To this esteemed group: In light of the discussions surrounding the Parish hymnal,what are those of you who live with the Novus Ordo thinking of doing in terms of replacement books for the pew. I know that I am thinking of a yearly readings book (cheaper than missalettes), and some kind of hymnal and chant book. Thoughts? Its one of the reasons why I am so interested in the Parish hymnal being discussed.
In my case, we have a large Spanish population, and current Missalettes are bilingual. This will not change. I am reluctant to go to another hardback hymnal than the one we have now- Ritualsong, b/c we already have the softcover United in Christ in pews in addition to something called Spirit and Song or something like that for the School masses. (This contains so much junk I shudder when I see it) Having explored all the other Hymnals available, I can't see us buying anything other than Ritual song. Hoping a new edition will be improved,though. For instance, the pew version has a Hymntune Index, and a Metrical Index of tunes. Not one parishioner in a hundred even knows what they are., much less would ever use them. The Choir version does not have a Hymntune index, however. Very frustrating. And so much changing of trad hymns to make them gender neutral, and doing away with the 'Thees and 'Thous,etc. , many times completely changing meaning of original text.Frustrating. But still, the best available for our situation. But all this is nothing new to anyone on this forum.
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