What hymns do Catholics know?
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    I was planning a recital recently and i thought about including some things that are
    based on hymns that the average Catholic might know.
    Other that On Eagels Wings, One Bd One Body, what might these hymns be?
    Opinions?
  • fcbfcb
    Posts: 338
    Holy God, we praise thy name
    Now thank we all our God
    Holy, Holy, Holy
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 419
    Praise to the Lord
    Amazing Grace
    Joyful Joyful
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    Immaculate Mary
    Hail Holy Queen
    Salve Regina
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • eft94530eft94530
    Posts: 1,577
    O salutaris
    Tantum ergo

    At That First Eucharist
    At the Lamb's High Feast We Sing
    Faith of our Fathers
    God's Blessing Sends Us Forth
  • Casavant Organist
    Posts: 805
    Praise to the Holiest in the Height
    O Perfect Love
    And now O Father, Mindful of the Love
    O God Almighty Father
    O God Beyond All Praising
    O God Our Help in Ages Past
    And many, many more...
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,477
    Kumbaya
    They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love
    Theme Song from Cheers
    Thanked by 3Casavant Organist Olivier mattebery
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,308
    Theme Song from Cheers


    What? LOL.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    The King Of Glory :-)
    Veni Creator Spiritus
    Come Thou Almighty King
    For All The Saints
    Where Charity And Love Prevail (CHRISTIAN LOVE)
    Morning Has Broken
    I Bind Unto Myself Today (DEIRDRE ST PATRICK)
    Lord of All Hopefulness
    ST COLUMBA
    What, no mention of HYFRYDOL and LASST UNS ERFREUEN?

    But I don't think I know these:
    O Perfect Love
    And now O Father, Mindful of the Love
    Thanked by 1Casavant Organist
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,308
    Be Thou, My Vision
    The King of Love, My Shepherd Is
    Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All
    Regina Caeli
    Ubi caritas
    O Lord, I am not worthy
  • Casavant Organist
    Posts: 805
    And now, O Father, mindful of the love
    That bought us, once for all, on Calvary’s tree,
    And having with us Him that pleads above,
    We here present, we here spread forth to Thee,
    That only offering perfect in Thine eyes,
    The one true, pure, immortal sacrifice.

    Look, Father, look on His anointed face,
    And only look on us as found in Him;
    Look not on our misusings of Thy grace,
    Our prayer so languid, and our faith so dim;
    For lo! between our sins and their reward,
    We set the passion of Thy Son our Lord.

    And then for those, our dearest and our best,
    By this prevailing presence we appeal;
    O fold them closer to Thy mercy’s breast!
    O do Thine utmost for their souls’ true weal!
    From tainting mischief keep them white and clear,
    And crown Thy gifts with strength to persevere.

    And so we come; O draw us to Thy feet,
    Most patient Savior, who canst love us still!
    And by this food, so awful and so sweet,
    Deliver us from every touch of ill:
    In Thine own service make us glad and free,
    And grant us nevermore to part with Thee.

    Can be sung to Unde et Memores or Song 24


    O Perfect Love is Attached

    Wow chonak, I'm suprised you don't know O Perfect Love! Common Wedding hymn.
    image.jpeg
    2592 x 1936 - 1M
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,413
    At St Basil's Chapel, UST, Houston
    the following off the top of my head are well known -

    Lauda anima
    Abbots' Leigh
    Darwall's 148th
    Westminster Abbey
    St Thomas
    St Denio
    St Theodulph
    Engelberg
    Sine nomine
    Nun danket
    Ein feste Berg
    Hyfrydol
    Laudate Dominum
    Down Ampney
    Gelobt sei Gott
    Puer nobis
    Winchester New
    In dulci jubilo
    Vigiles et sancti
    Leoni
    Azmon
    Christe sanctorum
    Repton
    Duke Street
    Slane
    Regent Square
    O waly waly
    Rendez a Dieu
    Tallis' Canon
    Wareham

    Plus a slew of others.
    Sorry to say they don't know This Endris Night -
    only because it isn't in their GIA hymnal (Worship IV) so that I can delight them with it.



    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,192
    Um, I think Chonak has erred a wee bit in the tune attribution for "I bind unto myself today". The tune for all but the 6th stanza ("Christ be with me, Christ within me") is the Long Metre Double (88. 88. D iambic) tune ST PATRICK (a,k,a, ST PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE). The tune DEIRDRE (88. 88 trochaic) is used only for that 6th stanza (in the 1940 Hymnal numbering). That said, my impression is that the entire hymn is quite popular, especially amongst Anglicans and Irish Catholics.

    I've never heard "And now, O Father, mindful of the love" anywhere except in Episcopal churches, where it's sung to the tune UNDE ET MEMORES. But, since it is in the Hymnal 1940, perhaps there are Catholic and (or course) Ordinariate congregations that use it. As for using SONG 24, that is a 10 10. 10 10 tune, not 10 10. 10 10. 10 10, so there must be a mismatch or a 'misteak'. Perhaps Noeisdas means SONG 1, which Hymnary gives as an alternate tune for "And now, O Father...". Both SONG 1 & SONG 24 are by Gibbons.
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    I should note that request is for hymns the "average Catholic" would know. American is implied. And I am inferring that we're talking non-seasonal music (for example, not Advent/Christmas hymns).

    All of which is different from what many folks on these boards would prefer that they know and appreciate....
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Spriggo
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    Thanks to CHG for correction on the tune name for "I bind unto myself today"; the hymnal I was looking at didn't list both tunes for some reason, and I just trustingly copied what I found there.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,308
    Liam, I suppose the way I interpreted is “what is the average American Catholic likely to have heard before, even if it was just once?” For Latin chants, I figure that a trip to a cathedral in the last ten years might expose one to the longer chants, and even the people who otherwise don’t use Latin often are OK with the Salve and Regina Caeli.

    MJO’s list is good, though perhaps it’s a bit of wishful thinking as far as “average” goes. :/
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,325
    Hey, our parish sings the seasonal Marian hymn after every Mass, but I have to say that no, the average Catholic does not have any idea what the tunes of Salve Regina or Regina Caeli sound like.
    Thanked by 2Liam oldhymns
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,413
    ....as far as "average" goes.:/

    Well, what, exactly, is 'average'?
    St Basil's Chapel is certainly not what I would call overly knowledgeable or exceptional, even, overly accomplished in its singing. There is a smattering of students, a smattering of UST alumni and alumnae, a smattering of professors and faculty, of those who like to attend the university chapel, and a smattering of those who go there to escape somewhere else, etc. The singing is anywhere from robust to 'decent', almost never 'disappointing', depending on experience with a tune. The people never complain when, during the summer, or at various other times that I am engaged, I present them with a new tune. They latch onto it with relative enthusiasm and are grateful for the music. These people really do love to sing. It helps that I really know what I'm doing at the organ and communicate well with the people through it, so that they 'just know', unmistakably, what to do - how and when to sing. I should like to imagine that this is average. Nor is there a 'cantor' (as opposed to a cantor), nor anyone at all at the lectern 'inviting' the people, as if they were daft, with voice or gesture to sing. They just know when to do so and, thank you, do so.

    Thanked by 2CHGiffen JulieColl
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    "I should like to imagine that this is average."

    Precisely my point - it's not. Anyway, here's 10 in no particular order other than the first:

    Holy God, We Praise Thy Name (my sense is that this is #1)
    Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow or All People That On Earth Do Dwell (how on earth am I the first to mention this one? - I guess it's hard to see what's in front of your nose)
    Holy, Holy, Holy
    Where Charity and Love Prevail (for which there is a simple but lovely descant...)
    Now Thank We All Our God
    Praise To The Lord The Almighty
    O God Almighty Father (which was only penned in the late 1950s, though it seems older)
    The King of Love My Shepherd Is
    Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above
    Immaculate Mary





    Thanked by 1Spriggo
  • Casavant Organist
    Posts: 805
    Well @CHGiffen hymntime.com is severely wrong then, because it says Song 24 is the alternate...
    Yes, you are right, it is Song 1.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • oldhymnsoldhymns
    Posts: 229
    Unfortunately, they all seem to know Gentle Woman and I Am the Bread of Life.
    Thanked by 1canadash
  • canadashcanadash
    Posts: 1,501
    And "Be Not Afraid," "Here I Am Lord," and "You Are Near."

    That being said, if I were having a hymn in a concert, I think Liam's list is on point. The only two which I think are less known are "The King of Love" and "Where Charity and Love Prevail."

    Thanked by 1Spriggo
  • fcbfcb
    Posts: 338
    I'll chime in and say that I have never heard of "O Perfect Love."

    As for "And now, O Father, mindful of the love," I would also say that I have never encountered it in a Catholic church. It seems to be a very loose rendering of themes from the second half of the Roman Canon (thus the tune name Unde et Memores?), so I wonder if it wasn't used by CofE Anglicans, whose 1662 Prayer Book lacks anything like a second half in its prayer of consecration. Since communion followed immediately upon the recitation of the institution narrative, if you sang it during communion you could imagine that you are somehow completing the canon.
    Thanked by 5CHGiffen Liam Adam Wood Casavant Organist Roborgelmeister
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,413
    Precisely my point - it's not.

    Well, if it's not, things are worse than I thought.
    If it's not 'normal', it is certainly Normative!
    (And, it demonstrates certainly that Catholics can.)
  • JL
    Posts: 171
    "Holy God, we praise Thy Name" is probably the only one guaranteed to produce a quorum (I've heard it called the Catholic National Anthem), and if you're thinking about recital options (I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that you're an organist), there is a smashingly big and loud piece based on Grosser Gott AND the Gregorian Te Deum available here:

    http://imslp.org/wiki/Fantasia_on_'Te_Deum'_and_'Gro%C3%9Fer_Gott,_wir_loben_dich'_(Stehle,_Johann_Gustav_Eduard)

    (No, I haven't figured out how to do the link thingy. I might be the world's youngest digital immigrant.)

    I wouldn't disregard the mode III Pange lingua/Tantum ergo tune, which should probably ring a bell for anyone who's ever been to Benediction ever. If you can get a choir in on the proceedings and throw in a cantus firmus setting of said tune (such as Durufle's), so much the better.

    [Actually, you posted the link just right, but the forum software doesn't deal with it correctly when the link contains a parenthesis.--admin]
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,413
    I'll chime in and say that...
    I wish that I had
    ...never heard of "O Perfect Love."
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    In England - Soul of my Saviour.
    Once in Westminster Cathedral at a 25 minute lunchtime low Mass on a Holyday, the celebrant returned to the chair after Communion and simply started singing, the congregation took it up, in tune and all three verses, without books.
    Thanked by 2M. Jackson Osborn veromary
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    With which tune? Tunes used in England aren't always the ones we know here.

    Here's a recording from the Cdl. Vaughan School.
    And here's a recording by some traditionalist nuns.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    Always Anima Christi by Maher, as in the Cdl. Vaughan recording.
    Another thing any Christian is likely to have sung to death is the Scottish Psalter's "The Lord's my shepherd" to Crimond by J S Irvine. Commonly deployed at public memorial gatherings, near universal at funerals, and widespread at weddings! (the second recording is blocked on my computer)
  • oldhymnsoldhymns
    Posts: 229
    The tune for Soul of My Saviour more commonly used in America is the Dobici one found in Montani's The St. Gregory Hymnal.

    Two other hymns nearly everyone seems to know are Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art. (sad to say) Of course, that's if one considers the former a hymn.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    I'm surprised (if I'm not mistaken) that no one has advanced "Ye watchers and ye holy ones"/Lasst uns erfreuen as one of the most emblematic catholic hymns, from both musical and textual considerations. The tune is ubiquitously heard at major televised Masses in various countries.

    Oops, a third look unveiled our esteemed moderator's "catch."
    Thanked by 2CharlesW CHGiffen
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,413
    ...the most emblematic catholic hymns...

    And yet... I have seen Catholic hymnals that, astonishingly, omitted the Mary stanza ('O higher than the cherubim,' & cet.) The editors likely were ignorant of the imagery.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,477
    the Mary stanza ('O higher than the cherubim,' & cet.)


    I always sing this verse extra loud when I am with Anglicans, especially those of the evangelical sort.
    Thanked by 5Liam JL M. Jackson Osborn CHGiffen Casavant Organist
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,413
    Not exactly OT, but on a slightly different Note -

    'Love Divine, All Loves Excelling' - I just listened to Baroness Thatcher's funeral at St Paul's on youtube. They sang 'Love Divine...' to a marvelous tune I've not heard before. It's not in The English Hymnal, nor in Hymns Ancient and Modern. Does anyone know what it might have been? Not at all meaning to slight our wonderful tune, Hyfrydol, but this tune with that text sort of left Hyfrydol in the shade.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    The order of service says it's Blaenwern by William Penfro Williams, with a descant by John Scott. (I've not checked against actual delivery) Currently quite widely used in UK.
    Thanked by 2M. Jackson Osborn CHGiffen
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,413
    Many thanks, a.f.hawkins -
    I don't suppose you or someone could put the music up here?
    It's a stunning tune and i's not in any of my hymnals.

    P.S. -
    Thanks to your hint I looked up the Order of Service.
    Too, this was sung at the wedding of H.R.H Prince William -
    which I had watched. Odd that Blaenwern didn't catch my attention then.
    It's really gorgeous. Perhaps it will 'catch on' over here - it should!
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/CPAM2000/page/1095

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFckP0F93JM


    Thanked by 2M. Jackson Osborn CHGiffen
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    Thank you all for this info.
    GH
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