Hail thee, festival day (Salve festa dies)
  • Does anyone fancy writing a set of words for this which would be appropriate for Marian feast days? It is always a great pity in my view that when we have a special Mass for Our Lady which is attended by the non-weekend crowd who come because they want to (not because they are afraid not to!) and sing well, that we don't have this great tune available; something which had alternate verses the way the original does for Easter/Ascension/Pentecost suitable for Immaculate Conception/Annunciation/Visitation/Purification/Nativity would be awesome! But seriously, if anyone has thoughts on this, please do get in touch, either here or via email (jnmr84094@gmail.com)
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    Well... There are many versions of the Salve Festa Dies...

    See here, https://archive.org/stream/analectahymnica43drevuoft#page/n5/mode/2up

    Page numbers below are for the paper copy...
    Nativity x2 and Epiphany pg.18
    Invention of the Holy Cross pg. 24
    Ascension pg. 27 and Sunday within the Octave pg. 28
    Pentecost pg. 29-31 (5 versions)
    Corpus Christi pg. 34
    St. Dunstan pg.123
    St. George pg. 157
    St. Hugh of Lincoln pg. 174
    St. Kineburga pg. 217 and pg 218 for the Translation!
    St. Patrick pg. 266
    In Festo Reliquiarum Exoniensis Ecclesiae pg.277

    St. Michael pg. 256 looks to be the same meter...

    Now if all the above can be found there must be versions for Marian Feasts, the job will be to find them!
  • A Marian text in English set to the familiar Ralph Vaughan Williams tune was written by John Dunn (and copyright by the author). This text has four general Marian verses, not separate verses for various Marian feasts. Entitled “Hail, This Festival Day,” it appears in the hymnal edited by Ted Marier, Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Canticles (1972), but the hymnal is out-of-print.

    The text also appears with music in the one volume edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, Christian Prayer, hymn #160.

    The text alone is printed in volume 2 of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Solemnity of the Annunciation (March 25), pages 1747-1748.

    I noticed that the text is also found by doing an internet search, but I hope that those who posted the text received copyright permission to do so.
    Thanked by 1Liam
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    I seriously doubt John Dunn would be difficult about giving permission.