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Views from the Choir Loft

Thoughts on the “Hymn” for the Year of Mercy?

Andrew Leung · August 13, 2015

CTL Year of Mercy FRIEND OF MINE posted a link about the Holy Year of Mercy on my Facebook yesterday. The Vatican just released the official hymn for the Year of Mercy on August 6. Misericordes sicut Pater by English composer Paul Inwood was chosen by a committee. Inwood and 89 other composers around the world participated in the competition sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

The name of the piece, Misericordes sicut Pater, is from Luke 6:36. It is also the motto for the Jubilee: Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. The text was written by Jesuit Father Eugenio Costa. The piece has been released in Italian, French and English, with the refrains and antiphons in Latin. The full English score can be found here. This is the official English text from the Vatican website:

Misericordes sicut Pater! Misericordes sicut Pater!

1. Give thanks to the Father, for He is good in aeternum misericordia eius
He created the world with wisdom in aeternum misericordia eius
He leads His people throughout history in aeternum misericordia eius
He pardons and welcomes His children in aeternum misericordia eius

2. Give thanks to the Son, Light of the Nations in aeternum misericordia eius
He loved us with a heart of flesh in aeternum misericordia eius
As we receive from Him, let us also give to Him in aeternum misericordia eius
Hearts open to those who hunger and thirst in aeternum misericordia eius

Misericordes sicut Pater! Misericordes sicut Pater!

3. Let us ask the Spirit for the seven holy gifts in aeternum misericordia eius
Fount of all goodness and the sweetest relief in aeternum misericordia eius
Comforted by Him, let us offer comfort in aeternum misericordia eius
Love hopes and bears all things in aeternum misericordia eius

4. Let us ask for peace from the God of all peace in aeternum misericordia eius
The earth waits for the Good News of the Kingdom in aeternum misericordia eius
Joy and pardon in the hearts of the little ones in aeternum misericordia eius
The heavens and the earth will be renewed in aeternum misericordia eius

Misericordes sicut Pater! Misericordes sicut Pater!

HERE IS ONE THING I don’t quite understand: why is this piece an “official hymn”? Why can’t it be an “official song”? This song is really not a hymn! It is a Litany! I would have to admit that this piece is the best one I have heard by Inwood. And this Litany is definitely more dignified and worthy for the Liturgy than Center of My Life. But it is still not my favorite. What do you think?

I do think the Sistine Chapel Choir sounds much better than a few years ago.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski
Sound Familiar?

1 June 1579: “The chapter passes a rule that anyone ascending to the new organ without official permission shall be fined a month’s pay.”

26 October 1579: “The altar boys remain always separate and distinct from choirboys—the one group learning only plainchant and assisting at the altar, the other living with the chapel-master and studying counterpoint and polyphony as well. Father Francisco Guerrero postpones his departure for Rome and instead spends the entire year in Seville making ready for the trip. In the meantime he neglects his choirboys. On 16 November, after considerable complaint against their unruliness and ignorance, he engages an assistant, Bartolomé Farfán.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“With all the powers of modern music open to him, from romanticism through French impressionism to the German and Russian modernists, he is yet able to confine all these contradictory forces on the groundwork of the Gregorian tradition.”

— Theodor Rehmann (on Msgr. Jules Van Nuffel)

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