Thank you chonak, he sent me a pm.

Forgive me but- please, no. I mean- by all means share copies for whatever academic reason, but- please do not use this hymn in liturgy. It is weird, trite, maudlin, oddly childish. The reference to the Blessed Sacrament (I assume) as "little white guest" is... infantile. The whole thing.. .it's just bad.

Our Lord is not Caspar the friendly ghost. It's syrupy, and kinda wierd. My guess is that it's a First Holy Communion preconcliar holdover, written by someone's very sweet and not-so-poetic Aunt Lu, or maybe a second grade teacher (no offense to sweet aunts and teachers everwhere).

Breast and guest is used three times.
KATHY, we need a hymn intervention!

First Communion hymns with rich content
ave verum
adoro te devote/ Godhead here in hiding
panis angelicus
anima Christi/ soul of my Savior
Lord, who at thy first Eucharist
Jesus my Lord, my God, my all (a little too sweet but with more meat)

I mean no offense, truly, but I plea that people give children something more solid, less kiddie cute. The hymn referenced is like musical cotton candy at the heavenly banquet. Catholic kids deserve better.

Please post a copy. I likely will not use it, but would like it for my files - translated, "archives."

Don, I hear you about difficulty. It seems hard, but...
Second graders in our parish program sing all of those songs regularly, except for 'Lord, who at Thy'. In fact, they have Ave verum memorized.

Kids singing the S and A parts on the Lambilotte Panis is the stuff of angels. Older kids can sing the A if needed. An adult choir can fill out ATB also.

Kudos to you for planning this so far in advance. I wish I could say as much.

>>Pastoral concerns outweigh our dislike for this music.

Does the same thing apply to the music I grew up with?

Same question as Adam.
People use that rationale for songs that should be phased out and die a natural death all the time.

As an aside, can we please make an effort to use accurate language about end of life issues? The only one I see arguing here for this song to die a real "natural death" is Noel. I say "Bring it Back!"

The mystagogical content of this child's poem is richer than that of many hymns. To take one example of a hymn that it surpasses on that score--"Lord Who At Thy First Eucharist" which, written by a Protestant, is totally devoid of any clear reference to transubstantiation, or even consubstantiation for that matter. First Holy Communion is not the Chair of Unity Octave.

"Little White Guest" makes clear that the Host received is a Person with whom we can have a personal relationship, in fact a superior eternal Person with the name "Jesus" who is the goal of our eternal life, who deserves and desires acts of love, even if it seems repetitive to the person praying. The song encourages spending an appropriate time making an act of Thanksgiving after Communion, and implies that how we spend our eternity in Heaven will depend in large part on the fervor with which we make Holy Communion here on earth. How many other hymns, traditional or modern, do the same?

Simplicity of vocabulary is sometimes a good reason to select a text, not to reject it. "Godhead here in hiding" expresses transubstantiation clearly, but what is a "Godhead"? Does a child know that a "Godhead" is the same as "God"? First Holy Communion is not just a time for rote learning (ask a child who has learned the Pledge of Allegiance what "indivisible" means), but the beginning of true participation in the Holy Eucharist, which means that the young communicant needs to learn to pray as any communicant ought, though not necessarily in the same words.

I think it is a weird pun on the two meanings of Host- at least, that's how I took it upon first reading. And yes, we need to be clear that what we adore in the Blessed Sacrament is the True Presence, the Substance of Christ's Body, not the accident of bleached-flour and cardboard flavor.

There's also a weird, unintentional-but-still-there racist undertone (Jesus is white. White is pure and good.)

I agree with Chrism as to the value of this as a devotion for children. I differ in whether it should be sung at Mass, however.

Take a look at the Communion proper for the Mass at which one wishes to sing this. Is it really worthy of replacing the proper chant? Really?

I'm 27, and I still remember my First Communion song:

We celebrate God's special gift
Jesus in the Eucharist
For you, for me
For all God's family
For you, for me
God's love will always be.

I think "Little White Guest" is a huge improvement.
How about "God Has Chosen Me?"

God Has chosen me, God has chosen me
To bring good news to the poor
God has chosen me, God has chosen me
To bring new sight to those searching for light...

I think it's important to know where we've been before we start tearing apart a seemingly sound, simple communion song for second graders to sing. If there were ever a time when a "trite," "oddly childish" song was permitted during Mass, it should be when second graders are asked to sing and understand it. Sure, Latin is wonderful, but when you are trying to teach transubstantiation to second graders, I think throwing the theology into a different language would just muddy the waters a little bit.

It sounds like a translated Irish expression, honestly. Especially since it's coupled with the comment about saying "Welcome," which was one of the many common silent or sotto voce comments that Irish Catholic congregations were supposed to think/whisper after the Consecration.

Btw, I just found out that "Leanabh an Aigh," (the Scottish Christmas carol whose tune is used for "Morning Is Broken") is actually included in one of the volumes of Carmina Gadelica (Vol. 3). The translation is called "The Child of Glory." It's public domain in the US. (And of course, so are the original Gaelic words by Big Mary Macpherson, given how much older they are than Carmina G.)

Sure, "Little White Guest" may sound "corny" or even "hokey" by today's standards; but it's a lot better than when the singer puts himself/herself in the place of God; i.e., "I am the Bread of Life" and many of the other ditties that are in today's missalettes.

The hymn was extremely popular prior to Vatican II; it was often sung as a First Communion hymn. In fact, several Catholic publishing houses produced "holy cards" of the words to the hymn and the first Communicants were given the card as a memory of their special day. Ask anyone over 60 or so--they may remember it.

"Soul of My Savior" is a wonderful hymn, and there are several melodies for it. However, did you ever try explaining the words to this hymn to a second grader? A nun once told me she did try--and the task was well-nigh impossible.

There are many good Communion hymns. Here are a couple you may find useful.

In This Sacrament Sweet Jesus (two different melodies--see St. Basil's and Sunday School Hymnal)
Jesus, Thou Art Coming (several different melodies--see St. Basil's, St. Gregory's, and Standard Catholic Hymnals)
O Jesus Christ Remember (Aurelia melody from the Westminster Hymnal--it is now in the Vatican II Hymnal)
My Soul Doth Long for Thee (from Our Lady of Mercy Hymnal, by the Sisters of Mercy, Providence, RI).

The worst part about these "traditional hymns" is that they give a bad name to all hymns. Catholics associate the word "hymn" with sugar-sweet lyrics, stomach-turning chromaticism, 6/8 meter, all accompanied by voix celeste, tremolo, and warbled out by Left-Foot Lucy.

And then they get up in arms, RIGHTLY SO, when we want organs and hymns in the Mass. Not because of any objection to "Praise to the Holiest in the Height," but because they associate traditional forms with bad music.

I wrote that on retreat after throwing the Gather hymnal (bread, wine, bread, wine) across the room. http://www.splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/2004/02/missal-defense/

Our pastor of 38 years, who passed away in 1997, was of Germanic ancestry. He steadfastly maintained that the Irish ruined the Catholic Church in the United States. YMMV, an appropriated melo-ism.

I received another version of this communion hymn from Catholic New World staff writer Dolores M., Archdiocese of Chicago. There was an article that appeared on their website http://www.catholicnewworld.com/cnwonline/2012/0325/clips.aspx

I wrote to her and she sent me a copy. This is the version that we used in my parish of St. Mary. There is one minor difference...when we sang this we put an "A" note on the words in the 3rd measure "my" and "Thy", just above the "F" note.