On a positive note, what is your FAVORITE hymn?

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I am convinced that apart from Sara Lee (which nobody doesn’t like) that someone will slam on everything. But I would like to hear what hymns you sing in the shower, hum on the way home from mass and touch your soul. State your reason, if you can. These posts may also be helpful for choir directors to find new material.

My favorite (this week) is “Take and Eat” because of its melody and extremely Christocentric lyrics.
 
“How Great Thou Art”

“Battle Hymn of the Republic”

“Here I am, Lord”
 
How Great Thou Art.–My grandfather played this on the accordian every night as his winding down ritual. Always heard its sound coming up from the basement at the end of an evening.

Hail Mary, Gentle Woman. Just a great song and lyrics.
 
As I said on the “UNfavorite” thread, my favorite hymn is Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence. The theology and melody are perfectly combined. It sends chills down my spine.

'thann
 
“Jesu Dulcis Memoria”

“Pange lingua” especially done as Tantum Ergo

“Ave Maria” The Schubert version
 
I wait for Advent every year just to sing this hymn. Tears are streaming down my face right now…
  1. Lo! He comes, with clouds descending,
    once for our salvation slain;
    thousand thousand saints attending
    swell the triumph of his train;
    Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
    Christ the Lord returns to reign.
  2. Every eye shall now behold him,
    robed in dreadful majesty;
    those who set at nought and sold him,
    pierced, and nailed him to the tree,
    deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
    shall the true Messiah see.
  3. Those dear tokens of his passion
    still his dazzling body bears,
    cause of endless exultation
    to his ransomed worshipers;
    with what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture
    gaze we on those glorious scars!
  4. Yea, amen! Let all adore thee,
    high on thine eternal throne;
    Savior, take the power and glory;
    claim the kingdom for thine own:
    Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
    Thou shalt reign, and thou alone.
Words:Charles Wesley (1707-1788) Music: Helmsley, melody Augustine Arne (1710-1778)

Betsy
 
Holy God We Praise Thy Name-
the original version I learned in grade school NOT the one where a few words are changed.

Immaculate Mary-the same reason as above. …'your sweet name, not fair name.

Open My Eyes, Lord.
and I do have others

Edwin
 
Yes, the “Holy God we praise Thy Name” change from “all on earth Thy scepter claim” to “all on earth Thy rule acclaim” is horrible. Is it just me, or is saying that everyone on earth acclaims God’s rule means that everyone recognizes His rule, which is just plain wrong?
 
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Edwin1961:
Immaculate Mary-the same reason as above. …'your sweet name, not fair name.
You mean ‘thy sweet name’! 😉

‘Immaculate Mary’ is one of my favorites, along with ‘Holy God We Praise Thy Name’ (I never even heard the “alternate” lyric – I’ve always sung “Thy scepter claim”). I also like ‘Salve Regina,’ ‘Beautiful Savior/Blessed by Your Sacrifice,’ ‘Alleluia! Sing to Jesus’ (even though it was penned by a Protestant), and Bach’s great hymns like ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ and ‘Nan Dunket Alle Gott.’

I also enjoy a great many Christmas hymns.
 
Katholish - I have found myself many times our missalette will have the traditional wording as opposed to our hymnal. In these cases I always use the missalette version

baltobetsy - Do you know the name of that hymn? Advent hymns are always a problem for me to find.
 
I love “Behold the Lamb of God – all who eat, all who drink shall live. And all who dwell in God, shall come to know His glory!” :amen:
 
Ave Maria when done well sends a chill down my spine and a tear to my eye. Unfortunetly it is rarely done well. 😦
There is a song we always sing on Good Friday at my parish that I always liked but rarely hear because it’s obviously suited for that day is Behold The Cross.
 
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pnewton:
baltobetsy - Do you know the name of that hymn? Advent hymns are always a problem for me to find.
I don’t know if it has a name, other than the name of the hymn tune, Helmsley. It can be found in the *Episcopal Hymnal 1982 * at number 57. I think it’s also in Worship, but I don’t know the number. But you can look at the *index of first lines * to find any hymn you like, including this one.

Betsy
 
I guess I’m a moldy oldie. I love all the Latin (Gloria, Asperges Me, Sanctus, Agnus Dei), and

O Sacred Head Surrounded
Holy God we Praise Thy Name
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
All Creatures of Our God and King

and as far as modern music, I really like, “Lord, When You Came to the Seashore.”
 
“Holy God We Praise Thy Name” - Says it all

“How Beautiful” (is The Body of Christ) - Speaks to my heart…

“Immaculate Mary” - Ah! my sweet Mother…

“Spirit of The Living God” (fall afresh on me)- Left over from my “Alleluia Days” (Charismatic)

Be Not Afraid - I’ll always remember JP2 when he came to Boston…

“Tantum Ergo” - Benediction…

“Lord of The Dance” - It makes me joyful, it makes me sad…
 
“O Sacred Head Surrounded,” Bach’s arrangement, traditional wording. I love it!
 
Schubert’s “Ave Maria” immediately comes to mind. A the Cathedral in Orange, California they incorporated quite a bit of chant on Ash Wednesday one year. I remember the pieces written by composer William Byrd really struck me.

But, for more familiar music, my third-grade teacher, Millie Rieth, wrote several songs that are in most OCP missals which I actually believe were well done. I regret that I never told her, as she passed away last summer.

The songs are “How Good You Are God,” “Yahweh is My Shepherd Now,” based on the Psalm, and “Mary’s Song,” based on the Magnificat. Her songs are always focused on the greatness of God, as did the songs she would select for school Masses. “Seek Ye First” was one she often selected, and I still like that one.

(I also can still remember how thrilled she seemed when Reagan was elected in 1980, and how horrified she was the day he got shot.)
 
Of old hyms, I really love Tantum Ergo acapella. As a child, nothing made as big an impression on me as Holy Thursday’s mass and the procession with the Blessed Sacrament, the smell of incense, the reverent voices. And then to see the priest strip the altar and leave in silence. It seemed nobody uttered a word, probably until they got home that night. It really touched me.

Of newer songs, I really do love “The Bread of Life”. When I was 16 years old, our parish’s much loved priests, Fr. Nolan and Fr. Jacobsen, had a horrible car accident. One died immediately and one a day later. At the rosary for the first priest, they suddenly came in with the second casket, not realizing that many did not realize the second priest had died. I remember a man in front of me collapsing in the pew. Our parish was in such shock and grief. At the funeral mass, it seemed to me that there were over 50 priests and they all processed in singing “And I will raise him up.” It was really beautiful and moving. So I have always loved that song. Lately I have seen revised versions of it saying, “And I will raise you up” and I really prefer it to have been left alone. I don’t have to have things gender-neutral to feel included and it makes it hard for us in music ministry to all end up having the same words as the assembly.
 
“Be Not Afraid” - Inspiring in times of fear or anxiety.

“Silent Night” - My favorite of all the beautiful Christmas hymns.
 
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