite
And heal the aching rift.

Where there is error, I implore
That I may say what’s true;
Where there is doubt, let me restore
Another’s faith in you.

Wherever hopelessness is found,
May I o’ercome its might;
When there is darkness all around,
May I shine forth your light.

Wherever sadness still has lease,
May I spread joy abroad.
Make me an instrument of peace,
To do your bidding, Lord.

O Master, may I never plead
For comfort of my own,
But just to comfort those in need
As you yourself have shown.

Nor yet need I be understood,
If I can understand;
Nor loved, if I can serve the good,
And love as you command.

For it’s in giving we receive;
In losing, find our prize;
In pardoning we gain reprieve;
In dying, we arise.

Lovely, isn’t it? And we could just do it to Crimond, or Martyrdom, or any of the existing perfectly good Common Metre tunes. There’s no shortage.

I’m happy, though, with what I’ve written:

AcWriMo 6 — Domine fac me — PDF
AcWriMo 6 — Domine fac me — MIDI robots

It’s calm, meditative, reflective even, which is what I was aiming for. Unlike many of my hymn tunes this one doesn’t want to be taken too fast. If anything it’s a bit repetitive; eight verses is a lot. But to set it in Double Common Metre would not have given integrity with the section break between the fifth and sixth stanzas.

The title of the tune is in Latin because, well, it looks as if there isn’t a Latin source.

If you’ve been enjoying my hymns, I’d love it if you could make a donation to the organ fund at St Andrew’s. We need to raise £25000 to repair the bellows, so far we have £5787.61 which is fantastic but only 22% of the way there.