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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

“Source Material” • The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal

Jeff Ostrowski · October 30, 2018

HE Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal does not mimic or “build upon” Protestant hymnals. From first to last, it’s a Catholic publication. We assembled a staggering number of Catholic hymnals, from which we selected only the very best material. Someday, we hope to release all of the source material we discovered. This is not to say that we took absolutely nothing of Protestant origin, and those who carefully examine the following list will spot a few Anglican publications.

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PLEASE FEEL FREE to download some of the books we came across during our research for the Brébeuf hymnal. We hope to release the complete collection someday:

1842 • ENGLISH HYMNS in METER (A. D. Wackerbarth) —74pg

1847 • CATHOLIC HYMNAL with HARMONIES (Fr. Stephan Lück) —879pg

1848 • HYMNS OF THE HEART (Matthew Bridges) —97pg

1851 • LYRA CATHOLICA (Edward Caswall) —572pg

1853 • CATHOLIC HYMNS with ILLUSTRATIONS (Cardinal Wiseman) —64pg

1854 • THE HYMNAL NOTED (J. M. Neale) —226pg

ADDITIONAL   •   Accomp.   •   Words   •   Alt. Versions

1854 • ORATORY HYMNS and TUNES (Fr. Faber) —202pg

1850s • THE HYMN of SAINT CASIMIR (Various Translations)

* 1860 • THE CATHOLIC HYMNAL (London) —192pg

1861 • SUNDAY SCHOOL BOOK (Fr. Furniss)   {Hymns begin on pg 146}

1862 • HAWAIIAN HYMNAL (Honolulu, Probably Anglican) —251pg

1863 • MEDIEVAL HYMNS and SEQUENCES (J. M. Neale) —242pg

1870 • CATHOLIC HYMNS (Servite Fathers) —92pg

1872 • THE HYMNARY (Benjamin Webb & William Cooke) —665pg

1873 • HYMNS and POEMS (Fr. Edward Caswall) —489pg

1878 • LATIN HYMNAL “Cantiones Sacræ” (Joseph Mohr) —440pg

1880 • HYMN TRANSLATIONS by D. T. Morgan (Anglican) —314pg

1884 • ANNUS SANCTUS (Orby Shipley) —478pg

1884 • THE ROMAN HYMNAL (Fr. J. B. Young) —801pg

1885 • O CHRIST HIE MERK! (Fr. Guido Maria Dreves) —180pg

1889 • MANUAL of PRAYERS (Council of Baltimore)   {Hymns begin on pg 599}

1889 • ORIGINAL TEXTS in “Hymns Ancient & Modern” —406pg

1891 • HOLY FACE HYMNAL (Sisters of Mercy)

1900 • BREVIARY HYMNS & MISSAL SEQUENCES (Bishop Bagshawe) —222pg

* 1905 • ARUNDEL HYMNS (Duke of Norfolk) —569pg (202MB)

1905 • NOTRE DAME HYMN BOOK (Birtchnell & Brown) —88pg

1905 • THE HYMNER (Anglican) —166pg

1906 • THE ENGLISH HYMNAL (Anglican) —pg917

1906 • SAINT BASIL HYMNAL (15th ed.) —428pg

1906 • CATHOLIC CHURCH HYMNAL (E. Tozer) —376pg

1907 • SUNDAY SCHOOL HYMN BOOK (Sisters of Notre Dame) —187pg

1907 • ANGLICAN HYMN BOOK (Bullock) —1,151pg

1908 • EARLY CHRISTIAN HYMNS (Judge D. J. Donahoe) —278pg

1908 • OFFICE HYMNS together with the PROPER MELODIES (Anglican) —506pg

1909 • THE CATHOLIC HYMNAL (Fr. Alfred Young) —296pg

1910 • SAINT MARK’S CATHOLIC HYMNAL (Peoria) —222pg

1911 • CROWN HYMNAL (Fr. Kavanagh) —610pg

1912 • EUCHARISTICA (Hugh Thomas Henry) —230pg

* 1912 • WESTMINSTER HYMNAL (Sir Richard R. Terry) —423pg

* 1913 • SAINT HUGH HYMN BOOK (Fr. Adrian Fortescue) —168pg

* 1913 • SONGS OF SYON HYMNAL (George Woodward) —613pg

1913 • AMERICAN CATHOLIC HYMNAL (Marist Brothers) —509pg

1913 • DE LA SALLE HYMNAL (New York) —263pg

1913 • BOOK of HYMNS (Fr. Gregory Ould & William Sewell) —572pg

1913 • Vox Angelica: A New Collection of Catholic hymns (organ edition) DUBLIN —43pg

1914 • HOSANNA CATHOLIC HYMN BOOK (Fr. Ludwig Bonvin) —285pg

1914 • COLLECTED SEQUENCES and HYMNS (J. M. Neale) —460pg

1915 • HOLY CROSS HYMNAL (Cardinal O’Connell) —52pg

1916 • PANGE LINGUA ( Alan G. McDougall) —122pg

1918 • ST. BASIL HYMNAL (“completely remodelled”) —350pg   {Very Large File}

1920 • CATHOLIC HYMNAL (Fr. John G. Hacker) —348pg

1920 • SAINT GREGORY HYMNAL (Nicola A. Montani) —512pg

1921 • STANDARD CATHOLIC HYMNAL (James A. Reilly) —171pg

1922 • HYMNS of the BREVIARY and MISSAL (Fr. Matthew Britt) —390pg

1926 • DIOCESAN HYMNAL (Joseph Schrembs, Bishop of Cleveland) —84pg

1936 • PAROCHIAL HYMNAL (Fr. Carlo Rossini) —291pg

1937 • SAINT CECILIA HYMNAL (J. Alfred Schehl) —272pg

1937 • MOUNT MARY HYMNAL (Sister Gisela) —255pg

1938 • SAINT ROSE HYMNAL (Franciscan Sisters) —222pg

* 1939 • NEW WESTMINSTER HYMNAL (Ronald Knox) —452pg

1941 • CHANT SERVICE BOOK (Achille P. Bragers) —208pg

* 1942 • LAUDATE HYMNAL and CHOIRBOOK (Hohe, Koch, Green) —270pg

1943 • HYMNS OF THE DOMINICAN BREVIARY (Aquinas Byrnes) —694pg

1945 • FATHER SELNER HYMNAL (Father John Selner) —39pg

* 1948 • DAILY HYMN BOOK (Westminster & Desclée) —360pg

1949 • Msgr. Ronald Knox “Trials of a Translator”

*  PDF Download • Pius X Hymnal (Australia)
—Edited by Father Percy Jones in 1952.

1952 • CANTATE OMNES HYMNAL — Buffalo, New York

1953 • SAINT PIUS X HYMNAL — Organist & Congregational editions

* 1954 • THE MONASTERY HYMNAL — Achille P. Bragers

* 1954 • CATHOLIC HYMMNS — Fr. John Selner

* 1955 • CHRIST THE KING HYMNAL — Rev. Aloysius Knauff

* 1955 • MEDIATOR DEI HYMNAL (J. Vincent Higginson) —114pg

1955 • HYMNS of the ROMAN LITURGY (Fr. Joseph Connelly) —285pg

1957 • PARISH HYMNAL (Sister Catherine Cecilia) —72pg

1957 • LEEDS CATHOLIC HYMNAL (Crosiers) —232pg

1959 • POPE PIUS XII MASS HYMNAL (Joseph Roff)

1964 • “Hymnal of Christian Unity” (Catholic w/ IMPRIMATUR) —113pg

1964 • Scottish: ST. ANDREW HYMNAL (Catholic) —434pg

1966 • The Book of Catholic Worship

1967 • DOMINICAN BREVIARY HYMNS —In four (4) parts

* A red star indicates the book is particularly noteworthy.

Saint Jean de Brébeuf brought the True Faith to the New World and underwent extreme suffering during his martyrdom. It was Brébeuf who said to Jogues, Garnier, and Chastellain in the summer of 1636: “Fear no difficulties; there will be none for you, since it is your whole consolation to see yourself crucified with the Son of God.” While Saint Brébeuf was working in the missions, the hymns of the Catholic Church were being completely revised by Pope Urban VIII, the same pope who granted Father Isaac Jogues special permission to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, even though his fingers had been brutally sawn off by the Iroquois.

The new Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal was recently declared by the New Liturgical Movement to be “hands down, the best Catholic hymnal ever published.”

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*  Click Here to learn about the Brébeuf Hymnal
—Pew Edition, Choral Supplement, Organ Accompaniment, and more!

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Jean de Brebeuf Hymnal, Roman Catholic Hymnals Last Updated: September 18, 2022

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ with regard to 1960s switch to vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 5 October 2025, which is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin. Readers will want to check out the ENTRANCE CHANT posted there, which has a haunting melody (in the DEUTERUS MODE) and extremely powerful text.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I prefer to preach,” said one priest “even without immediate preparation, for I can always draw—from the various studies stored away during the seminary years—enough material to interest our good Catholic people. But when I have to go to the altar and sing High Mass or a Requiem, and I know that I cannot read a note of the Preface and the ‘Pater Noster’, I feel like going to martyrdom. Yet the notes are right there before my eyes, but they seem to mock my ignorance.”

— From a 1920 article by Very Rev. Leo P. Manzetti

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  • “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
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