Hymns that Teach the Faith

More formally titled, “Catechetical Hymnody”. Selections of hymns from old hymnals which are likely to be of use in catechesis—before the Council they all actively taught the Faith, to one extent or another. Our website transforms such hymns from “dots on a page” into hymns you can sing to along with your phone.

For example, a current work being rendered into music you can sing, is a hymn appropriate for the 5^th Glorious Mystery, the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. The hymn, with a subtitle “Regina Angelorum”, at Catholic Church hymnal with music, J. Fischer & Bro., 1905, #109, https://archive.org/details/CatholicChurchHymnalWithMusic/page/n176/mode/1up

The relevant catechetical text is from the very first words,

O vision bright,
the land of light,
beams goldenly
beyond the sky…

The sense implied, self-reinforced at a deep-conscious level by the laity each time they sing the lyrics, is that heaven where the Blessed Virgin Mary reigns as Queen, is not limited to the sense of being materially “up in the sky”, but is in a condition transcendent of all earthly realities, though it encompasses them. Although our Blessed Lord chose for His own purposes to Ascend up into the sky, we have perhaps only a limited, later sense from holy tradition that the Dormition or the Ascencion of the Blessed Virgin Mary was in a materially “up” direction. This comports with our Catholic understanding that God’s transcendence is beyond all material considerations—that the “invisible” in the “things visible and invisible” is far more extensive than our mere, material universe, the froth of galaxies, the mind-trap of materialists. Dr. Stacy Trasancos, once a Diocesan official for Bishop Joseph Strickland, wrote a book on the work against pantheism by Fr. Stanley Jaki, explaining how Science is beholden to the Church’s sponsorship of an anti-pantheistic understanding. (Yes, you couldn’t have imagined that a few simple lyrics in an old, pre-conciliar hymn could imply so much; but it’s a tribute to the Church’s catechetical depth—which is highly worthy of our close attention—how in a few terse words, it resembles the density of the words of early Genesis.)

Before the Second Vatican Council, the purpose of music found in Catholic hymnals was to put prayers to God into song, to orient us to God through the Sacraments, with emphasis on traditional pious practices such as devotion for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Stations of the Cross, the Holy Rosary, the commemorations of the Communion of the Saints, praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and various intense, active personal prayer programs.

An important part of this orientation to God, is catechesis, our education in the faith, primary and continuing, to be able to love and serve God first by knowing Him. (After the Baltimore Catechism for First Holy Communion preparation, an excellent catechism for continuing adult education life-long, is The Catholic Catechism Explained by Spirago and Clarke.) Hymns in Church and at home that help us discover our Faith and remember and continue to correspond with what we have learned can be called Catechetical Hymnody.

“Oh, but isn’t this the concern of choir masters and music educators, and formal catechists who already handle all that?” Not precisely; choir masters treat with exact expertise, the most solemn ritual music, with its proper orientation to God and with the laity’s full attention; yet the laity have a significant stake in their own active correspondence, in relation to, but also a suitable, slight distance apart from the actual Mass, with closely considering the meaning of the Holy Mass and with properly directed personal piety. And our Priestly catechists have a vast scope of responsibilities which suggest that it is parents who help the catechumens in practices of memorization and comprehension. Not the least of the resources available for this, is catechetical hymnody, which doesn’t involve the choir-masters or the Catechists, but is the concern of the parents.

Electronic media—radio and talkies—pushed out a once vigorous, active personal musical life on the part of the common people, by the mid-1960s rendering us culturally defenseless, preparing us for the cultural invasion of The Hootenanny “Mass”.

Our pre-conciliar Catechetical music is the regular, even daily concern of Mothers at home, of Parents who are on the front line of the restoration of Christian culture, of families who have the responsibility and the privilege of propagating their Catholic viewpoint across generations. This issue dovetails with the concern to replace invasive, corrosive, commercially-marketed popular music with active, self-determined home music, social fun and hobby-practice controlled by the family.