EING A MODERN Mexican Catholic, one grows up with a specific handful of songs that help form who you are when you go to Mass (like “Pescador de Hombres” and “Pan de Vida”). Being a Mexican-American Catholic in the United States, you grow up with something like two musical lungs, one in Spanish and one in English. They only “come together” for holidays. That’s how my husband and I were raised.
Then we found the Traditional Mass, so now we’ve got Latin in the mix.
Between my own family and my in-laws, about half of our combined families attend Mass in Spanish. Recently, when we all gathered for my daughter’s quinceañeara Mass,* it was the first time many of our Spanish-speaking family members had experienced a Traditional Latin Mass. It was a Low Mass, but of course, the differences between most modern Novus Ordo Spanish (and English Masses) are quite stark.
It doesn’t have to be this way. For many young people, it won’t be like this.
Mr. Ostrowski and our team have started work on a Spanish hymnal, and we’re very proud to show you some of the earliest fruits. It is an even more special treat to be able to say that the little girl whose quinceañera we celebrated this year is featured as a soprano on this recording. I’ve long helped Mr. Ostrowski in these recordings as one of his alto voices, so it is special to hear both of our voices on this new project.
But before you take a listen to the whole recording, just listen to just the refrain a few times. It says,
Resucitó, resucitó, mi Señor,
resucitó mi esperanza.
Many of my Spanish-speaking friends know the now “decades-old classic” RESUCITÓ, ALELUIA refrain. You can intone it at the Spanish Mass of any parish in the United States and the abuelitas and their grandchildren can all sing it. I hope my Spanish-speaking friends don’t consider what I propose a musical heresy, but perhaps there’s room for two “Resucitós”, I mean, listen to this beautiful refrán!
How gorgeous is that repeated refrain among beautiful verses!
Brille tu lámpara, brille con fuerza tu llama
Cesen tus lágrimas al contemplar su mirada.
My translation has this as, “Let your lamp shine, let it shine brightly, your flame, / Cease your tears as you contemplate His gaze.” This is our Easter song, Jesus has risen, we can see him and we should rejoice! Our hope is risen! ¡Resucitó mi esperanza!
* PDF Download • “Canta Con Júbilo”
—For a forthcoming Spanish Hymnal.
EQUAL VOICES : YouTube
SOPRANO : YouTube
ALTO : YouTube
TENOR : YouTube
BASS : YouTube
We’re not the only ones who love this particular hymn. You can find more all over the Spanish-speaking world:
* The Quinceañera Catholic Mass is a tradition for some Spanish-speaking cultures to a) organize a Catholic Mass in thanksgiving for a young girl’s transition into adulthood and b) to host the biggest fiesta of that girl’s life. In our case, we had a tiny Mass and a tiny lunch, but a whole lot of love for that girl.
