Question about a particular song

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pprimeau1976

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Has anyone heard of the song O Love That Will Not Let Me Go? It’s a hymn found in protestant hymnals (although to a different tune) but it is a song I sang at a Catholic parish I once belonged to.

Here is a recording provided by the publisher, Beckenhorst Press, and the lyrics are as follows:
O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
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What do you think of the lyrics? What do you think of the tune? Do you think either are suitable to be sung at a Catholic Mass? I love the tune and the lyrics, but I am thinking that it might be too schmaltzy for Mass.
 
While it may not ideal for the Latin Rite (meaning having its roots in Gregorian chant), it is certainly acceptable and better than much of the drivel that many “music ministers” are shoving into the mouths of the faithful.

Adam
 
Ooooo how I loooove this hymn!!! I’ve actually never heard it sung in a church before, but whenever I listen to an evangelical radio station back home (as far as I’m aware there is no Catholic one, and they have amazing music), this is a favorite that they play a lot. I heard it to a much different tune (which I think sounds better), but that version probably wouldn’t be very congregation friendly.
 
Nope, this is not a congregation-friendly song. This version is not out of a hymnal, but out of an octavo.
 
If you want to hear an absolutely beautiful arrangement of this, try to find the version by the Gaither Vocal Band. It’s amazing!

I realized I didn’t answer your original question though. I don’t see that it would be INappropriate for Mass. I guess I can see where someone could say it has a “me” focus, but that’s only because it’s being sung in first-person; the entire hymn itself is one of praise.
 
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