Compiled and Edited by G. Paul Parr St. John the Baptist Publishing Company Canton, OH
I came across this when going through some things that were given to me. Has anyone else encountered this hymnal? Some of the stuff in here looks pretty good and it has quite a range of styles, everything from chant to Marier to Peloquin to different types of drums and cymbals.
I have one in my office. My grandfather was the organist at St. John the Baptist: Edward Roden (1934-1959) and the uncle of our interim pastor gave the Nihil Obstat: Donald Reagan.
Resurrecting this old post as I just picked up this hymnal to peruse this morning.
I saw copies of this in a few libraries here in the Pacific Northwest. It seemed to be similar in content to the Peoples Mass Book by Westendorf. It included a few items that had been poorly edited... attempts to modernize texts; or inept accompaniments. The only really important item was an Epiphany Hymn by J. Singenberger. For all of the importance of Singenberger's work, it is odd to the extreme that so very little is used. One of his Sacred Heart hymns gets used. But, if you want a taste of Singenberger, look at St. Rose Hymnal, or the Alverno Hymnals. As to SJB Hymnal, it is rather typical of vernacular hymnals that were published from about 1966-1970. But the changes in the liturgical texts and the order of mass made these sincere, if perhaps otherwise pedestrian efforts, obsolete before the binding wore out!
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