Liturgy of the Hours

[SacredHeartFan]

Do you have to sing the hymn if you don’t know how it goes?? My book provides me with absolutly no sheet music. And I don’t know any of the songs that say “goes to the tune of…”
Help!

 

[drforjc]

Do you have to sing the hymn if you don’t know how it goes?? My book provides me with absolutly no sheet music. And I don’t know any of the songs that say “goes to the tune of…”
Help!

You may say the hymn. In fact, the instructions actually use the words “… hymn is said…”

 

[PhilotheaZ]

You can recite the words if you can’t sing it, or substitute another appropriate hymn.

 

[Aramis]

Or even just use psalm tone

Doing Reader’s Vespers* “today” with other parishioners (last night**), we sang one of the hymns that has a traditional melody in Tone 3 instead. My friends were able to sing along, without sheet music, because we’d already sunk tone 3 into our heads!

Another hymn, we don’t know*** the traditional melody and it’s not in the book, so we sing it in psalm tone.

• Byzantine use makes distinctions in the prayers by who is leading… Reader’s Vespers are lead by a layperson (or in some Eastern Churches, a Deacon), Deacon’s vespers have litanies, and a few more prayers, and normal vespers are lead by priests and have a number of prayers by the priest.

** Byantines still start the liturgical day at Vespers the night before. Hence the need for vespers before a vigil liturgy.

*** they don’t know and I can’t remember, and it’s not notated

 

[puzzleannie]

we just look for a hymn we know, or hum a few bars to see of the words work with some of the most familiar tunes–Faith of our Fathers (St Catherines), Old 100th, Now thank we all our God, Sons and daughters let us sing, a lot of these work with many lyrics.