|
Post by Cameron on Feb 4, 2014 1:28:14 GMT
With all the variety of hymn books we can have, I was just wondering what one was the most used in Ireland or even abroad.
|
|
|
Post by hibernicus on Feb 4, 2014 21:50:28 GMT
I very rarely see hymn books in Irish Catholic churches, though there is one with a blue cover that is used by the Carmelites in Clarendon Street. The system of expecting the congregation to have hymn books and placing the numbers of the hymns on a noticeboard within the church is fairly common among English Catholics (who got it from the Anglicans) but almost unheard of in IReland so far as I know. Another illustration of Why Irish Catholics Can't Sing.
|
|
|
Post by shane on Feb 4, 2014 22:19:26 GMT
Not true hibernicus, the Irish bishops commissioned at least 2 hymnals in the 60s. I have one at home (in Irish Latin and English)
|
|
luke
New Member
Posts: 19
|
Post by luke on Feb 5, 2014 1:19:15 GMT
None; not even the disposable misalette kind. The singing is excessively an activity for the choir (or for people like myself who value singing and engage in it despite the 'looks' it may generate.
|
|
|
Post by hibernicus on Feb 5, 2014 12:16:06 GMT
I didn't say that no such hymn books existed in Ireland, Shane. I said that I had no memory of ever coming across such hymn books or of being in a church where they are in regular use. I was quite surprised to find out that English Catholic churches use the hymnbook-and-noticeboard system.
|
|
|
Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Jun 9, 2015 8:39:22 GMT
I don't doubt lack of will to reform liturgical music; it just hasn't happened in reality.
How often do people hear "God of Mercy and Compassion" in Lent? And if they do, is there any other Lenten hymn sung? Is there an Advent hymn other than "O Come, o come Emmanuel"? There are a plethora of Christmas hymns, but what about Easter? There are plenty of Marian hymns (I suspect because of devotions). But the number is limited.
Congregational singing is almost non-existent. And I don't know if choirs get it - many choirs have very limited repertoires. Even so, there seems to be a division between music and lyrics. To hear some choirs singing "Faith of Our Fathers", do you get the sense of "dungeon, fire and sword". Dóchas Linn Naoimh Pádraig is a case in point. Before someone took a politically correct hand to the lyrics, the third and fourth lines were "Sé do chloigh na draoithe, croíthe dúra gan aon mhaith", which means "he destroyed the druids, hardened hearts with any good". You don't sing lines like this as if you're doing a walk in the park.
Once again, the hymnal needs to be developed to complement the liturgical season, to reinforce what should be there rather than to merely provide diversion by singing sweet numbers composed by 1970s American nuns which mean nothing about anything.
In regard to Pange Lingua, Tantum Ergo, A Salutaris Hostia, Veni Creator Spiritus, Adoro te Devote - these and others should not be confined to EF Masses, but in whatever context they are used, the opportunity of explaining what they mean should not be thrown away. They are not just pretty words sung to pretty notes.
|
|
|
Post by Ranger on Jun 9, 2015 10:22:23 GMT
Although I generally attend the NO, I find it most uplifting when certain parts of the Mass are sung in Latin (Credo, Gloria, occasionally the Pater Noster) as it is at the 11am Mass in Clarendon Street. I am always pleasantly surprised at how many people know the Tantum Ergo during Benediction for instance. That said I need to learn some of the others, but they just aren't used much as you say.
One of my clearest memories of singing primary school was when our teacher (and a generally very good and orthodox teacher, whom I have a lot of respect for looking back) told off some of the boys, myself included, for getting a bit too excited about the line 'in spite of dungeon fire and sword' in Faith of our Fathers. It struck me at the time as missing the point. Our singing wasn't meant to be about nice things, it was meant to be about something more meaningful than just that, and if the idea of persecutions inspired some of the boys, well, why not let it?
|
|
|
Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Jun 16, 2015 8:50:30 GMT
Strikes me as another incident of down playing spirituality which attracts men.
|
|