Litany of Saints music

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Last night at the Easter Vigil(received Confirmation and First Communion:D) they used this modern setting( Not the ubiquitous Becker one!) for the Litany of the Saints, and it really left an impact on me, but unfortunately with all the hustle and bustle I didn’t get a program. So hopefully you guys could help me identify it.

It starts with “Lord Have Mercy” by a soloist then it get’s picked up by the choir(and congregation) the phrase is alternated by the female and male voices. While the " Lord have mercy" is going on in the background, two soloists chant the list of Saints, alternating sometimes overlapping.

It sounds complicated, I know, but done right it really gives you a true sense of awe as we call upon the saints to pray for the catechumens.

Thanks in advance for any replies!👍
 
Love the Litany of the Saints…heard it the first time on March 25, 2012 at my Confirmation, and then again last night at Easter Vigil. Beautiful. Everyday I discover another beauty of the Catholic faith!

God Bless!
Ruth:signofcross:
 
JuantheTuba said:
Last night at the Easter Vigil(received Confirmation and First Communion:D) they used this modern setting( Not the ubiquitous Becker one!) for the Litany of the Saints, and it really left an impact on me, but unfortunately with all the hustle and bustle I didn’t get a program. So hopefully you guys could help me identify it.

It starts with “Lord Have Mercy” by a soloist then it get’s picked up by the choir(and congregation) the phrase is alternated by the female and male voices. While the " Lord have mercy" is going on in the background, two soloists chant the list of Saints, alternating sometimes overlapping.

It sounds complicated, I know, but done right it really gives you a true sense of awe as we call upon the saints to pray for the catechumens.

Thanks in advance for any replies!👍
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Was it something like this?
 
They had the Becker Version at our Easter Vigil, only a little slower than a lot of them I hear on youtube. It was beautiful. We had the choir alternate between male and female singers. It was incredibly moving, and extremely beautiful.
 
TrueLight said:
Is it this one sung at this youth rally (which I don’t like by the way)?

youtube.com/watch?v=4SlGfHwyC-M

She has a pretty voice though.

I just really, really like the original.
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Oh, TrueLight, I LOVE that version! They have done it at our parish for the last seven years, but they didn’t do it this weekend. 😦 So much of our Easter vigil was beautiful, but not that moment.

They did some chanted version of the Litany out of our missallette. My husband said that it sounded like a children’s playground game.

I thought it was entirely devoid of beauty. Our cantor sang it beautifully, but it was only three notes, sung back and forth between cantor and congregation. I agree with my husband that it really did sound like some kind of jump-rope rhyme.

In fact, my husband told me that it was that beautiful contemporary version of the Litany of the Saints that you posted the link to that broke him several years ago and convinced him that the Catholic Church IS the True Church of Jesus.

He actually told me after Vigil that if they had sung that chanted version that they did this weekend, he might never have gone back to the Catholic Church.

Back when we were still Protestant, my husband attended the Easter Vigil at our parish at the invitation of the priest (I think I must have still been avoiding all churches after being kicked out of our Protestant church). When they sang that beautiful version of the Litany of the Saints, my husband broke down crying, realizing for the first time how huge and all-encompassing and timeless the Catholic Church is, and that it MUST be the True Church of Christ, because Christ is huge and all-encompassing and timeless! After that, he started attending the parish apologetics class, and eventually convinced me to go along with him. And now we’re Catholic.

But for my husband, it all started with a beautiful, contemporary version of the Litany of the Saints, the one you posted the link to.

I know that a lot of Catholics prefer chant, but for many evangelical Protestants, a beautiful contemporary hymn or piece of music WILL have more emotional appeal and impact. I still get weepy when “Here I Am, Lord,” is sung, because it was sung when the Bishop welcomed all of us catechumens and candidates into the Church.

I hope that when Catholics who dislike the contemporary hymns have to put up with a contemporary hymn during their Mass, that they will please say a prayer for any evangelical Protestants that might be visiting that day. Thanks.

BTW, I probably will say something to our parish music director, but it will be mild. I’ll probably just say that I really missed the contemporary Litany of the Saints, and I’ll leave it at that. He is in charge, not me.
 
OK…so how many of you were paying attention during the LOS, and found yourselves praying to Sts. Tertullian and Origen? This has happened in our parish for 10+ years and I’ve gone over this with 3 “Liturgy directors” and our pastor to no avail. I just wanted to crawl under my Catholic rock when I realized all the newly received and confirmed catechumens were going to listen to this.
 
sinner said:
OK…so how many of you were paying attention during the LOS, and found yourselves praying to Sts. Tertullian and Origen? This has happened in our parish for 10+ years and I’ve gone over this with 3 “Liturgy directors” and our pastor to no avail. I just wanted to crawl under my Catholic rock when I realized all the newly received and confirmed catechumens were going to listen to this.
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Not me. We chanted it in the traditional Latin Gregorian Chant. Very moving, considering our congregation doesn’t usually sing or chant the responses during Mass.

I felt bad for the priests at their ordination when they had to prostrate while people were invoking heretic Origen.
 
Cat said:
In fact, my husband told me that it was that beautiful contemporary version of the Litany of the Saints that you posted the link to that broke him several years ago and convinced him that the Catholic Church IS the True Church of Jesus.

He actually told me after Vigil that if they had sung that chanted version that they did this weekend, he might never have gone back to the Catholic Church.
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With all due respect, that’s not a valid reason to become/not become Catholic. Gregorian Chant had pride of place in the Latin Rite Church. It’s prayer, not some song picked based on “feeling”.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
With all due respect, that’s not a valid reason to become/not become Catholic. Gregorian Chant had pride of place in the Latin Rite Church. It’s prayer, not some song picked based on “feeling”.
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Just because something has “pride in place” doesn’t mean that everyone needs to admire and revere it. Thomism (and Aquinas in general) is obviously very well thought of in Dominican circles, however I wouldn’t say I’m an active proponent of Thomism. Does that make me a bad Dominican? Of course not! I’m absolutely able to focus on the teachings of Augustine (we use his Rule) and Catherine of Sienna (a Third Order Dominican). I’m even able to prefer the work of the Seraphic Doctor, rather than the Angelic Doctor.

The song driving Cat’s husband to join the Church was just one element in the grand scheme of things. A small one, but the combination of the music in conjunction with the Saints perhaps added an extra layer to things. I don’t suppose that during said Litany the Saints were interceding for him, and thus he was more receptive?
 
The Becker version (one of the MANY reasons to dump OCP) has been forbidden by the pastor, as of this past Holy Saturday. Not only does it not follow the approved translation, but it includes names of non-canonized people like Origen (a faithful Christian of the early Church who fell into heresy). It is nearly impossible for a congregation to sing and it drags on and on.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
With all due respect, that’s not a valid reason to become/not become Catholic. Gregorian Chant had pride of place in the Latin Rite Church. It’s prayer, not some song picked based on “feeling”.
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I don’t believe anyone is saying they became Catholic merely because they liked a particular song.

People have *conversion *experiences in many ways. Connecting with the Litany of Saints may have made someone realize the deep roots and history of the Church, making them feel “connected” to the historical and visible Church for the first time.

There isn’t anything wrong with that.

Someone who doesn’t understand Latin or cannot follow chant may not have made the same connection or had the same conversion experience. That doens’t mean something else would not have triggered it, but for this person it was a particular experience at the Vigil that **started **them on the path to conversion.

It doesn’t mean either is “right” or “wrong” and it doesn’t denigrate chant.
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
The Becker version (one of the MANY reasons to dump OCP) has been forbidden by the pastor, as of this past Holy Saturday. Not only does it not follow the approved translation, but it includes names of non-canonized people like Origen (a faithful Christian of the early Church who fell into heresy). It is nearly impossible for a congregation to sing and it drags on and on.
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Our parish did this version for seven years, and did not include the names of Origen or any saints who were guilty of heretical teachings. It is easy enough to remove the names of saints, or include additional saints.

Our parish DID include the names of the patron saints of those being received into the Catholic Church, which was extremely moving. I noticed that in the missalette, the liturgy calls for this practice to be done, so it isn’t an abuse or anything.

And I disagree about it being impossible for to sing. We found it incredibly singable, and much more melodic than the three-note chant version that was done last weekend that sounded exactly like a children’s nursery rhyme.

Finally, a “litany” will last as long as there are saints to appeal to. One could just as easily say that the chanted version “dragged on and on.” It didn’t. It lasted until the end of the list of saints that we were requesting intercession from. It’s not meant to be a short little piece of music.
 
Cat said:
Our parish did this version for seven years, and did not include the names of Origen or any saints who were guilty of heretical teachings. It is easy enough to remove the names of saints, or include additional saints.

Our parish DID include the names of the patron saints of those being received into the Catholic Church, which was extremely moving. I noticed that in the missalette, the liturgy calls for this practice to be done, so it isn’t an abuse or anything.

And I disagree about it being impossible for to sing. We found it incredibly singable, and much more melodic than the three-note chant version that was done last weekend that sounded exactly like a children’s nursery rhyme.

Finally, a “litany” will last as long as there are saints to appeal to. One could just as easily say that the chanted version “dragged on and on.” It didn’t. It lasted until the end of the list of saints that we were requesting intercession from. It’s not meant to be a short little piece of music.
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Him I don’t remember the Origen name being in ours, but I wasn’t focusing on that. We also had the names of the patron saints of those being received into the church.
 
This is the version we used at the Easter Vigil.

youtube.com/watch?v=LI7tHS6zneE

(Note: This wasn’t the exact list, but that was the style, chanted a Capella. From what I remember, it was the standard list of Saints)
 
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