Video • “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”

E HAVE OFTEN STRESSED something important about the Brébeuf hymnal. Just because it is a fully Catholic book, that doesn’t mean every single Protestant hymn was excluded. A good example is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Many other Catholic hymnals have included this beautiful hymn for a long time. For example, “Worship IV Hymnal” (GIA, 2011) places it for #414. The “Saint Michael Hymnal” (2011 edition) places it for #558. The “New Catholic Hymnal” (Patrick Russill, 1998)—published by the London Oratory—places it for #21. The “Adoremus Hymnal” (Ignatius Press, 2011) places it for #325.

In the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal, it is #663:

You can hear the individual tracks if you visit the Brébeuf website and scroll to #663.

Sometimes, older Catholic hymnals did funny things with this melody.

Look at this example from the “Notre Dame Hymnal Book” (Birtchnell & Brown, 1905):

Consider, too, this example from “Saint Mark’s Roman Catholic Hymnal” (1910):

That’s the text for Ad Regias Agni Dapes !!!