Does anyone's church use newer Catholic Hymns or the Traditional Hymns?

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I’d rather see more traditional hymns incorporated in my church. This past Sunday (Oct. 4) I planned “For the Beauty of the Earth” and the organist at my church picked the contemporary song “On This Day” by Ricky Manalo with that DREADFUL melody. I am so thankful that OCP is taking that song out of the 2010 missals. Also, any song during Lent is those contemporary songs like “Beyond the Days” or “In These Days of Lenten Journey.” I’d rather hear more traditional hymns like “Lord Who Throughout these Forty Days” but my organist is stuck on those contemporary Catholic hymns. So, do you like the contemporary stuff or traditional stuff better?
 
I like traditional songs better. Our hymnbooks have a TON of Lutheran hymns in them >.<

Protestant songs? Modern songs? I don’t like either.
 
I favor traditional or the older music. Like for Lent “O Come and Mourn with Me Awhile” or for for a communion hymn, “O Cora Moris”. We used to have a really good mix of the old and new up until a few years ago when our organist retired. Now it seems everything is from the seasonal missalette which is what we use at our church. I thought I read somewhere perhaps here on the forum in another thread that sacred music was making a come back, but I haven’t heard any more about it.
 
Inasmuch as I appreciate my pastor, he has bought into the OCP drek, hook, line and sinker. We are having to sing awful stuff from the SLJ, John Michael Talbot, Bernadette Ferrel, Cary Landry, Fr. Ricky Manolo, Bob Hurd and Mary Frances Reza, as well as the Protestant Praise and Worship stuff.

I really miss the music we had at the Cathedral. It was from the old Worship III hymnal. We used to sing:

All Creatures of our God and King
The Glory of These 40 Days
Attende Domine
O Sun of Justice
O Jesus, Joy of Loving Hearts
Shepherd of Souls
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Alleluia, Sing to Jesus (complete version)
Word of God to Earth Come Down
For all the Saints
How, Firm a Foundation
At the Name of Jesus
At that First Eucharist
Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service
There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy
Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether
Holy, Holy, Holy
God, We Praise You
Creator of the Stars of Night
Love’s Divine, All Love’s Excelling
O Sanctissima
To Jesus Christ, Our Sovereign King
Christ is the King
Salve Regina
Regina Caeli

Each of these songs are rich in spiritual depthness and fara outshine anything in the OCP aresenal. This, I strongly believe, is what we should be singing at Mass, not the feel-good, seventies folksy stuff from OCP.
 
I’m mad OCP got rid of “Christ is the King.” That was a wonderful recessional hymn last year for Christ the King Sunday.
 
I don’t like the modern hymns at all, I don’t find them uplifting or inspiring but that’s me. I’m beginning to try to sing the modern ones at Mass but don’t you guys find that they are pitched too high for the average male voice?
 
I’m for traditional, unfortunately my parish isn’t. what do you think of this baptism song- You have put on Christ, you have been baptized, alleluia, alleluia - It has no musical value and is the worst sounding song in the book.
 
roveau said:
I don’t like the modern hymns at all, I don’t find them uplifting or inspiring but that’s me. I’m beginning to try to sing the modern ones at Mass but don’t you guys find that they are pitched too high for the average male voice?
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I think they are. The missal I use, as well with what my church uses has songs that are sort of ridiculously high. I don’t mean to judge, but having cantors that think they can sing those high notes, but really can’t, it really takes away from the beauty of it. A few I would recommend to stay away from for the male voice:

Eat this Bread by Jacques Berthier
Every Valley by Bob Dufford
Where There is Love by Dan Schutte
We Are Called by Dan Shutte
O Beauty Ever Ancient by Roc O’Connor

In “Eat this Bread” on the 5th verse it (reading from treble cleff) it goes from a B to a D sharp which sounded really bad when our female cantor sang it a few weeks ago. I would recommend pitching it into a lower key so it’s still able to be sung, but so that the Cantor isn’t squealing the notes.

In “Every Valley” in verses 1 and 3, it jumps from a C sharp to an E (yes the not at the very top of the treble cleff.) Our cantor squealed those and it sounded terrible. If you are going to sing it, sing it in a lower key.

In “Where there is Love” in each verse, there is a an F (the 5th line on the top of the treble cleff) and that is really hard to hit. That NEEDS to be pitched in a lower key.

In “We Are Called” at the beginning it goes from an A to a high E. Many organists that I know play that in a lower key as well.

Lastly, in “O Beauty Ever Ancient”, the refrain starts off with two high D’s and it can sound bad when belted out. I would play it in a lower key too.
 
Our parish uses a mix of both and also unfortunately a lot of what I think of as non-Catholic music. The organist has been there a really long time and seems to be in charge of what he plays. I have spoken to two pastors in 14 years and am still hearing “Shall we gather by the river” and “He walks with me and he talks with me” and other assorted “washed in the blood” songs… because the organist is not interested in playing songs everyone can sing, he wants to showcase his choir and his preference for non-Catholic music.

Not to get off topic but are there any rules or laws about what constitutes a song being “Catholic?” And rules or laws about what can and cannot be played at mass? This is not to say that there aren’t some lovely songs from the Protestants out there, but when I go to a Catholic mass I want to hear Catholic hymns! 🤷
 
Our choir director is, unfortunately, a firm believer in OCP drek (excellent word choice there, Benedictgal).

There are many trials I’d willingly suffer if it meant never again having songs like Table of Plenty performed during the Mass. I want to sing TO God about how awesome he is, not share a dialogue with my fellow parishioners where the emphasis is on us as a community talking about God in the third person.

Or singing as if WE were God :rolleyes:

Offer it up, offer it up…
 
Contemporary as of when? The 70’s are over, thank heavens. Can we just sing hymns that are beautiful and meaningful instead of that faux folk song drek? (Yes, drek it is.)
 
What is OCP? Please people if you are going to use acronyms it is polite to define what they mean so those new to the thread can follow the discussion. I agree with the rest of the posters the new music sucks and is better suited for a dance hall than during the sacrifice of the mass. It is even worse in Spanish mass where the music sounds similar to what one would fine in a circus or carnival.
 
My all-time favorite hymn is “O Lord, I am not worthy”, which I have liked since I was a young boy. I haven’t heard it in church for at least 35 or 40 years.
 
Califman831 said:
**What is OCP? ** Please people if you are going to use acronyms it is polite to define what they mean so those new to the thread can follow the discussion. I agree with the rest of the posters the new music sucks and is better suited for a dance hall than during the sacrifice of the mass. It is even worse in Spanish mass where the music sounds similar to what one would fine in a circus or carnival.
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OCP is very common, since it is on most all missalettes we see every Sunday - at least in the western half of the US (possibly all over the US) and also what the company refers to themselves as (rather like IBM). OCP=Oregon Catholic Press
ocp.org/
 
This is my first post here. I have recently taken an interest in sacred music, and have been playing as an organist in my new parish. What typically goes on music-wise in the average American parish and what is in the mind of the Church are drastically different things. For example, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, a document of Vatican II, says that Gregorian Chant should have pride of place. See here.

The General Instruction on the Roman Missal says that the ideal is for the choir to chant the introit (entrance chant), offertory anthem, and communion anthem, leaving only the recessional as the place for a hymn of any type. The Church has chants that she wants us to sing for every day of the liturgical year, but most parishes are stuck with the four-hymn-sandwich, using hymns that may or may not have anything to do with the scripture appointed for the day and which may or may not have any connection to the rich history of Catholic music.
 
Haha. I was shocked to see on Sunday, September 27th that my organist picked “How Great Thou Art.” I was like “Woah, a traditional one!”
 
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