As a general rule, all hymns to the Mother of God in our 1978 pew book were also included in the 1984 Marian Hymnal. This one is an exception.
Author: Jeff Mierzejewski
O Virgin Mary, most kind Mother
This is a hymn with a popular refrain, often sung enthusiastically in small groups – but the verses need work.
O most glorious ever-virgin Mary
Some paraliturgical hymns have a catchy melody; others have a deeply theological text, or a long history of devotional singing. Sadly, some have none of these. Here is an example of another hymn which will probably NOT be included in the forthcoming hymnal.
O Mary, Mother of our God
Now THIS hymn has a thorny issue: the English translation has led to two very different ways of singing the first line in Slavonic.
‘Neath your holy icon kneeling
This is a hymn with two different English translations, which we will try to sort out in this blog entry.
Mother of all people
This is a less well-known entry from the Marian Hymnal – but I find it refreshingly straightforward, and the sort of song that is simply fun to sing, particularly with children.
Mary, mother to us all
Here is an example of a hymn which will probably NOT be included in the forthcoming hymnal.
Mary, look upon us
In general, our plain chant and our spiritual songs run in separate but parallel tracks, but there is some cross-over – particularly in the way some paraliturgical hymns are also used as base melodies for the Cherubic Hymn at the Divine Liturgy. Mary, look upon us (Prizri, O Marije) is one of those “dual-use” hymns.
Immaculate Mary (The Lourdes Hymn)
The creation of a new hymnal for our church will involve a few real judgment calls, and the 19th century hymn, Immaculate Mary (Likuj Presvjataja) is one of them.
From our hearts we sinners
This is an example of a “hyperbolic” hymn: one that somewhat exaggerates our dependence on the Mother of God (“if you do not hear us, we will be alone here… evil will consume us”); surely we always have Christ also! But of course, the glory and importance of the Mother of God rests precisely in that she brought Christ into the world, and brings us to him. Continue reading “From our hearts we sinners”