E REMEMBER HOW many holy people were known to have a highly developed sense of humor. In this category were saints: Father Antoine Daniel, Saint Thomas More, Don Bosco. Also in this category are American clerics: Monsignor Robert Skeris, Bishop Fulton Sheen, and so forth. These people were always laughing and making jokes. They were quite jolly. But for Church musicians, there’s nothing funny about the Covid-19 restrictions put in place by the government and the Catholic Church. And it’s certainly been difficult to “look on the bright side” of these restrictions. However, I think some good will come out of this: especially how we’ve been forced to find solutions for a limited number of singers. Below is something we tried recently, and I’d be grateful to hear your feedback.
We started with Hymn #240 from the Brébeuf Hymnal for Lent:
* Mp3 Download • Treble Only
—Taken from The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (2018)—used with permission.
That hymn probably sounds “bright”—and that’s okay. It’s an ancient Catholic hymn called Jam Christe Sol Justitiæ. 1 We’ve spoken about this hymn quite a bit. Here’s part of it: “Dies venit, dies tua, in qua reflórent ómnia.” That means: The day comes, Thy day, on which all things bloom again. The footnote in the Brébeuf hymnal says of this line: “The physical spring of the northern hemisphere is an analogy for the spiritual rebirth which the Resurrection of Christ inaugurates.” Indeed, the word “Lent” is derived from Old English word (lencten), meaning “spring”—the lengthening of days after winter has ended. Our pastor recently reminded us that Lent should be a joyful time, as our penances bring us closer to God. In any event, from the “Brébeuf Choral Supplement” we added the Tenor line:
* Mp3 Download • Tenor Line Added
—Taken from The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (2018)—used with permission.
From the standpoint of music theory, this should not work without organ. However, I think it actually sounds okay:
* Mp3 Download • Without organ
—Taken from The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (2018)—used with permission.
Please leave your thoughts in the Facebook combox (see below).
NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:
1 The title of Jam Christe Sol Justitiæ was changed in 1631AD to O Sol Salutis Intimis by Pope Urban VIII. For more details on this, cf. the Brébeuf hymnal.
