The Ten Commandments and The Six Precepts of the Church

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Tune at the top, or Verses alone at the bottom.
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Individuals may simply recite the verses to aid in memorization.
Instructional groups may intone the lesson to promote group cohesion and help monitor progress.

The Commandments,
Hymns and Songs for Catholic Children,
Catholic Publication Society, New York, 1870,
pp. 171, 172 & 173
Anonymous Thomas Tallis (1505-1582),
Tallis’ Canon 8.8.8.8, the Verses (c. 1561)
Arthur Henry Brown (1830-1926)
Lammas 10.10, the Chorus (1868)
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (Given to Moses)
1. One God alone thou shalt adore,
And daily love Him more and more.
2. Thou shalt not take His name in vain,
Nor aught that’s sacred e’er profane.
Chorus
Chorus.–
Remember these Commandments
which were given
To make us good on earth
and fit for heaven.
3. No servile work on Sunday do,
And keep it ever holy, too.
4. Obedience to parents give,
That thou mayest the longer live.
Chorus Remember these…, etc.
5. Thy fellow-man thou shalt not kill,
Nor even wish to do him ill.
6. Great purity thou shalt preserve,
And from innocence never swerve.
Chorus Remember these…, etc.
7. Thou shalt not steal nor, knowingly,
Keep what belongeth not to thee.
8. Thou shalt not e’er false witness bear;
To lie or slander never dare.
Chorus Remember these…, etc.
9. Thy thoughts shall always modest be;
Keep them from all uncleanness free.
10. With thy possessions be content;
Thus wilt thou keep this commandment.
Chorus Remember these…, etc.

The song continues below the fold.

THE SIX PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH.
1. On Sundays, holydays likewise,
Attend the Holy Sacrifice.
2. All fasts and days of abstinence
Keep strictly in the Church’s sense.
Chorus Remember these…, etc.
Chorus.–
Remember these Commandments
which were given
To make us good on earth
and fit for heaven.
3. Remember, at least once a year,
Confess thy sins, thy conscience clear.
4. Receive Communion once a year,
At Easter-time, with holy fear.
Chorus Remember these…, etc.
5. The Church commands that tithes we pay;
Her commandment let us obey.
6. Solemnize not marriage in Lent;
The same precept keep in Advent.
Chorus Remember these…, etc.
Amen.

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Reverend Jeremiah Williams Cummings, 1824-1866
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.
1. I AM thy God and Sovereign Lord,
Naught else must be as God adored.
2. All sacred things thy reverence claim,
Take not in vain God’s holy name.
3. Keep holy every Sabbath-day,
And do not work, but rest and pray.
4. All honor to thy Parents pay,
Nor their just wishes disobey.
5. Treat all as kindly as you can,
Kill not, nor hate your fellow-man.
6. From lewd temptations turn with haste,
And never do an act unchaste.
7. Give what is due to every one,
And take not what is not thine own.
8. Speak always what is true and fair,
Lie not, nor e’er false witness bear.
9. Preserve thy fancy free from stain,
And lustful thoughts ne’er entertain.
10. Be just in purpose and design,
And covet not what is not thine.
THE SIX PRECEPTS OF THE CHURCH.
1. Let not a Feast or Sunday pass,
Without once hearing Holy Mass.
2. Whene’er the Church shall so ordain,
Keep fast, or from flesh meat abstain.
3. Make every twelvemonth once at least
A good Confession to your Priest.
4. Each year, at Easter time at least,
Approach the Eucharistic feast.
5. The Priest must by the people live,
And you to him your mite should give.
6. The rules for Christian marriage made
Must be respected and obeyed.

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The Ten Commandments. Lowell Mason, Farnham, 1841

1. I AM THE LORD—and thou shalt serve
No other gods but Me:
Religion true thou shalt observe,
Faith, Hope, and Charity.
2. Thou shalt not take GOD’S NAME in vain,
Nor swear unlawfully;
Things holy, thou shalt not profane,
Nor curse irreverently.
3. Remember that thou sanctify,
Sunday and Holy-Day;
Work not without necessity;
Hear Holy Mass, and pray.
4. Thy parents honour, serve, and love,
And cheerfully obey;
And servants must obedient prove,
When without sin they may.
5. Thou shalt not kill,–nor vengeance take,
Nor hate thy enemy:
Forgive and love for Jesus’ sake,
All that have injured thee.
(5.) The same commandment does beside,
Forbid all drunkenness;
Self-injury and suicide,
And eating to excess.
6. Do not commit impurity,
in thoughts, words, deeds, or looks;
Beware of evil company,
And read not dangerous books.
7. Thou shalt not steal, nor keep, nor waste,
Nor cheat in any way;
Ill-gotten goods restore in haste,
And lawful debts repay.
8. False witness thou shalt never bear,
Nor tell a wilful lie;
Detraction, if thou canst, repair,
As well as calumny.
9. Thou shalt not harbour impure thoughts,
Nor look with lustful eye:
10. Thou Shalt not covet neighbour’s goods,
Nor eye them enviously.

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Exodus 20 2-17 Deuteronomy 5:6-21 A Traditional Catechetical Formula
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out
of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you out
of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
1. I am the LORD your God:
you shall not have
strange Gods before me.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself a graven image,
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth;
you shall not bow down to them or serve them;
for I the LORD your God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children to the third and the fourth
generation of those who hate me,
but showing steadfast love to thousands of those
who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall have no other gods before me
. . .
You shall not take
the name of the LORD your God in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless
who takes his name in vain.
You shall not take
the name of the LORD your God in vain
. . .
2. You shall not take
the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor, and do all your work;
but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God;
in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son,
or your daughter, your manservant,
or your maidservant or your cattle,
or the sojourner who is within your gates;
for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
and rested the seventh day;
therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.
Observe the sabbath day,
to keep it holy
. . .
3. Remember to keep holy the LORD’S Day.
Honor your father and your mother,
that your days may be long in the land
which the LORD your God gives you.
Honor your father and your mother
. . .
4. Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not kill. You shall not kill. 5. You shall not kill.
You shall not commit adultery. Neither shall you commit adultery. 6. You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal. Neither shall you steal. 7. You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.
Neither shall you bear false witness
against your neighbor.
8. You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house;
you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
or his manservant, or his maidservant,
or his ox, or his ass,
or anything that is your neighbor’s.
Neither shall you covet
your neighbor’s wife . . .You shall not desire . . .
anything that is your neighbor’s.
9. You shall not covet
your neighbor’s wife.10. You shall not covet
your neighbor’s goods.

Tableau-catéchisme = Pictorial catechism, 1874

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