PERSISTENT MYTH goes something like this: “In the olden days, the lyrics to Catholic hymns were magnificent—but the modernists of the 1960s wrecked everything by changing the original lyrics and making them politically correct.” This myth is pervasive, but it’s false. The Brébeuf Hymnal provides powerful examples demonstrating that lyrics which some believe to be “original” frequently are not original. For example, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel was originally “Draw nigh, Draw nigh Emmanuel.” The famous Christmas hymn—Hark! The Herald Angels Sing—was originally: “Hark how all the Welkin rings.” Indeed, the Brébeuf Hymnal provides extensive documentation showing that hymn lyrics have been modified for at least 500 years.
Those who carefully examine Catholic hymnals published over the last 200 years will see that many of the lyrics are utter schlock. For example, consider this horrifying example from an 1865 hymnal by Father Cornell with IMPRIMATUR by Bishop John Williams (Boston).1 What can one say about the lyrics? Simply ghastly. And notice how many times the word “breast” is used. Such lyrics could never be used in our churches today—especially in light of our society’s disgusting addiction to pornography and sins against the holy virtue of purity. Most editors of hymnals are unwilling to update problematic lyrics (because only specialists can do it, and it takes forever), but the editorial team of the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal rose to the occasion. Moreover, notice how the hymn in that 1865 hymnal “rhymes” the same words over and over again. The Brébeuf Hymnal would never allow such a thing. (Most of the poets involved in the project would swallow broken glass before they rhymed the same word more than once in the same hymn.)
You can download Father Cornell’s hymnal as a PDF file:
* PDF • CANTICA SACRA: Hymns for the children of the Catholic Church
Broadly speaking, its music and its lyrics are nightmarish. However, I do very much appreciate this line from the PREFACE:
GIA Publications:
Even as late as 1975, GIA PUBLICATIONS had an eminently sensible policy vis-à-vis Thee, Thine, and Thou. Sadly, they abandoned their policy a few years later. Here is what they said in 1975:
Hymn texts are poetry and not conversational English.
It is the firm opinion of the editors, endorsed through
considerable consultation with noteworthy musicians
and liturgists, that the so called “translation” of English
into English, e.g., “thee” to “you” and “thy” to “your,”
is a regrettable practice that upsets the literary integrity
of a text, often results in an example of poor grammar,
and still fails to yield a “modern” text—to say nothing
of the ecumenical implications.
To these wise words of GIA PUBLICATIONS I can only say: “Hear, hear!”
1 Father John Henry Cornell (d. 1894) was also author of an 1860 publication called: A Manual of Roman Chant Compiled From Authentic Roman Sources which uses the same melody for “Vexilla Regis” as it does for “Ad Cenam Agni” (cf. page 121). That strikes me as a colossally poor choice, as does his final pairing on page 122.
