To aid Catholic schools in this effort, Mrs. Goodrich has co-edited Classic Hymns for Catholic Schools — a collection of 50 traditional hymns suitable for congregational harmonic singing — along with a fellow Thomas Aquinas College alumnus, Dr. Andrew Seeley (’87). The chosen hymns “are doctrinally rich, poetically powerful; the imagery is tremendous,” says Dr. Seeley, a member of the College’s teaching faculty at the California campus. “They are scriptural. They draw from the rich liturgical traditions of the Church.”
Yet the two alumni were careful to select hymns that even young, inexperienced singers in a school setting could learn to master — and love. “Singing music in harmony is one of the most unifying, socially affirming experiences available to human beings,” adds Mrs. Goodrich. “There’s almost no joy in the world equal to singing together.”
To accompany the hymnal, Dr. Seeley has also authored Golden Treasures: Notes & Comments on Classic Hymns for Catholic Schools, which provides background on each hymn, its composer, its lyrics, and their underlying theology. Both works are published by the Institute for Catholic Education, of which Dr. Seeley is a co-founder and the director of advanced formation.
In a recent review, The Catholic Response declared that “the first booklet should be in the hands of every Catholic school student in the country, the second in the hands of teachers,” while calling the works “a genuine answer to prayer and a sign that Catholic education is truly being renewed.”
The above comes from a Jan. 10 press release from Thomas Aquinas College.
Watch here video on Classic Hymns for Catholic Schools.
Why not On Eagles Wings or Though the Mountains May Fall? When I was a kid I loved singing those songs at Mass and I want to pass on that enjoyment to my grandchildren.
Now you know how the older Catholics felt when these marvelous Hymns were torn from them, and some hymns that could not compare on any level took their place.
The Adoro Te was composed by the great Catholic saint, St. Thomas Aquinas about Christ hidden in the Eucharist.. Here are some of the words:
Prostate I adore Thee, Deity unseen, Who Thy glory hidest beneath these shadows mean; Lo, to Thee surrendered, my whole heart is bowed. Entranced as it beholds Thee, shrined within the cloud.
Jesus, Whom now veiled I by faith descry, What my soul doth thirst for, do not, Lord, deny.
Hidden God, Devoutly I Adore You
I am not saying that all the newer music is bad, just that much of it cannot compare to the older hymns, and there are plenty of hymnals with the newer hymns that people can buy for their grandchildren if they so desire. I have been blessed that there are still Catholic churches around me that use these older hymns, either in English or in Latin — and have not ruined them with so-called “inclusive” language.
Sorry, those are religious pop songs, like songs on the radio– not real hymns. Many of those pop religious songs have big theological errors in the words. But for the ones that are theologically correct, according to Catholic teaching– pperhaps you can sing them informally, around a campfire, along with “Kumbaya.” A Catholic hymn is formal, and stately, not informal, casual, and personal, for a “pop” singer to “croon” their personal religious feelings. A hymn must be theologically correct, suitable for Mass and religious devotions, formally, in a church. Hymns are written by professional, well-trained Catholic musicians. Many hymns have been written for special Church Feast Days.
Well, I get a feel of what this article is trying to communicate, but may I suggest re-posting it after it has been proofread by another party? Example: “Harmonies that are doctrinally rich, poetically powerful drawn up by Andrew Seeley and Kathleen Goodrich” So….. the ‘harmonies’ themselves are doctrinally sound? I’m guessing the author meant the lyrics.
I looked through the table of contents in the hymnal. I don’t recognize almost any of those songs. My Catholic church doesn’t sing any of them. If it had Go Make a Difference or 10,000 Reasons or Our God Is Here, then maybe kids would like the songs better and the authors would have more success.
That might be just your own prejudice. You would be surprised what children can learn to like and understand if presented to them properly. I know a woman who started playing the violin because she wanted to learn how to play country and western music, but she ended up as a professional classical violinist in an orchestra at 13 or 14 years of age.
I try to remember what President George W. Bush once said, “The soft prejudice of low expectations.”
The point to my last post is that children need to learn to appreciate different types of music and how to use them at the right time, and some should not be used at all. Some music and lyrics stir up our lower passions and takes us down to the depths of hell, and some encourages our virtues and takes us upward to heavenly heights.
The first violin teacher of the woman I mentioned told her, “You are not going to play the fiddle, you are going to play the violin.” She still likes some fiddle.
Praise God for this.
My kids would not want to sing those
How do you know that? And, why not?
(I appreciate more contemporary hymns as well, when done well and reverently, I just don’t know how you know that about your children, unless they’ve been exposed to them.)
https://www.facebook.com/BeatusChoir/
I think your readers will like this.
Magnificent church, beautiful young people. They are our future. God bless and protect them.
The Mass is Heaven come down to earth. It deserves fitting music to lift the mind and heart to God. I fondly recall singing many of the hymns listed in Classic Hymns for Catholic School as a student in Catholic school. It would be wonderful if we heard them once again in our Churches because these sacred hymns really do lift our mind and hearts to God.
Any music collection that ignores the contributions made by Dan Schutte over the past five decades to liturgical music is incomplete.
incomplete, I tend to agree with you. Yet, what is Mr. Schutte’s relationship with the Catholic Church? The National Catholic Reporter stated, “Bishop James Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, prohibited Schutte from appearing in a Catholic parish, because, he said, the composer didn’t have ‘a letter of suitability’ from his home diocese.” Is he still at the University of San Francisco? Was he a priest or had he taken final vows when he left the Jesuits? If so, has he been laicized? Those seem to be relevant questions for compilers of Catholic hymn books.