Hymns written by non-Catholics

[Credo]

       I understand this was THE hymn of the Protestant Revolt....actually, I believe I read that on this site....

[Paul]

I understand this was THE hymn of the Protestant Revolt....actually, I believe I read that on this site...

Which is what makes its inclusion even worse. It's one of the options for Lauds for one or several Martyrs - maybe that whole "dying for the faith" thing wasn't so important, after all.

[michaeorapronobis]

So if a hymn is completely in line with Catholic doctrine, says nothing heretical or against the one true Church of God, but just happens to have been written by a Protestant, a heretic, then it's all right to sing it?

At Mass (NO) many of the hymns are very modern - Last Sunday (5th Sunday after Easter - we had "I will praise my God in the morning", "This is my command I give you", the Israeli Sanctus and Agnus Dei, and a very fast, modern, recessional. The Anglicans actually have nicer, more reverent hymns than NO Catholics. And to make things worse, at the NO Mass, the words are displayed on an overhead projector - a practice for which I have nothing but contempt. The scary thing is, when I mentioned this practice to the SSPX priest, he seemed to like it. I hope he doesn't actually put an overhead projector in the SSPX Church in Wanganui! I long for hymn books and old hymns, and the only reason I haven't gone to the Anglican Church, which has both, is that I know that the Catholic Church is the one true Church set up by Jesus Christ.

PS: I asked my parish priest why we didn't have Gregorian Chant at Mass. He asked me why whe should. I responded that Vatican II said it should be given pride of place. His response: "Vatican II was way back in the 60's! We're living in the present". He said that Latin is no longer the official language of the Church (I thought it was, he said in our diocese English is the official language of the Church) and if there was Gregorian Chant or a Latin Mass, no-one would understand it. I told him that you didn't need to understand the language to know that a sacrifice was taking place, and he said "So, you could say it in Egyptian or any other language, and it would be all right!"

[lumengentleman]

The St. Gregory was a significant step forward (although it has its problems). IMO, the Pius X Hymnal, which wasn't published until the 1950's, is much better. 

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same Pius X hymnal or not, but the one we use at our parish (shown here) is in really sad shape.  I get the impression it was written mainly for congregational and not choir use, hence, the harmonizations are excessively simplified and often violate some of the basic rules of vocal arrangement.

 

I wish we had more hymns, frankly.  I've attempted to make up for the lack in our own parish hymnal by writing my own arrangements of some of the Gregorian Chant, harmonized for SATB.  Beyond that, I'm not sure what can be done - when you only have maybe 15 or so good hymns, and those 15 are not all appropriate for all liturgical seasons, you end up having to sing the same four or five hymns every week for months at a stretch.

 

Funny thing is, even though we sing the same batch of hymns every two to three weeks, year in and year out, the congregation remains timid at best.  Don't know what to do to get them to sing ...

[gladius_veritatis]

There are gobs of SATB hymns, Jacob.  We had ridiculously fat notebooks of them which we sang in Detroit and Cincinnati, and there were dozens that were not common to the two choirs' 'notebooks'.  If you would like, I could give you a contact in each place - they would likely be happy to share some information on how to get these hymns.

[Paul]

It would be interesting to study the singing habits and hymnals used (if any) in indult, SSPX, and other Traditional chapels.

My parish has the Adoremus hymnal, which (I'm guessing) they use at the NO Masses, but they also print the hymns and some other prayers for each Sunday on separate sheets and distribute those. At the TLM, we have vernacular hymns before and after, but always Latin at the Offertory and Communion, and they're sung only by the choir. If anyone sings along, it's always done quietly.

[catholicresistence]

We use the Adoramus Hymna far better than the goopy junk in most churches.

 

My Padre changes the offeratory prayers much to reflect more stern and Trad Catholic thoughts-not the ooy gooy stuff from Magnificat

[catholicresistence]

Many in Adoramus are old Catholic hyms-some form mid 1st millenia.

 

When I as at a Eastern Rite church, we were told that some hymns were actually protest hymns, with certain phrases promoting Prots theology or denying ours.

 

We have to look over carefully and possible change wording (like the Modernists due to Amazing Grace and such)

[jujyfruit06]

I know that at Holy Rosary there was a huge problem in getting the congregation to sing the processional and recessional hymns. One thing Father Duvelius did to promote the singing was to deliver an entire homily on it, he encouraged (almost directed!) everyone to sing, saying that you miss many graces by not participating. It didn't fix it entirely, but it definately helped.

 

Vernacular hymns such as "Praise to the Lord the Almighty" and "O God Beyond All Praising" are wonderful, I've never found there to be a lack in those type of hymns. I don't know the history behind all of them, but surely if the words are not denying Catholic doctrine, and even just generic Christian themes (such as praising the Lord for His goodness) there can be nothing wrong with that. I highly doubt that anyone sings these hymns with the intent of embracing the protestant ideas, or even with the knowledge that they are protestant.

[catholicresistence]

It would be interesting to study the singing habits and hymnals used (if any) in indult, SSPX, and other Traditional chapels.

My parish has the Adoremus hymnal, which (I'm guessing) they use at the NO Masses, but they also print the hymns and some other prayers for each Sunday on separate sheets and distribute those. At the TLM, we have vernacular hymns before and after, but always Latin at the Offertory and Communion, and they're sung only by the choir. If anyone sings along, it's always done quietly.

 

We too have Latin sung at Communion reception (along the rail and kneeling)

 

Our NO is mix between Latin and English-extremly toward latin-we are Diocesan so latitude is not as flexible. We have weeded out a lot of lukewarm and liberals.

 

My padre prefers latin, works it in at consecration- Agnus Dei, Pater Noster, Santus, etc. Much as he can geet way with.