lyrics dropped in Alleluia, Alleluia, Let the Holy Anthem Rise
  • Does anyone know why the verse "...Alleluia, alleluia He has burst the prison bars/He has lifted up the portals of our home beyond the stars/He has won for us our freedom;'neath His feet our foes are trod/He has purchased back the birthright to the kingdom of our God....is no part of the hymn in OCP?
    The reason I ask is that that particular verse sung is an excellent defense against an attack of depression.
    I hope you don't think I'm just some nut. It really is a shame when something with spiritual power is deleted.
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    My only guess is it's OCP, and there were too many "He"s in it.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Carol
  • cesarfranck
    Posts: 162
    Too many "He's" or too many verses. I love the hymn.
    Thanked by 1Carol
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    I guess they think it's less verse than it was before?
    Thanked by 2Carol tomjaw
  • tandrews
    Posts: 174
    On the same OCP-topic, the translation of veni sancte spiritus for Pentecost in the Breaking Bad is lamentable. "Come thousource of all our store!" And worst of all: "O most blessed Light divine, shine within these hearts of YOURS."

    Pencils were moving a lightspeed in choir practice to correct those errors.
  • ViolaViola
    Posts: 411
    I don't know the hymn that Heartfeltsong quotes, but it sounds wonderful. Does anyone have a link to it, please?
  • eft94530eft94530
    Posts: 1,577
    I reject Verse Two containing "But his death was ONLY slumber".
    Heresy.
    Jesus did not fake death.
    Jesus did die.
    I will tolerate an edit "But his death was SHORT AS slumber".
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    worst of all: "O most blessed Light divine, shine within these hearts of YOURS."

    OCP can't be faulted for that howler: it's in the Lectionary for Mass, and hence was produced decades ago for the U.S. bishops and approved by them (and of course by the Holy See).
    Thanked by 2Heath cesarfranck
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Perhaps OCP dropped the hymn verse because it contains difficult vocabulary such as the words "trod" and "portal".

    For some reason this simplified version was not adopted by the editors:
    Alleluia, alleluia, He has broken out of jail
    He has bought us back our birthright to a kingdom that won't fail
    Opened up the gates of heaven, and defeated all our foes,
    He has won for us our freedom! He has trampled all their toes!
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 420
    OCP, oddly enough, is the only publisher who keeps the "He"s in James Moore's Taste and See
    Thanked by 1Caleferink
  • tandrews
    Posts: 174
    OCP can't be faulted for that howler: it's in the Lectionary for Mass, and hence was produced decades ago for the U.S. bishops and approved by them (and of course by the Holy See).


    Ohh fine... *grumble grumble*
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Hm, that's not exactly better, is it?
    Thanked by 1tandrews
  • And yet they keep the line, “till Trump from east to west shall wake the dead in number”.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    There’s no way anyone can sing alleluia, Alleluia He has broken out of jail with a straight face.
    Thanked by 2Schönbergian chonak
  • oldhymnsoldhymns
    Posts: 229
    EFT is correct. The original version of Alleluia, Alleluia, Let the Holy Anthem Rise, which contains the verse which includes the words "But his death was only slumber" was omitted in hymnals published after Vatican II for the reason he mentions: Jesus did die; he was not sleeping. I recall reading criticism of this hymn in a Catholic newspaper in the late 1960s for this reason. If you check the old St. Basil's Hymnal and many others published before 1965 or so, you'll find the original five verses. Here’s a wonderful rendition of this great hymn with organ and brass:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p03kMcjnU0
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 708
    You are right oldhymns, I was looking through some of my old hymn books and came across a couple of arrangements for this hymn I had never heard before in the Sodalists hymnal 1887, listed as "Our Lord's Resurrection".
  • EF, you are absolutely on target. That was not a good lyric.
    For that matter the current changes to the Creed which were supposed to be a return to the original now says "on the third day He rose in accordance with the scriptures." I remember it being " In fulfillment of the scriptures." And a similar skirting is " He suffered death" which makes it seem as if he didn't actually die. It seems to me the creed's meaning has been weakened.
  • You seem to enjoy funny lyrics. I can't get this to "take as an attachment so I'm dropping it in the post.
    O Holy Rite (by Heartfelt Song)

    (to O Holy Night, what else? And yes, I know that isn't a chant)

    O Holy Rite, we practice every ev'ning
    God won't be pleased with a chant sung off-key.
    Night after night we practice without ceasing
    To sound as one: Unison, come to be!
    A thrill of hope—they've started all together,
    Then one by one they stray away from pitch.
    Why must we chant? A hymn would be much better.
    If I could just play, I'd use the organ to blast away.
    But a cappella's hell for voices gone astray.

    Oh, how I pray this vigil gets His blessing.
    That chant has not been sung well to this day.
    Thank God “Adeste” is used for processing.
    Even the tone-deaf do that one okay.
    Then Silent Night and we're through Off'ratory.
    We did all right. Communion's on its way.
    Now all are seated and how my heart is pounding!
    The chant begins. Voices soar in one accord.
    The chant's divine and my heart sings “Oh thank you, Lord.”
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    I agree that the translation "suffered death" is lacking. The Latin says "Passus et sepultus est", which literally is "suffered and burried". Passus/passio is the word from which we get the word Passion to refer to the sufferings, crucifixion, and death of Our Lord. There really is no way to conveniently render the whole sentiment in English.

    However, the Latin does say "secundum scripturas", "according to the scriptures". This clause is not so much about the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, but rather the simple fact that the Resurrection is contained in the Gospels.
    Thanked by 1cesarfranck
  • I thought the gist was He is the embodiment of the Word and all it implies therefore its fulfillment. "According to" just doesn't seem to carry enough weight even if it is the exact literal trnslation. This is one place I think the VII version does more honor to Jesus than pre-VII versions. Just my opinion which counts for nothing to anyone but me.
    Thanks for the scholarly info, tho, Salieri.
    While we're on the topic--how did we end up with the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed and where does each come from?
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    The Apostles' Creed is considered the older one. The Niceno-Constantinopilan Creed is a further development of it from the decrees of the Councils of Nicea and Constantinople--refined each time to clarify the orthodox position from a particular heretical one. (N.B. the Apostles' Creed was never used at Mass until the Novus Ordo was promulgated when it was included as an option. The Apostles' Cree is also called the Baptismal Creed (or Symbol))

    The wording "Et resurrexit teria die, secundum scripturas" was added by the Council of Constantinople in 381, I assume in order to counter a heresy of a kind of mystical resurrection rather than a literal one--a heresy that has again seen the light of day in the post-V2 era--but I have to double-check on that particular point.