Since you have time-flexibility with the recessional hymn, I would suggest using your judgment, depending on the hymn itself. Some hymns have an interior logic and progression toward heaven that should be respected, when possible.

For example if the last verse is a doxology, a Glory be to the Father..., then I would sing the entire hymn. Or if the last verse is somehow elevated into the eschatological realm, then I would sing all the verses. Many hymns speak of the heavenly goal in the last verse. That is precious stuff and I wouldn't omit it personally unless absolutely necessary under the circumstances.

Musicman,

You have provided (and Jani has reinforced) the best possible reason to use the Propers assigned for the feast. Whether one sings recto tono, or uses the Liber or..... the Proper has a prescribed minimum length.

Cheers,

Chris

I have always, as have most of us of Anglican heritage, been quite emphatic that the entire hymn be sung. For reason: it is a poem with a definite literary and theological message that should not be savaged by chopping it off in the interest of time or other (misplaced) priorities. I continue to believe that this is the best policy.

However, I have come to have a moderately more flexible, and conditional, stance. Due to the fact that very many of our hymns are actually centos of much longer original works (for instance Jesus dulcis memoria and 'Of the Father's Love Begotten', and many more), I see nothing wrong in carefully choosing which stanzas to sing on a day on which, say, stanzas 1, 2, and 5, (or, 1, 3, 4, and 6) fit the daily lectionary very well, and the remaining ones were less applicable. Creating such centos out of what is already a cento should be done with love and care (which can be agonising!). In no wise should one just sing stanzas 1 and 2 simply because the rest are an 'inconvenience'. So, in a nutshell, if one must sing only some of the stanzas, choose conscientiously which ones they shall be. All this presupposes, of course, that one has chosen all the hymns because of their relevance to the day's lectionary! (But, it remains best to sing all stanzas.)

(Actually, it occurs to one that if people [and that includes priests!] have been catechised properly in their hymnody, they would be aware of the import of the words they are singing and would notice and be rather bothered that what they were singing made little sense because of any omitted stanzas.)

Indeed, Chris! In fact, with few exceptions, the only hymnals to include twelve or fifteen stanzas of a hymn are likely to be Lutheran ones, and even that may be a thing of the past. I have seen Lutheran hymnals of the recent past which had some hymns with as many as thirty stanzas! Our centos seem to be increasingly centoed!

Short answer: pick short(er) hymns.

Longer, more involved answer:

Print a weekly order of service so you don't have to announce your hymns. Announcing hymns, imploring people to "please join in singing along with me, an under-trained, overly-amplified amateur"...I wonder which percentage of the faithful assembled actually responds to this cry to heaven with anything audible or musical.

Don't call it a "Recessional Hymn." We call ours a HYMN OF PRAISE, or for evening Masses, an EVENING HYMN. Call it anything but a Recessional Hymn. Just seeing or hearing that that makes me reach for the car keys.

PRINT shorter hymns in your order of worship, where you can dictate which verses get printed. We sang Ora labora this past weekend, and I omitted verses two and three. Here's what the reprint looked like. Of course, cross your t's and dot your eyes on copyright issues, so this is more easily done with music in the public domain.

So, then, Chuck -
Are the broken-off remains of a cenotaph a centotaph?

My, it's is getting warm in here... maybe as much as 130 centograde?
(Then, there was this millstone that broke, resulting in centofugal force.)

Is a cento the work of a centorian?

Or are centoaurs just a centoctical myth?

When our priest begins his exit, that is the last verse (could be v. 1 or 3). Then we (my children and I as the "choir") sing the "Salve Regina" while the congregation exits and begins their chatter, elevated to shout above our singing. I would rather do away with a "Closing Hymn", as we call it, and just sing the "Salve Regina" followed by a brief organ postlude. But that's not within my perview.

I agree with Mark's advice to sing shorter hymns. I make an effort to select short hymns for the hymn after the dismissal, for example, keeping in mind that most people are happy not to have to sit around singing at length.

To cut a hymn short on the fly, to play a sort of reverse-musical-chairs, is a sin. Perhaps not a sin against God, but a sin against any reasonable standard of decorum and musicianship.

And as CGZ mentioned, this whole problem is solved by using the proper antiphons, as EVERY Catholic parish must do.

I have no problem with calling the last hymn a recessional hymn. It is a reversed direction procession as priest and servers leave the altar and process out. No one bolts for the door and the congregation stays and sings. Some have even complained when I have cut verses, although I don't stop until the priest passes under the loft to the main doors. We never announce hymns, btw. The numbers are posted on the hymn board.

And as CGZ mentioned, this whole problem is solved by using the proper antiphons, as EVERY Catholic parish must do.

And playing the organ or leaving the church in silence. Many are unaware that processing in and out is, except for a Sunday High Mass, a purely recent event.

I don't tend to truncate recessional hymns.

Recession! A recession is an economic disaster. It is not a liturgical act. However, I fear that we are not going to get rid of that word in reference to 'going out' or 'departing' from mass. Liturgically speaking, there are processions, but no recessions. A recession is not the opposite of a procession. Processions are quite ancient and may involve a small or large number of personages making their way in a formal manner to an outdoor or indoor shrine, to 'stational' churches in the city of Rome or elsewhere, or to a stational altar or statue within a church or monastery. Processions generally include the singing of hymns, litanies, the recital of devotional material, or other communal acts. The point of a procession is that it begins somewhere and ends at a specific liturgically important place. Processions are not at all new-fangled inventions of the recent council. But, only in the loosest manner should the Entrance of the Sacred Ministers for mass be called a 'procession' - unless, of course, this Entrance (Introitus) is marked by an incidental 'side trip' to honour a stational altar or statue or shrine. So, what is the proper term for what we casually refer to as the 'recession'?
I call it the dismissal hymn, as opposed to the entrance hymn. My habit, and that of some others, is as follows when printing service folders -

AT THE ENTRANCE - Hymn 387 - - - - Lauda anima
AT THE DISMISSAL - Hymn 528 - - - - St Denio

Alas, though, although recessions don't exist, I doubt that we'll ever get rid of them.

The British monarchy has nice hats in church.

CW: If you use 1940, or use Anglican Use Rite I, 'Hither and Thither' might be more suitable.

I agree emphatically with Jackson about "Recession" - that is a matter of money, not liturgy! Although in discussing it with an Anglo-Catholic priest, he pointed out that one can talk about something "receding", such as a tide which recedes. I must say, I found that compelling, though the word still sounds odd to me - unless the processing people are walking backwards!

My preferred terminology, when in Catholic parishes, is "Hymn after Mass". It says what it is.

I don't see calling both opening and closing hymns "HYMN IN PROCESSION." You process in, you process out. Could not agree with MJO's comments more.

cutting it short on the fly all of the sudden

There is no more clear way to communicate "what we are doing now is not at all important."