ATHOLIC PRIESTS are (usually) forbidden by vows from having a wife and family, but Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen used to speak of ‘spiritual children’ which priests beget. I have been so edified to watch my students mature, bloom, and attain their own achievements. A former student of mine recently released a project—which looks wonderful—to add “embellishments” to the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal. The embellishments they have planned (judging by the statements contained in their PREFACE below) include soprano descants, colorful and chromatic re-harmonizations, counter-melodies, and so forth.
Their inaugural release is a Eucharistic Hymn from the Brébeuf Hymnal, which was often sung on the octave of Corpus Christi (a.k.a. “In Octava Eucharistiæ”). You can download the entire book for free—all 45 pages! Part of the permission they received from Sophia Institute Press stipulated that everything must be offered freely online.1
* PDF Download • Eucharistic Hymn; Latin & English (45 pages)
—Includes a Two-Voice Choral Setting by Flor Peeters (d. 1986) • Also a Soprano descant.
—Includes a version in English plus optional version in Latin.
—Includes an SATB setting based on the harmonies in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal.
* Softcover • Eligible for AMAZON PRIME ($7.99)
Squeaky Soprano • I recorded two verses to help my volunteer choir learn this splendid piece, but you’ll have to tolerate my squeaky soprano notes. (I’m a baritone.) I also omitted the organ accompaniment:
Melchizedek Prefigured Christ • The hymn in that video (“Hoste Dum Victo Triumphans”) speaks about Melchizedek, who was a ‘type’ of Christ. Abraham’s son Isaac was another ‘type’ of Christ because the Bible says Isaac carried the wood on his own back for the sacrifice (Genesis 22:6). Melchizedek mysteriously offered (Genesis 14) bread and wine as a sacrifice to the Most High God. The DROGO SACRAMENTARY, created circa 850AD, seems to have been made for the personal use of Charlemagne’s son DROGO, bishop of Metz. The beginning of the Roman Canon (“Te ígitur clementíssime…”) shows three different sacrifices mentioned in the Old Testament: Abel’s, Abraham’s, and Melchizedek’s.
* PDF Download • Sacrifice of Melchizedek
—Drogo Sacramentary • Beginning of the Roman Canon (“Te igitur clementissime…”).
1 We have ordered this collection for our parish choir, because xerox copies (and sheets from a home printer) are obnoxious and impossible to store. The softcover books from AMAZON are impressive and slick.
