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I take it as a general rule that, whatever it is that a person needs to nourish their faith, the Catholic church will have it in spades. In philosophy, obviously, its credentials are impeccable. Those who thirst for spirituality and mysticism can turn to the early desert Fathers, and to such great souls as St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, or St. Bonaventure for inspiration and guidance. Lovers of high liturgy should turn to the Tridentine Mass for sustenance. Likewise, there is Catholic art, architecture, literature and centuries of glorious history. The more meticulous mind can turn itself to the intricacies of canon law. But there is one area in which Lutherans and Anglicans press a hard case against us. I am thinking now about music.
I don’t mean to suggest, of course, that there isn’t any Catholic music. Catholic music just tends to be in the form of sung Masses, which are wonderful for their purpose, but not quite so accessible for everyday singing. Doctor Asinorum and I have occasionally been known to sing along to a recording of a favorite Latin Mass on a long car trip, but I’m not sure how well it would work around a campfire. For daily singing, it’s hard to beat traditional hymns. I love these with a passion, and I have to confess that a great many of the best ones, in English at least, seem to have been written by the Anglicans or the Lutherans. I’m a little bit sad that “A Mighty Fortress” has to be the quintessential Protestant hymn, by Luther himself no less. I always thought it was quite a stirring one.
For the most part I just sing the hymns I love anyway, as long as they don’t contain any actual heresy. But the problem is particularly acute in one area: children’s songs. I love children’s songs, but the religious ones I know all came to me from the Mormons. For obvious reasons, the majority of these are not suitable for singing with Catholic children. I think it’s important to have religious songs specifically geared towards children; while it’s good for them to be surrounded by the Latin Mass from an early age, there is a limit to how much a child’s mind can absorb of the significance of the Latin texts. At home (or school?) it is good for them to have something more accessible and more singable.
Are there collections of Catholic children’s songs? Where would such a thing be found? Do they teach them in Catholic schools? I’m salivating for a Catholic equivalent to “Book of Mormon Stories!”
Go to the SSPV site and pick up one of the CDs by the nuns. They sing some excellent Catholic hymns. For example, I had never heard of “Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest” before I bought this CD. It is an amazing hymn. There are many more such as O Sanctissima…Jesus Jesus Come to Me. These hymns are light years better than the Martin Luther garbage.
Thanks for the tip! I love the hymns that you mentioned, and I think I will buy the CD you suggest. I don’t know “Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest” and I am quite fond of those saccharine Marian hymns, so that should be lovely. I only protest that credit should be given where it is due. Martin Luther may have been a heretic and a schismatic, but he did have a fine ear for music.
The Neumann Press prints a very good (Catholic) hymn book, with lots of excellent vernacular hymns. There is also the hymn book compiled by the Fathers of the London Oratory, which does contain some Anglican hymns, though none that are objectionable.
The Westminster Hymnal is the most underrated Catholic hymnal. It contains hundreds of very beautiful Latin & English hymns. It was unfortunately issued in a lousy edition: the words & music are separate, which makes it a pain for choirs to use. If anyone knows anyone with $10,000 to give to a good cause, the re-editing of this hymnal would be a great work!
Are you familiar with the St. Gregory Hymnal? It has many lovely, traditional hymns arranged for four voices. Some of my favorites are in there: O Sacred Head Surrounded, Arcadelt’s Ave Maria, Palestrina’s Adoramus Te, and O Come and Mourn With Me.
Btw, my friends and I have at times been known to sing polyphony not only round campfires, but when walking downtown, traveling by automobile, or breakfasting after Sunday Mass and we always received incomparable pleasure from the activity. However, we are choir nerds and therefore an unusual case. (: I would have to agree that polyphonic Masses are not ideal campfire songs.
The Adoremus Hymnal also has some very nice pieces.
And during the festive Christmas season, everyone needs a copy of The New Oxford Book of Carols.
Blessed Be That Maid Marie, Riu Riu Chiu, Swete Was the Song the Virgine Soong, The Coventry Carol etc. etc. etc…Catchy tunes and lyrics of marvelous theological richness to purge the memory of “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Jingle Bells.”
i have catholic soul music available 4 download?
Raindear, I am a choir nerd myself, and have been known to sing a wide variety of music with my siblings/fellow choir nerds in all sorts of places, sometimes much to the embarrassment of my parents. So I’m entirely in sympathy with your sentiments! But of course, the problem with music like that is that it it requires time to learn, and even then you need singers with some musical training, so those sorts of sing-alongs are necessarily somewhat exclusive.
I’m eager to see the Oxford Book of Carols — I know a few of the ones you mentioned, and like them, and anyway I *love* Christmas carols. But again I must protest that there is a time and place for many different things. My love of sacred music has never cured me of a fondness for more contemporary classics like “Jingle Bell Rock” and “White Christmas”, nor do I think it necessarily should. In my childhood we sang and loved both. On Christmas Eve, only the sacred were sung, but at other times in the season we would also enjoy silly but harmless secular tunes. I think we pretty well understood the relative importance of each.
All of this information on Catholic hymnals is very useful and much appreciated. No need to pick through ‘Gather’ in search of the few decent ones that slipped in! Thanks to everyone!
The only unfortunate part of this thread is that nobody has volunteered information regarding tunes for children. Do Catholics not have any songs written espe