I think it's a bit (or more than a bit) too sentimental, and is probably better for a children's religion class (the kind where the "We Believe" type of books are used) than at a mass. Given that you are doing "The Three Kings", you're pretty much covering the space that song would be used in.

As for "elitist", trying to avoid mediocrity is not elitist.

It's the text, really. I believe it was written for a play.
Actually, the music too; rather tumpty-tumpty. I'm suspicious of things in 6/8 rhythm for use at Mass (ok, this is usually 3/8, or it is in our hymnbook).
And furthermore, at primary school we used to sing 'one in a taxi one in a car, one on a scooter blowing his hooter' etc, so I wonder if others are, furtively.

Well, it's less sentimental and theological than Silent Night, among others.* YMMV.

I can't remember the name of the eminent English choral person who thought WTK one of the best carols of the period to arise from the USA, but I remember being surprised at that reaction (I would put I Wonder as I Wander far ahead of WTK, though admittedly it is of later provenance).

* I confess I am not a fan of Silent Night as it typically is used at Mass in the USA. Congregations belting it with lots of vibrato and portamento deepen the problem. At least WTK just has the "O" with problem, and I've seen it better managed by organists and choirs.

So is "What Child is This" in 6/8 time. "The First Nowell" is usually printed in 3/4 time, although I think I've seen it in 6/8 time as well. Oh, and what about "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly? ... hmm.

I always think of the version from Prairie Home Companion:

We three kings of Orient are
Trying to smoke a rubber cigar.
It was loaded,
It exploded--
*BANG*

We two kings of Orient are...

And yes, it always feels like playacting, which is fine--in a play. In the pews, it just feels silly.

Who's programming "Brightest and best of the sons of the morning"? That one always seems highly underused.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iuqOOL49Mo

Definitely can do without the foot thumping (I likes my shape-note music with old fashioned visual gesture of the leader, not that), but the SATB at 1:45ff is glorious in that church of Tolosa in the Basque country.... Anyway, this is of the same period as WTK, and much better....

As for "elitist", trying to avoid mediocrity is not elitist

Actually, it kinda is.

"Trying to avoid mediocrity" could mean various things.

If it means trying to avoid laziness or unthinking convention, that is indeed virtuous.

If it means comparing ourselves to other people and trying to be different, well, that's sort of elitist: it's the attitude people sometimes satirize as hipsterism! Nobody here does that. :-)

We will sing WTK as we always do for Epiphany. It is once a year, so not worth over-reacting to. The verses actually do tell a story, but we never get to sing them all.

One Christmas season, I just put an extra number on the hymn-board every time, and we sang a carol before each Mass throughout the season, no frills, just out of the hymnal like any other hymn. When it came to Epiphany, We Three Kings was then the extra carol for that day, and this was an improvement from previous years when I had scrupulously avoided it.

Kathy,

I used to love that hymn, and At the Lamb's high feast, and then someone ruined the latter by butchering both the poetry and the theology:

God in us made manifest. (Grrr)

Fr Krisman,

Thank you for the correction.

I stand by my complaint that "God in flesh made manifest" was adopted not out of a desire to be accurate, but merely to avoid the word "man".

I won't rant on the subject more than I already have.

Interesting points, thank you.
I still feel I won't include it. My husband is a Kingsman, and he admits that just because the choir sings something (beautifully), that doesn't mean it would work for us at Mass.
We did Brightest and Best (to the tune by Mr Thrupp) last year and people complained they didn't know it :-(
and we have done Songs of thankfulness. I checked and our old hymnbook has Man, with a capital M! Our new PC hymnbook simply leaves the whole hymn out. Pity.
Also interesting the different approaches on both sides of the Atlantic! Over here, in my experience anyway Silent Night is sung quietly with great reverence often at dirge-like speed, rather than 'belting it with lots of vibrato and portamento', (shudder).
At the Offertory tomorrow three men from the congregation dressed in copes will go up in the procession to present something representing the gifts of the Three Kings. (no one has as yet suggested one of them should be a Queen, political correctness hasn't gone that far, but perhaps next year.....) That's when we'll be doing the Peter Cornelius 'Three Kings', rather than WTK. I think the Cornelius version is rather more, well, majestic.

:) Yes, we sang GKW as all voices in parts vs. men or ladies sing the king and page in unison depending on the respective text. It took a bit to rehearse, but I thought it went superlatively well.

We sang "We Three Kings" today, being mindful to keep it smooth, not ONE 23. The text was very fitting for the homily and we were able to sing all the verses. I realized that I like the words as a whole message, especially being able to sing all those "Alleluias!" in the last verse. It seemed to really compliment the proclamation of the dates of Ash Wednesday, Easter, Corpus Christi, etc.

...be here before...

How many here had the proclamation of festal observances for the year read (sung) in their parishes this morning?
How many received blessed chalk to take home and write 20 + CMB + 18 above their lintels?

We've had sung readings (all three) at Walsingham now from Mid-night mass through today. We were inundated by people telling us how beautiful they were, and how their apprehension of the Sacred Scripture was enhanced by its having been sung. Christmas, Holy Family, Mother of God, Epiphany. The Christmastide solemnities being over, we shant have three-chanted-readings Sundays until Holy Week - except! for The Chair of St Peter on 22 February, which is a solemnity in the Ordinariate.

Unfortunately, we of the Ordinariate, just like everyone else, have to observe Epiphany on the Sunday nearest its actual occurrence. A pox on the houses of all the episcopal grinches responsible for this accursed penalty. Our people are quite unhappy about this.

I could say I have celebrated Epiphany (Theophany) twice. Once at the real time, once with the Latins today. I also have blessed chalk.

With thanks to Fr Krisman for the background he yet again provides - still...

Reprehensible as their thoughts and acts were, I don't think that we can blame the Baltimorian Council for the present indignity to the dignity of the Epiphany. It was our not-very-excellencied bishops of the post VII era who burdened us with moving Epiphany altogether to a day which they, undoubtedly, thought more 'convenient'... and so what if it breaks nearly 2.000 years of tradition? 'We couldn't care less' seems to be their motto in such matters. A pox on their house.

MJO, it is the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar (1969) that decreed that, in countries where the Epiphany of the Lord is not observed as a holyday of obligation (and that is the case in the great majority of countries throughout the world), it is to be observed on the Sunday after January 1.

You might also want to check out the Wikipedia article on "Holy day of obligation" to see which countries observe Epiphany as a day of precept. Not that many, not even France. Those countries all celebrated Epiphany today, the Sunday after January 1.

Again, I'm happy that Latin rite Catholics in the USA attend Mass on the Sundays observing the Epiphany, Ascension, and Body and Blood of Christ in significantly greater numbers than they would were those solemnities to be observed as days of precept on January 6, the Thursday after the Sixth Sunday of Easter, and the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, respectively.

being on a week-day does not unduly affect all holy attendance on Christmas, Immaculate Conception, Assumption, etc.

MJO, I do not wish to belabor this discussion. More than enough has already been written. But, except perhaps for Christmas, I don't understand how you can make this statement. Is the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston so different from the rest of our country?

Actually, the Episcopal Diocese of Texas always used to have the reputation of being the lowest of the low.
Ditto, the Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston, which is not

so different from the rest of our country?

which is nothing to brag about.

Under the guidance of Cardinal di Nardo (who is a music lover and a gift from God), it may be that the now-archdiocese has improved somewhat. There are indeed a few (very few) oases of liturgical sanity to be found here, but, in general, it's the happy-clappy norm. One would search in vain for a St John Cantius' here. With rare, very rare!, excursions elsewhere my experience of 'church' here is confined quite happily to Walsingham - with occasional engagements at St Basil's Chapel, UST, and a once-in-a-while engagement at the co-cathedral - which has, of all things, Ritual Song in the pews!

This all goes much, much, deeper than playing shell games with the Church's historic feast days. The shell games are but another manifestation of happy-clappy convenience driven religion.

I have often thought, and many in the east agree, that Epiphany is a more significant event than Christmas. That is, of course, if you accept Epiphany as God's official presentation of his son to the world. It definitely isn't commercialized into the monster that Christmas has become.

Some may wish to read up on the three plenary councils of Baltimore

I have about decided that when two or three Latin churchmen are gathered, no good to the faith results.


Precept? Anyone else see a problem here? To borrow a bit from Tallis, If ye love me, you might want to get your rear to church and celebrate significant events in the life of Christ, that is if nothing worldly of greater importance is going on.

Move it to Sunday so people will come and mass attendance will be better. Maybe collections, too. If it were not somewhat true that average Catholics could just as well be celebrating the life of a stray dog for all they know, it might be of more benefit to them to be there. Get the hour "obligation" over with, if it is not too much trouble.

or more pious than

Would that depend on the object of their worship?

'How many here had the proclamation of festal observances for the year read (sung) in their parishes this morning?
How many received blessed chalk to take home and write 20 + CMB + 18 above their lintels?'

Yes to both, here in NE Scotland (mission territory). And we also were given some blessed incense to burn around the house, with a warning that it might set off the smoke alarms. The cantor doing the proclamation mistakenly gave the date of Easter as MARCH 1st. Does that mean we can have a shorter Lent...................