Traditional Hymnal with Funeral Fare?
  • Brandontdarr
    Posts: 5
    Currently looking at hymnal options for our parish. Credo seems to be the favorite so far, many traditional hymns with some funeral fare (required, sadly, as part of the new hymnal negotiation). But Credo is packed full of ILP's own music which, seems to leave a bit to be desired.

    Is there a hymnal available for purchase today which has the standard funeral fare (eagles Wings, Here I Am Lord, etc) but isn't stuffed with all the modern hymns coming out of the big two?

    St. Michael does not have much of the funeral fare.
  • TCJ
    Posts: 1,034
    You could try the Hymnal 2022 from ILP, but that doesn't have funeral fare. Why not just use a different book for the funerals if you must have it? Most people (in my experience) don't care about singing along at funerals anyway.
  • LauraKaz
    Posts: 87
    Not a permanent hymnal, but you could check out the yearly Ignatius Pew Missal, which mostly contains solid traditional hymns but also includes several of the funeral favorites.
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 641
    If the deceased really wants something, just print it in a program for a few bucks more. This would be better long-term solution that won’t saddle the church with suboptimal books, and assuages any possible complaints about Grandma’s favourite hymn (be it trad or contemporary) not being in the book.
    Thanked by 6trentonjconn rich_enough Abbysmum ServiamScores LauraKaz CharlesW
  • davido
    Posts: 1,150
    Print those songs in a worship aid and buy the best hymnal (St Michael). Buy OneLicense subscription for your worship aid, but if it is too expensive, build its cost into the funeral fees.
    Thanked by 1Abbysmum
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,404
    Agreeing with others: buy St. Michael and print the funeral fare you need either in a one-off for each funeral where it is requested or in a supplemental resource that you only bring out for funerals when it is necessary.
    Thanked by 1Abbysmum
  • OrganistRob320OrganistRob320
    Posts: 176
    FWIW.... GIA just published Catholic Community Hymnal 2nd Edition that has all your standard traditional with the funeral favorites.
  • davido
    Posts: 1,150
    Don’t do it. Don’t go on supporting the publishing of Mass of Creation.
    Thanked by 2Diapason84 CharlesW
  • AbbysmumAbbysmum
    Posts: 105
    I use St. Michael's a lot for funerals. I just supplement where needed.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,180
    FWIW,

    1.) worship aids for funerals are ideal. Most people don’t want to mess around with a hymnal while grieving, and the people who are just there for support often aren’t Catholic and need hand-holding anyway
    2.) broadly speaking, people tend to sing very little at a funeral anyway, so this issue is likely not quite as important as you think it is
    3.) having a hymnal that trims away some of the worst fat is a blessing, not a curse, because then you can say in all earnestness, I’m sorry, but _______ is not in our hymnal. I assure you, there are plenty of good hymns in the St. Michael hymnal.
    4.) if you don’t want to do a whole worship aid and someone makes a big fuss, you can always just do a half-letter sheet with the one thing that is missing
    5.) if the hymns are that well-known that they are “requiring” you can always just print the text; they won’t need the music anyway
    Thanked by 2Abbysmum LauraKaz
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    To the first point, unless a text or music is copyrighted (or believed to be so) and you have issues getting it licensed, and said piece is indispensable, insert an appropriate graphic when required or the text otherwise and not a reference to the hymnal. The elderly friends and family of the deceased are going to have a hard time, and those are often the ones who actually go to church…but just being able to follow along for a few minutes is important (to the second, since people may not actually sing).

    The strategy of saying that it (truly) isn’t in the hymnal usually worked with a previous DM at my home parish.
  • Brandontdarr
    Posts: 5
    Thanks everyone for the feedback, I should explain further. I'm not looking at the funeral hymns for just funerals, but rather they are requested to be used at Mass by those involved. My goal is to get a hymnal that "trims the fat" to quote above, but not remove everything to keep some happy.

    I am strongly resisting using the "Word and Song" one of our choir members is pushing for. Thankfully, at worst, we should be looking at Credo. Which is a fairly decent compromise.

    Regarding GIA's CCH, any hymnal that has All Are Welcome and the Mess of Cremation is off the list.
    Thanked by 1ServiamScores
  • Brian Michael Page
    Posts: 155
    When I first saw the phrase "funeral fare" in the heading, I thought it would be items like "Requiem Aeternam", "Lux Aeterna" and "In Paradisum" (with or without translations). In that case, the St. Michael Hymnal would come to play.
    BMP
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,464
    BMP: "funeral fare" = "hot dish" in many parts of the USA, right?
    Thanked by 5MatthewRoth Anna_Bendiksen Abbysmum ServiamScores CHGiffen
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,210
    Who says that you have to program this stuff on Sundays or (to be honest, God forbid) at daily/Saturday Masses, weddings, etc.? The pastor? Why do the people actually get a vote? I sometimes suggest things that would otherwise be missed (Palestrina’s natal anniversary, for example, was going to be a day for a polyphonic ordinary anyway; I suggested the setting to honor the day) but I don’t expect to get a decisive say (most of the time anyway).

    I know places that make worship aids even to just reference the hymnal anyway, which would allow you to do the same thing that Serviam suggested regardless of the context: if you absolutely must, then get a license. You probably should pay for a licensing service anyway. I don’t like O God Beyond All Praising very much, but a lot of people do, and it’s copyrighted. A handful of weddings and funerals will pay for this service; it’s relatively affordable in your case, I imagine.
    Thanked by 3tomjaw rich_enough LauraKaz
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,180
    My goal is to get a hymnal that "trims the fat" to quote above, but not remove everything to keep some happy.
    I hate to be the bearer of bad news… but if you get a hymnal that trims the fat, these people won’t be happy. And if you get a well marbled hymnal, you won’t be happy because people will only request the fat, and not the protein. You can’t have it both ways. Either get a good hymnal, or get a bad one. I suppose the Credo (or Hymnal 2022) comes close to some middle ground, but I’m not convinced leaving the worst offenders in does any favors. It just perpetuates yet another cycle of schtuff we all wish to avoid.
    Thanked by 3trentonjconn LauraKaz tomjaw
  • TCJ
    Posts: 1,034
    One nice thing about Hymnal 2022 is that while it still has some of the "fat", most of that is stuff that nobody has heard before and therefore will be unlikely to be requested. Gone are One Bread One Body, On Eagles Wings, You Are Mine, I Am the Bread of Life (there is an unfamiliar version titled that), and Be Not Afraid.
    Thanked by 1mattebery
  • davido
    Posts: 1,150
    JourneySongs is the other resource that comes to mind. It’s not a fat trimming book, it’s a wade-carefully-through-these-waters book.

    Maybe take a long look at Ignatius pew missal. It’s a one year rental, so it kicks the hymnal issue down the road. It has some of the favs in it.

    What about having 2 books? Is there room in your hymnal racks? We have Gather 3 but also Source and Summit.
    You could pair St Michael with something from a big publisher that has readings in it.
    Or Journeysongs and A Catholic Book of Hymns.
    Thanked by 1LauraKaz
Add a Comment