A Catholic Book of Hymns: Chords Edition

CHORDS EDITIONThis has easy chords listed above the music that are carefully chosen to complement the hymn harmonies and support the singing, The keyboard part is the SIMPLE EDITION. A chart of the guitar chord patterns used in the book may be found in the back of the book. Bass players may play the written bass line of the hymn from the music.About the hymnal:“Music and silence—how I detest them both!” --Screwtape, under-secretary to the devil, The Screwtape Letters by C. S. LewisIt’s easy to see why the enemies of mankind would hate and fear both sacred silence and sacred music. Both bring joy, spur contemplation, and draw the soul nearer to the Lord. Both have been part of our private prayer as well as our communal liturgy for thousands of years.The Psalms--biblical songs of praise, supplication, and wonder--have been sung for three thousand years. Naturally, Jesus, His disciples, and later the early Christian community also sang hymns (from the Greek word meaning “songs of praise”), as The New Testament makes clear.We sing because we love, and sung praise elevates our words, takes them out of the realm of the commonplace, and increases our joy. The holy pleasure of singing to God involves the entire person--spirit, heart, mind, and body--and unites us not only with the Divine but also with one another as a worshiping community.This collection of hymns for the singing Catholic congregation exemplifies the best of the genre. These songs are religiously orthodox, beautiful, sacred, and--for the most part--familiar. But here you will also find worthy hymn tunes and texts that are new to you.This is a Supplemental Hymnal. It does not replace your current Hymnal/Missal but is instead a permanent hymnal, putting 295 hymns back in the pews, hymns that have over the last half-century, been replaced by modern songs in missal/hymnals. And they are in full harmony, which is rare in all but a few Catholic hymnals today.Using a Printed Weekly Music Sheet? This hymnal has the potential to save you the expense of printing up to four pages a week in the bulletin, which can add up to a tidy sum annually and the savings will, in not too many years, pay them off. Instead, just print the number and name of the hymn in your bulletin.We present this book to propose not that hymns replace the proper chants for a particular day’s Mass but live happily alongside them. In most instances the proper chants for processions might be sung by the cantors and choirs as the texts change with every Sunday and solemnity, so in most cases it’s not practical for the congregation to learn and sing them.Hymns, on the other hand, belong to all the faithful and serve as a key means of the “active participation” spoken of in Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Moreover, sung hymns have been an important part of the Liturgy of the Hours and Devotions for century upon century, so they are nothing new, although singing them at Mass is relatively recent.And at the conclusion of Mass, a suitable hymn can send the people forth with the praise of Almighty God on their lips.May this book bring joy to all who sing from it!This is a permanent hymnal, totally immune to translation changes to the Mass or the Readings - the next planned for 2025 - as these hymns are the original texts with no modern text updates. Read more