Hymn: Taste and See

At Communion time this morning in our parish of St. William the Abbot, the congregation sang the hymn "Taste and See the Lord is Good," based on Psalm 34:8. It was composed by Dr. James E. Moore, jr., a Black Catholic from Virginia, and from Cincinnati's Athenaeum seminary, where  he taught music. From 1984, Dr. Moore lived and taught in Vienna, Austria. He died there in 2022.

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Please see entry at Black Catholic Messenger.

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List of seven hymns he wrote at Hymnary.org.

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Wikipedia entry HERE.

The King of Love My Shepherd Is

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday because of its Gospel. Our offertory hymn at St. William's was "The King of Love My Shepherd Is," composed in 1868 by Sir Henry Williams Baker, 1821-1877.

Hymn, Crown Him with Many Crowns

Today, the Feast of Christ the King, the pre-recorded Mass from the Passionist Fathers, had as recessional the hymn "Crown Him with Many Crowns, the Lamb upon his Throne." The hymnist is Matthew Bridges, 1800-1894, who penned this hymn after he embraced the Roman Catholic church around 1846.

Hymn, We Gather Together

On Sunday, November 10, 2024, the entrance hymn was "We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessings," strong in purpose and of fascinating history. Our translation may have been done by Theodore Baker, 1851 - 1934.

In the Spanish-ruled Netherlands of 1597, Adrianus Valerius, Dutch Protestant, wrote it to celebrate a military victory. Spain forbade Protestant religious celebrations. Careful! The various English translations are inexact. The Dutch hymn begins, "Wilt heden nu treden, perhaps "Will you now take steps..."

Please see the Wikipedia article linked HERE.

Hymn at Pentecost

Our music director made several good choices for Pentecost today. Among the songs at Communion was "Breathe on me, breath of God" by Edwin Hatch. An excellent commentary, courtesy of Methodists, is linked HERE.

Hymn for Transfiguration

Today's Gospel was from Mark 9, an account of the Transfiguration. Peter said, "Rabbi, it is good that we are  here." Our processional hymn today was Joseph A. Robinson's " 'Tis good, Lord, to be here." I wonder whether the composer was this Joseph Robinson (1815-1898)

When the darkness closes in, Come Lord Jesus

Meri Dell Ridge wrote this morning's entrance hymn, "Come Lord Jesus." It begins, "When the darkness closes in."  M. D. Ridge lived 1938-2017.

Link for her biography HERE.

I cannot link the text, but it shows up in missals published by the Oregon Catholic Press.

Hymn: The Church's One Foundation

The Church's One Foundation is Jesus Christ Our Lord. Today I heard this familiar hymn as the entrance song at the Passionist Fathers' pre-recorded Sunday Mass from Jamaica, Queens. Searching for its origin, I learned that it is a poetic explanation of the ninth article of the Apostles' Creed. Samuel John Stone, a Church of England priest, published it in 1866 in Lyra Fidelium. In that book he connects scriptural passages to each of the twelve articles of the Creed and to poetic verses he wrote. I admire its clarity.

Pastor Martin Rinkart and the plague

Pastor Martin Rinkart wrote "Now Thank We All Our God" despite his parish's tribulations of plague, famine, and war. I refer you to Pam Griffin's Story Behind the Song, linked HERE.

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He lived in Saxony 1586-1649, more than a hundred years after Luther.

Hymn written in 1941

 This morning, 8.23.2020, the Sunday Mass from the Passionist monastery in Jamaica began with "To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King." Although I often heard this hymn during my high school days, I would never have guessed its origin in the first year of our Second World War.  Please see Deacon Greg Kandra's explanation HERE.  

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Much of the liturgical movement of the Twentieth Century was led by German and Austrian monks and their friends in the United States. In this instance, Father Martin Hellriegel wrote this hymn as a proclamation opposite the claims of Hitler and the doctrines of the Nazis.

Greg Kandra is a permanent deacon at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Forest Hills.

CatholicPhilly and copyrights of music and texts

CatholicPhilly.com is the official news website of the archdiocese of Philadelphia, replacing the weekly Catholic Standard newspaper that folded in 2012. A few days ago, this important article appeared, Parishes Livestreaming Masses Need Licenses.
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Almost all choir directors, pastors, and assistants are probably alert to this issue lurking behind the worship in our churches. Not only do the hymn writers have to get their royalties, but also the basic texts of our worship, the Bible readings, liturgical texts (as the Canon of the Mass), the Sacramentary, and other prayers are owned by an entity, generally the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Open any pew Mass booklet, look for the fine print about copyrights, and you will discover the titles of the owners.
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I must let the above article speak for itself. 

A hymn for church unity

On Holy Thursday, 2020, I watched and prayed along with Cardinal Timothy Dolan at the 5:30 p.m. Eucharist from St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Early during the Mass, the hymn, "Lord, who at thy First Eucharist Did pray" was sung by a cantor in a very empty cathedral, empty because of the gathering limitations of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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This hymn for Eucharistic Unity was written by a member of the Church of England, namely William Harry Turton, 1856-1938. The lyrics can be seen and the hymn heard on YouTube HERE.

O God, our Help in Ages past

Isaac Watts (1674-1748), a Congregationalist minister, based "O God, our Help in Ages past" on Psalm 90. William Croft (1678-1727) wrote the familiar melody. Is this appropriate for a stressful year?

YouTube with lyrics.

Psalm 90 from USCCB.

Wake, O Wake, and sleep no longer

At the vigil Mass last night, our talented organist ran through the interludes of "Wachet Auf" with enthusiasm and vigor, lifting us up to Advent hope that our new pastor Fr. Fitzgerald had just identified in his First Sunday of Advent sermon. I must thank Christopher Idle, our contemporary, for reworking the lyrics of the original into a clearly Advent piece.
Links:
What we sang, with Bible references.
The Bach Cantata, Leipzig, 1731, with German text and translation.
Philipp Nicholai (1556-1608), Lutheran pastor, poet, and hymnist.

Salve, Regina Coelitum

Appropriately on the feast of the Assumption of Mary today, our recessional was an English translation of the hymn
Salve, Regina coelitum, O Maria.
Sors unica terrigenum, O Maria.
Jubilate Cherubim,
exsultate Seraphim,
consonate perpetim.
Salve, salve, salve Regina.

2. Mater misericordiae, O Maria.
Dulcis parens clementiae, O Maria.
Jubilate ...

3. Tu vitae lux, fons gratiae, O Maria.
Causa nostrae laetitiae,
O Maria.

Translation and additional English verson, author I have not yet learned:

Hail, Holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria! 
Hail, Mother of mercy and of love, O Maria! 
Triumph all ye cherubim! 
Sing with us ye seraphim! 
Heaven and earth resound the hymn! 
Salve, salve, salve, Regina! 

Our life, our sweetness here below, O Maria!
Our hope in sorrow and in woe, O Maria! 
Triumph all ye cherubim! 
Sing with us ye seraphim! 
Heaven and earth resound the hymn!
Salve, salve, salve, Regina!

To thee do we cry, poor sons of Eve, O Maria!
To thee we sigh, we mourn, we grieve, O Maria! 
Triumph all ye cherubim! 
Sing with us ye seraphim! 
Heaven and earth resound the hymn!
Salve, salve, salve, Regina!

Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, O Maria!
Towards us thine eyes compassionate, O Maria! 
Triumph all ye cherubim! 
Sing with us ye seraphim! 
Heaven and earth resound the hymn!
Salve, salve, salve, Regina! O Maria!

When this our exile is complete, O Maria!
Show us thy Son, our Jesus sweet, O Maria! 
Triumph all ye cherubim! 
Sing with us ye seraphim! 
Heaven and earth resound the hymn!
Salve, salve, salve, Regina!

O clement, gracious Mother sweet, O Maria!
O virgin Mary we entreat, O Maria! 
Triumph all ye cherubim! 
Sing with us ye seraphim! 
Heaven and earth resound the hymn!
Salve, salve, salve, Regina!

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The big puzzle is whether to count the Salve Regina as two hymns or one. The first, dating back to the 11th century and Herman of Reichenau, is the well-known Salve Regina Mater Misericordiae, often sung at Compline and recited at the end of the rosary. This hymn is in Gregorian plainchant.

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae: 
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. 
Ad te clamamus, exsules, filii Hevae. 
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes 
in hac lacrimarum valle. 
Eia ergo, Advocata nostra, 
illos tuos misericordes oculos 
ad nos converte. 
Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, 
nobis, post hoc exsilium ostende. 
O clemens: O pia: O dulcis 
Virgo Maria.

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The newer Salve, Regina coelitum (Hail, queen of heavenly beings) is in 4/4 time, and may be trochaic tetrameter catalectic (four feet, stressed-unstressed with a final syllable missing). Melchior Ludwig Herold  (1753-1810) may have composed both the rewording and the melody.

Fr. Willard Jabusch, hymnist

Today we sang at communion "See How the Virgin Waits," with a Slovak folk melody. It saddened me to discover that its composer, Fr. Willard Jabusch, of Chicago, died this December 8th, age 88. You may read an obituary in the Chicago Tribune HERE. Many hymns he authored were based on hymns in Christian cultures in other lands and languages. 
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Some of his eighty hymns are listed HERE. His talent helped us worship and praise.
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Today's hymn is certainly an appropriate Advent song. I have not yet discovered whether it is also a translation from Slovak or whether he has Slovak ancestry. Please comment below if you know!
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May the choirs of angels welcome him.

Sent forth by God's Blessing

For recessional today, 9.30.2018, our cantor announced "Sent forth by God's Blessing," which I find a remarkable and beautiful choice. Even the melody sounds like people walking out into a new day with purpose. 
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Please note these three links:
A biography of Omer Westendorf from a Collegeville website.
And a reference to one of his pseudonyms, J. Clifford Evers, HERE.
And an extensive obituary from the Cincinnati Enquirer of 10.23.1997. 

Ascension

Some parishes in central Europe celebrate Jesus's Ascension with a statue hoisted roofward. The link below shows the sequence in Ansing, Bavaria.
Link HERE.
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On YouTube, Ascension Thursday in Mittenwald, Bavaria, link HERE.
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The Gregorian chant Introit is "Viri Galilaei ... why are you looking?" from Acts 1.
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As entrance hymn, our parish sang "Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise," by Charles Wesley, its five stanzas clearly rejoicing over the rising to heaven more than the rising from the tomb.
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A verse of Psalm 47 is found in the seldom-heard Introit, but we sang six verses of it as the Responsorial Psalm. Likewise, Wesley's hymn echoes the same prayers and praise.
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At Communion, we sang Robert Dufford's "Be Not Afraid." I then realized that the hymn is not especially a funeral hymn but rather one of instruction to the Apostles at the Ascension. (Am I correct?)
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The recessional was written by an upstate New Yorker, Leon M. Adkins. "Go, make of all disciples" clearly references today's Gospel.

Hymn: I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

Yesterday, 8.7.2016, our music director chose as recessional an inspirational hymn that I had never heard before, "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light," music and words written about 1966 by Kathleen Thomerson.  It is in the Oregon Catholic Press hymnal we use at St. William's.  The melody is soft, easy, and the words "quietly" meditative.  As I suspected, the hymn has a Methodist background.
For lyrics and commentary, please see the link HERE.

Recessional hymn at Pope's Mass at MSG

It is 7:40 p.m. on September 25, 2015, and Mass has been celebrated with Pope Francis at Madison Square Garden.  Allow me to point out a special quality of the recessional hymn, "Now thank we all our God." 
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Martin Rinkart, a clergyman who followed Martin Luther, wrote this hymn about 1636 despite having suffered a fearful number of deaths among his companions, fellow citizens, and family. He wrote "Nun danket alle Gott" is heartfelt thanksgiving for God's good gifts.  Please see this context in this Wikipedia article.
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Another article, linked HERE, describes the Biblical motivation for the hymn, following Ecclesiasticus 50:22-24.