Hymns to St. Ann
  • Pabate69
    Posts: 2
    I am the organist at St. Ann's Maronite Catholic Church. We will be starting our Novena and Mass in honor of St. Ann. I cannot seem to find any hymns to.St. Ann. Any suggestion would be appreciated
    Pax et Bonum,
    Br. Joshua

    brojoshuaTOPSF@gmail.com
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    There was a discussion about hymns for St. Ann a few years ago, so check that as a starting point.
    https://forum.musicasacra.com/forum/discussion/11131/hymn-to-st.-anne/p1

    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • The office hymn at Matins is this:

    Hymnus {ex Commune aut Festo}
    Huius orátu, Deus alme, nobis
    Débitas pœnas scélerum remítte;
    Ut tibi puro resonémus almum
    Péctore carmen.

    Sit decus Patri, genitǽque Proli,
    Et tibi, compar utriúsque virtus,
    Spíritus semper, Deus unus, omni
    Témporis ævo.
    Amen.


    Hymn {from the Common or Feast}
    Fountain of mercy, hear the prayers she offers;
    Purge our offences, pardon our transgressions,
    So that hereafter we to thee may render
    Praise with thanksgiving.

    Thou, the All-Father, thou, the One-Begotten,
    Thou, Holy Spirit, Three in One co-equal,
    Glory be henceforth thine through all the ages,
    World without ending.
    Amen.

    and at Lauds:




    Hymnus
    Fortem viríli péctore
    Laudémus omnes féminam,
    Quæ sanctitátis glória
    Ubíque fulget ínclita.

    Hæc sancto amóre sáucia,
    Dum mundi amórem nóxium
    Horréscit, ad cæléstia
    Iter perégit árduum.

    Carnem domans ieiúniis,
    Dulcíque mentem pábulo
    Oratiónis nútriens,
    Cæli potítur gáudiis.

    Rex Christe, virtus fórtium,
    Qui magna solus éfficis,
    Huius precátu, quǽsumus,
    Audi benígnus súpplices.

    * Deo Patri sit glória,
    Eiúsque soli Fílio,
    Cum Spíritu Paráclito,
    Nunc, et per omne sǽculum.
    Amen.

    V. Diffúsa est grátia in lábiis tuis.
    R. Proptérea benedíxit te Deus in ætérnum.


    Hymn
    High let us all our voices raise
    In that heroic woman's praise
    Whose name, with saintly glory bright,
    Shines in the starry realms of light.

    Filled with a pure celestial glow,
    She spurned all love of things below;
    And heedless here on earth to stay,
    Climbed to the skies her toilsome way.

    With fasts her body she subdued,
    But filled her soul with prayer's sweet food:
    In other worlds she tastes the bliss
    For which she left the joys of this.

    O Christ, the strength of all the strong;
    To whom our holiest deeds belong!
    Through her prevailing prayers on high,
    In mercy hear thy people's cry!

    * To God the Father, with the Son,
    And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
    Be glory while the ages flow,
    From all above, and all below.
    Amen.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    Traditional 4-part hymns or chant/office hymns? Latin or English?

  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    Since Br. Joshua is preparing music for a Maronite Church, the question wouldn't be Latin-or-English, but Arabic-or-English!

    Here's one of the hymns mentioned in the discussion I cited above (attached).
  • Pabate69
    Posts: 2
    We have a number of Latin Rite who attend the Maronite Liturgy, so English is preferable. Is there any sheet music available?
    Pax et Bonum,
    Br. Joshua
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    Here is my musical paraphrase of the office hymn "Nocti succedit lucifer" for the feast of St. Anne, in Kathy Pluth's English translation "The morning star is on the rise", in 4-line square notes as well as 5-line stemless notes, along with the same setting in Latin, for completeness.

  • Chonak,

    My wife (who attended a Maronite Rite parish for a time when she was growing up) confirms my suspicion that the language of the rite would be Aramaic, not Arabic.

    Br. Joshua,

    You say English would be preferable, but to what? Latin or Aramaic? As Roman Rite Catholics, they should, surely, be at least comfortable with at least some Latin. I can completely understand that Aramaic would be a stretch for people who aren't familiar with the alphabet.

  • This, I think, would not be the answer for your sought-for hymn for the feast of St Anne. But it does have a certain charm and may be useful for other occasions. It is a carol, 'The Snow Lay on the Ground', with the refrain, Venite adoremus Dominum. It is sung during Christmastide and is found at no. 41 in The Hymnal 1940 and elsewhere. The pertinent stanza is the second, which reads thusly -

    'Twas Mary, daughter pure of Holy Anne,
    That brought into this world the God made man;
    She laid him in a stall at Bethlehim;
    The ass and oxen shared the roof with them.
    Refrain -
    Venite adoremus Dominum,
    Venite adoremus Dominum.


    Many years ago, when I presented this at a Christmas service meeting with the pastor of the Lutheran church that I served, he asked 'who was holy Anne'. I explained that she, by ancient tradition, was Mary's mother. When he objected that she wasn't in the Bible, I was called upon to re-write that second stanza and excise any mention of 'holy Anne'.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,767
    I once read that Saint Anne's Day was one of the principal Viennese holidays and thought it might be interesting to start a CPDL Category, but the repertory seems sparse. Even Vespers including the female cursus from Austria are not easily come by, making one guess it was perhaps more of a picnic occasion.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,371
    A translation by Caswall. here

    19. St. Anne, Mother of the B. V. Mary.
    (July 26th.)

    Spotless Anna, Juda's glory,
    ⁠Through the Church from east to west
    Every tongue proclaims thy praises,
    ⁠Holy Mary's mother blest!

    Saintly kings and priestly sires
    ⁠Blended in thy sacred line;
    Thou in virtue all before thee
    ⁠Didst excel by grace divine.

    Link'd in bonds of purest wedlock,
    ⁠Thine it was for us to bear,
    By the favour of high heaven,
    ⁠Our immortal Virgin star.

    From thy stem in beauty budded
    ⁠Ancient Jesse's mystic rod;
    Earth from thee received the mother
    ⁠Of the eternal Son of God.

    All the human race benighted
    ⁠In the depths of darkness lay,
    When in Anne it saw the dawning
    ⁠Of the long-expected day.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,704
    Here are some more hymns to St. Anne, including one from the Sarum Use,

    https://societyofstbede.wordpress.com/2017/07/25/st-anna-mother-of-the-b-v-m/

    I have the text and music for around 10 Hymns, in France there was a feast of SS. Joachim and Anne, and that has hymns. I suspect that a look through the Analecta Hymnica will give around 50 Hymns. The Sequence database has 12 Sequences (some may be duplicates) and the Sarum Sequentiarium has the music for 'Testaménto véteri Anna' and the Cantus Varii has the music for 'Coeli regem attollamus'. All in Latin, but some have been translated, and so may be sung in English.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 684
    Here is a hymn to St. Anne from Police's Parochial Hymn Book 1897. There is a nice inscription atop of the hymn with a little history of St. Anne.
    Thanked by 1oldhymns
  • davido
    Posts: 873
    Do the St Anne sequence from The Summit Hymnal!
    Thanked by 1rich_enough
  • .
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    Here is Kathy Pluth's translation "The morning star is on the rise" of the Office Hymn Nocti succedit lucifer for the Feast of St. Anne, set to my hymn tune MACKILLOP. The entire hymn can be sung from the first page harmonization, but the next three pages may be used for subsequent stanzas as indicated (which is how the sound file renders them). Comments welcome.
  • I think, Chuck, that this is one of your best tunes.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    *Bumping* for the Feast of St. Anne.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,704
    We sang Mass earlier!
  • Schönbergian
    Posts: 1,063

    I think, Chuck, that this is one of your best tunes.

    It is a personal favourite of mine as well.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • FKulash
    Posts: 79
    As a_f_hawkins already mentioned
    https://saintrafe.blogspot.com/2012/07/three-hymns-for-feast-of-ss-joachim-and.html
    has English translations of three hymns: "Mother Anne, be joyful", "The birth of light betokens" and "O singing world, ring out your praise". A setting of the last one is attached.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen