Lourdes hymn, French refrain rhythm, "hearts on fire" text
  • FrSamuelKeyes
    Posts: 7
    I've searched through the archives but haven't found this exact thing. Does anyone have a good copy (for congregational/choir use) of the Lourdes hymn in English that (1) follows the traditional French rhythm for the Aves in the refrain, (2) uses the fuller "Immaculate Mary, our hearts are on fire" text rather than "Immaculate Mary, thy praises we sing."

    Possibly I can get someone to put this together for me but I find it hard to believe that there's really nothing out there. (I know for example that, back in my days as an Episcopalian, they would sing this at the annual Candlemas procession at All Saints, Ashmont, but I don't have any contacts there anymore. I also feel sure that I did find such a copy at one point but now I've lost it.)
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,464
    Perhaps it's not easily found because that versification was by Augustus Tozer who at the same time shifted to the other stresses on the Aves?
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 803
    @FrSamuelKeyes You can check out my Hymn of the Month. I did a write up on Immaculate Mary with the "hearts on fire" text and different melodies.
    https://www.motherofmercycatholichymns.com/immaculate-mary/
  • FrSamuelKeyes
    Posts: 7
    @Liam, that (at last) makes sense to me as to why this particular combination is so hard to find. I guess I'm a bit slow on the uptake, but I had never made that connection, perhaps because it never occurred to me that I would prefer the text of the man whose melodic interventions I so dislike.
  • FrSamuelKeyes
    Posts: 7
    @Don9of11 I did see that from some of the previous threads on this forum. The 1897 version with "we come at thy call" may actually be suitable for my purposes.
    Thanked by 1Don9of11
  • FSSPmusic
    Posts: 426
    See no. 139 in the St. Andrew Hymnal, p. 116 of the PDF:
    https://archive.ccwatershed.org/media/pdfs/18/08/27/10-22-42_0.pdf#page=116
    Thanked by 1FrSamuelKeyes
  • Joseph Michael
    Posts: 256
    In answer to your first question: Theodore Marier's setting of "Immaculate Mary" uses the French Aves in the refrain as found at #193, Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Canticles.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,464
    Yes, but the Marier verses are different from what the OP is asking for.
    hymnal-193-Immaculate Mary.pdf
    139K
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,209
    Liam, I’m not so sure about that. In England the version that Father describes is normative AFAICT (see this video) and the Scottish hymnal above is the same.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,627
    FSSPmusic has posted what the OP asked for, Marier HP&SC has different words.
    Fr Gainget supplied 120 verses in French, there is an abundance of text to choose from.
    https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6137755t/f1.item.r=Cantique-récit+de+l'apparition.langFR.zoom
    Thanked by 1PaxMelodious
  • FrSamuelKeyes
    Posts: 7
    @FSSPmusic thank you! This is perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. Also delightful to have a pdf of the St Andrew Hymnal, which I didn't have before.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,209
    The upshot is with the words that correspond to the story you can get away with doing this in addition to the usual text and melody. I think Immaculate Mary with a different Ave refrain and lyrics is a tough sell, but I do the ton royal as it is actually sung (as best I can notate that) so our people can go on pilgrimages and participate. I have the same philosophy here with the hymn, although it’s a hard sell as I note.
  • iMalton
    Posts: 4
    The Traditional Roman Hymnal, which I have used at my diocesan TLM, has two different versions of the Lourdes hymn, though I don't think it has the "hearts on fire" lyrics. The key difference, iirc, was the emphases on the Aves in the chorus. I'll try to remember to send a picture of them later.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,180
    I'm late to the party, but I will simply add that I'm fascinated by the French edition, which is so wildly different from the English (or rather I should say, that the English derivative fell very far from the French tree!). This is not to say that I don't like the English, simply that it doesn't match the French whatsoever.

    In any incarnation, it's a cherished hymn. I've been honored to sing it at both Fatima and Lourdes itself, and it is borderline magical hearing 10,000 people sing it with gusto by candlelight. It would soften the hardest heart.
  • CGM
    Posts: 780
    Also, if anyone wants to review, oh, sixty verses or so of the original hymn, Serviam translated it on this forum a few years back.

    I put together a score that includes the six verses in English that Lourdes prints on its multi-lingual materials, plus six more that I versified based on Serviam's translation. DM me if interested.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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