Forth in the peace of Christ we go

Forth in the peace of Christ we go.James Quinn* (1919-2010). The Companion to ICH5 notes that this was written for St Joseph’s School and Church, Sighthill, Edinburgh, and published in Quinn’s first collection, New Hymns for All Seasons (1969). It was written under the strong influence of Vatican II: Fr Quinn is quoted as saying that it was ‘in effect a poetic commentary on Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Church (Vatican II)’, and that the final stanza shows the Church as ‘the sacrament of unity for the whole human race’  (Herl et al, 2019, p. 1480).  Stanzas 4 and 5 were revised in 1988 for a ‘Come and Sing’ in Westminster Abbey led by Cyril Taylor*. The Companion to ICH5 states that...