Favourite Protestant/non-Catholic Hymns!

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Contarini said:
And he was apparently in the process of becoming a Catholic. At least I have heard this repeatedly claimed.
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He never converted or received any Catholic sacraments, but there is dispute over his intentions. Whatever his intentions were, though, he always made it clear that he had a single-minded passion for Jesus and following Him. If he did intend to become Catholic, that means he was able to explore that option more fully without compromising that in any way. And if not, that’s fine, too.
However, I’m enough of an old (or young) fuddy-duddy that I would really just as soon not hear any of the songs you mention as part of the Sunday liturgy. Stuart Townend’s hymn is fine, but why sing it when you can sing “The Strife is O’er” or “Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain”?
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Why sing it? Because Stuart Townend’s hymn is freaking good. Same reason you’d sing “The Strife is O’er” or “Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain.”
I’m not against contemporary church music altogether–in fact, my wife and I have made very modest steps toward making our parish’s hymnody a little more diverse. But I don’t understand why so many Catholics are so deaf to the rich liturgical and musical traditions of the Western Church.
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Maybe it’s an American thing, and it has to do with a combination of the Protestant influence in the culture and bit of Catholic susceptibility to syncretism. That would be my guess.
 
cooterhein said:
Maybe it’s an American thing, and it has to do with a combination of the Protestant influence in the culture and bit of Catholic susceptibility to syncretism. That would be my guess.
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Well, my problem is that they don’t syncretize the right things. . . . . 😛
 
Jumping in late, here are a few of my favorites –
Code: 
 A Might Fortress
 Lord, Keep Us Steadfast
 Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
 Children of the Heavenly Father (a bow to my Scandinavian heritage)
 O Day Full of Grace (the Scandinavians strike again :D)
 Beautiful Savior
 Lift High the Cross
 Holy, Holy, Holy
And then there are some with Catholic backgrounds –
Code: 
 Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior
 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
 The Ordinary of the Mass -- Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Nunc Dimittis
Just a few of many good hymns.
 
gcnuss said:
Jumping in late, here are a few of my favorites –
Code: 
 Holy, Holy, Holy
Just a few of many good hymns.
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Ah, the things that stick with us in childhood. I remember my mother (who attended Perkins Seminary at SMU for her Masters of Christian Education) talking about how Dr. Outler hated that hymn because of the “God in 3 persons” line.

Years later, after I read Sheed’s “Theology for Beginners” I tried to explain to her how God in 3 persons is correct. We went round and round about it and after she ran out of arguments she ended the conversation with “Well, it was Dr. Outler’s issue not mine”
 
gcnuss said:
Jumping in late, here are a few of my favorites –
Code: 
And then there are some with Catholic backgrounds --

 Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior
 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
 The Ordinary of the Mass -- Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Nunc Dimittis
Just a few of many good hymns.
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Well, Pastor, since you mention some liturgical, here’s some of our wonderful liturgical music. As I think you’ll agree, Pastor, the second link, This is the Feast, is certainly worth a listen.
lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=15582
Jon
 
:)I am thinking of Spring and a very favorite hymn of mine, “In the garden”…

While the dew is still on the Roses I walk with Him and I talk with him and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known…

Peace, and may God bless us all and keep us in His love, Carlan.
 
Edmundus1581 said:
Some of them are wonderful!

We’ll take original hymns by protestants, or hymns written by protestants from a Catholic inspiration. We’ll also take mistakes - but please make the correction kindly 🙂

Some may be by authors, or be submitted by posters, who would reject the term “protestant”. I apologise if the term offends, but it is getting a bit tricky to write for every sensibility - and I would like to give credit to the hymn anyway!

Here are some of my favourites -
  • Alleluliah, Sing to Jesus William Chatterton Dix
  • On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist Cry Charles Coffin
  • Come Down O Love Divine. From a poem by St Catherine of Sienna, but the familiar translation is by Rev. Richard F. Littledale, and the music by is Vaughan-Williams. I’ve rarely heard it in a Catholic Church 😦
  • Love Divine, All Loves Excelling Charle’s Wesley
  • When I Survey The Wondrous Cross Isaac Watts
  • Dear Lord and Father of Mankind John Wittier
This list very much reflects my origins in High-Church Anglicanism, but I hope to get nominations for hymns from a variety of protestant backgrounds.
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I recently came across this one but I think it’s Orthodox. I like it very much. Can it count as non-Catholic?
 
Fanny Crosby is one of my favorite hymn writers. I think it’s a true statement of faith that a blind woman can write “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”, especially with the line about “the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His Glory”.

I love most anything Charles Wesley ever composed, but one of my favorites is “And Can It Be That I Should Gain” - from the second verse:

“Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and natures night,
Thine Eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke the dungeon flamed with light!
My chains fell off, my heart was free!
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee!”

I love it 🙂
 
A Couple Responses
Code: 
 Believe Deutchland Uber Alles was tossed out as Germany's 'National Anthem' after World War II. Is it back in? I'd be surprised. It became associated with Nazism's theme 'Germany Over All'.

 Haydn a Catholic? Probably, but Austrian doesn't automatically mean practicing Catholic. As I recall Mozart was very active as a Mason. 

 The Coffins I'm familiar with were, as I recall, Presbyterian. Henry Sloane Coffin was president of Union Seminary in NY. William Sloane Coffin, his nephew, was chaplain at Yale and an social activist. Among other things he was a Freedom Rider. By the way, this year, 2011, is the 50th anniversary of the original and authentic Freedom Riders.

 Some of the hymns have an emotional impact because of the stories behind them. Thomas A. Dorsey, for example, wrote 'Precious Lord, Take My Hand' after his wife and baby died. It also was the favorite of Dr. King and sung at his funeral. A few moments before he was shot he shouted to the music leader at the service that even something like: "Make sure you sing 'Precious Lord, Take My hand' tonight! 

 Or, take "It Is Well with my Soul". The author, Horatio Spafford, wrote it after he had lost four daughters who were on a ship that sunk returning from Europe in 1873. "Just As I Am" was written by Charlotte Elliott, a woman suffering from disabilities. Joseph Scriven wrote "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" after his fiance drowned at a party given her by some girl friends to celebrate her approaching wedding. 

 Fanny Crosby wrote several thousand and she was blind!  I recall the story that when she was 90 she was given a birthday bash at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan. At the end of the program that little lady came out on the platform - blind - and in the thin voice of a elderly woman sang one of her hymns with the chorus which goes: "And I shall SEE him face to face, and tell my story saved by grace." Her emphasis was on that word SEE..
 
“It Is Well With My Soul” is one of my favorite hymns of all time…

"When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well…with my soul!
 
Jean_Anthony said:
My favorite, Fairest Lord Jesus (played on guitar in the video), had it’s origins in the Catholic faith but the last stanza was written by a Lutheran pastor, Joseph A. Seiss in 1873.
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Jean_Anthony said:
Another favorite: The King of Love My Shepherd Is. St. Columba melody.
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I sense a Celtic theme here. Another of that genre is “What Wondrous Love is This”. This hymn is now in the Gather hymnal and my father-in-law has requested it be sung at his funeral.
 
Let me totally switch styles and say another one of my favorite composers is Andrea Crouch. He has won two Grammies and is a prolific writer. His “My Tribute” is in my top ten inspirational songs of all times and his “Soon and Very Soon” has made it to many Catholic hymnas.
 
pnewton said:
Let me totally switch styles and say another one of my favorite composers is Andrea Crouch. He has won two Grammies and is a prolific writer. His “My Tribute” is in my top ten inspirational songs of all times and his “Soon and Very Soon” has made it to many Catholic hymnas.
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I knew him years ago. A very talented man and a dedicated one. I’m not so sure everyone is happy to have his songs sung at Mass, though. I have a friend who absolutely hates “Soon and Very Soon”, especially since our parish used it all through Lent one year. I have to say it’s not to my taste for Mass, either, but rather youth rallies and that sort of thing.

And I guess I do have a special fondness for Celtic melody/hymnody. Another couple of favorites are “Morning Has Broken” and “Tis a Gift to be Simple”.
 
“Morning Has Broken” is a great hymn. Interesting that the man who made it popular, Cat Stevens, became a Muslim and changed his name. Whenever we sing it, that thought tends to interfere with my appreciation of its words and music.

“Tis a Gift to Be Simple”, if I recall correctly, was a Shaker hymn. That, of course, was an unusual sect that died out because none of the Shakers married and folks stopped joining the group.
I enjoy the music coming out of the Weston Priory in Weston, VT. What I find interesting is that one of the leading Protestant ministers in this community (now serving elsewhere) used to go to Weston on retreat and to enjoy the music. Many Protestant hymnals have included Catholics hymns over the years, some going back to pre-Reformation times, but also some of the many, many that have been written/composed since Vatican II, often by priests and nuns.
 
I came across another old hymn I had forgotten about and only now as a Catholic can I see it through a different lens: * Trust and Obey*

I was reading in Jesus Shock where Peter Kreeft noted that this hymn is the essence of Catholic living. Trust and obey; faith and works.
 
pnewton said:
Let me totally switch styles and say another one of my favorite composers is Andrea Crouch. He has won two Grammies and is a prolific writer. His “My Tribute” is in my top ten inspirational songs of all times and his “Soon and Very Soon” has made it to many Catholic hymnas.
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Somewhere in the garage, in one of 2 large boxes of old vinyl LP’s, I have one of Andrae Crouch and the Disciples, which I bought in '71 at a Lutheran Youth conference in San Antonio. He is quite a talented artist.
Jon
 
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