Communion hymn selection during the Christmas season
  • diminuendoduck
    Posts: 2
    Hi everyone. I hope I'm submitting this in the correct category. I am picking out hymns for this Sunday up until the Baptism of Our Lord and I'm trying to figure out communion hymn selection. Last year our pastor said he would prefer more Christmas carols. So I'm trying to accommodate that request, however, does that give me licence to program Christmas carols during communion then? (for example, "Away in a Manger".) Or in other words, does the Christmas season trump the hymns being purely eucharistic themed?

    Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
  • Nathan_the_Organist
    Posts: 441
    I would say season can trump. I typically program seasonal hymns for Lent, Easter, Advent, and Christmas and save the Eucharistic hymns for Ordinary Time. Even on feast days such as Pentecost, I'd say the feast themed hymn trumps doing Eucharistic hymns.
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  • GerardH
    Posts: 482
    As a guide, the Communion Chant/Antiphon, which is the preferred text for communion at any given Mass, is rarely explicitly Eucharistic. Choose something seasonally appropriate unless there's nothing to choose from, then default to something Eucharistic.
    Thanked by 5Liam fcb rich_enough diminuendoduck irishtenor
  • SponsaChristi
    Posts: 422
    Corde natus ex parentis would probably be one of the more appropriate Christmas hymn for communion.
    Thanked by 3Liam diminuendoduck Diapason84
  • canadashcanadash
    Posts: 1,502
    It's a great question that a lot of us have considered. I agree with the answers above. I thought it might be helpful to mention that I have had ppl in the congregation ask me why we are singing Christmas hymns after the Epiphany.
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • Anna_BendiksenAnna_Bendiksen
    Posts: 249
    I have this Christmas hymn with a verse about the Eucharist.

    https://forum.musicasacra.com/forum/discussion/21912/new-hymn-or-simple-motet-christmas-passion#Item_1
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CatholicZ09
    Posts: 295
    Since the Christmas season is so short and the carols/hymns themselves are so widely known, I see no reason not to use them.

    Now, when we plug them in at my parish, we try to use ones at Communion that make sense with the action. For example, this weekend we are using “What Child is This” as one of the Communion hymns. I find the refrain “This, this is Christ the King…” to be poignant as the congregation receives the Eucharist.

    On Christmas Eve/Day, we used “O Little Town of Bethlehem” as one of the hymns - “where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in” perfectly describes how one should receive Holy Communion.

    This is all very neurotic of me and doesn’t have to be a guide for anyone, but I like looking at the lyrics and seeing where things fit best.
    Thanked by 4Anna_Bendiksen diminuendoduck Chrism irishtenor
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,378
    Corde natus ex parentis would probably be one of the more appropriate Christmas hymn for communion.


    In the past we have done this. I took the Latin (a mix of the Liber Hymnarius and the PBC) and cleaned up the Gregobase version which had several unfortunate mistakes.

    We also have done Puer natus, dividing verses between the days through the Epiphany octave so that it is more appropriate for the given Mass.

    My qualm about the carols, for those who can use vernacular texts, is that relatively few lend themselves to communion, but maybe that’s OK. Just let the choir sing.
    Thanked by 2diminuendoduck tomjaw
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,993
    I used them when I played full time. People are going to communion and the choir is carrying the singing anyway. They are just familiar background music which adds to the season.
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • Chrism
    Posts: 875
    There's always Let All Mortal Flesh.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Diapason84
    Posts: 83
    .
    Thanked by 2tomjaw OMagnumMysterium
  • RoborgelmeisterRoborgelmeister
    Posts: 181
    Consider the third verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem.

    How silently, how silently,
    the wondrous gift is giv'n!
    So God imparts to human hearts
    the blessings of His heav'n.
    No ear may hear His coming,
    but in this world of sin,
    where meek souls will receive Him still,
    the dear Christ enters in.
    Thanked by 3irishtenor CharlesW CHGiffen
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,337
    I also vote in support of using Christmas carols liberally throughout the Christmas season, even during the Communion procession.
    Thanked by 5oldhymns Liam LauraKaz CharlesW francis
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 423
    The Communion Antiphons sure seem to have texts closer to Christmas Carols than they do to traditional Communion hymns and songs.
    Thanked by 3CharlesW CHGiffen lmassery
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,993
    Christmas is so short a season, there isn't that much time to sing those carols to begin with. We can't start them on Thanksgiving like some of the Protestants do. Enjoy the carols for the short time they last.
    Thanked by 4oldhymns irishtenor CHGiffen hilluminar
  • francis
    Posts: 10,858
    I may be mistaken, but I don't think music during Communion has to BE ABOUT COMMUNION... I think that is a novel concept that emerged with the NO... you know... see me this, say me say this, do this say this... type of attitude... but let me know what you think... everything is so LITERAL, it becomes banal very quickly... I mean, I pray the rosary during the Mass, and that was always an accepted and promoted practice until the NO people started condemning it...
    Thanked by 2tomjaw CharlesW
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