The singing of “paraliturgical hymns” – popular devotional songs – outside the Liturgy is a significant and beloved part of our Church’s tradition. A small appendix of these songs was included in our previous Divine Liturgy book, and several additional collections were published over the years. Unfortunately, the new hymnal which was announced at “forthcoming” in 2006 never materialized.
With the consent of our bishops, the Metropolitan Cantor Institute is undertaking the project of preparing a new hymnal for our church, to be submitted to the Inter-Eparchial Music Commission when it is complete. This hymnal will include hymns to the Trinity, to the Mother of God, and to the saints, chosenfrom material traditionally used in our church, printed with music and set for singing in various languages as appropriate.
Of course, there are a variety of issues to consider. Which hymns should be included? If there are several translations or melodies in circulation, which one(s) should be used? Would it be appropriate to provide literal (non-sung) translations for traditional Carpatho-Rusyn or Magyar hymns when our current English translation is a very free one? And so on.
As part of this project, we will hold several meetings over the next year, as well as a public “hymn sing” on Sunday, October 2, at Saint John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral in Munhall, PA. My goal is to complete a draft hymnal by September 1, 2017.
If you have suggestions for this project, please comment below!
If you would like to assist in this project or contribute on a continuing basis, please write to mci@archpitt.org.
I recently noticed that the current MCI hymnal lacks “Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos,” which appears in English in back of the pew book, but nowhere in Slavonic except in the old Marian Hymnal. That would be a good thing to include, in my opinion.
I Agree!
Good news! It would be nice to have more hymns to the Trinity and saints.
Is there any possibility of combining the Sunday Hymnal and the Byzantine Hymnal?The book juggling gets confusing especially for the guests who have been coming semi regularly to our parish in St. Louis.
I’d like to see more hymns specifically for Communion time.
Marilyn,
Here in Indianapolis we chant the Psalms with the Alleluia refrain.
Fr. Bryan
Here at Saint Michael in Newton Falls, Ohio I try to talk and listen to the people about what they would like to sing. It is a smaller congregation and rather than change things from week to week I try to be consistent for them. I know that if I need to clear my throat while leading them I can pause and they carry on singing very well. I keep them informed if anything will be changing or any updates. They also like to hear Slavonic and I try to sing some from time to time! When leading at Saints Peter and Paul in Warren, Ohio I will rotate the melodies as called out.