New Parish Hymnals

On the first Sunday of Advent, (New Year’s day for the Church), St. Patrick’s parish will begin using the Vatican II Hymnal which will replace the Heritage missalette. The hymnals are beautiful hardbound books and are expected to last a minimum of 5 years, eliminating the annual changeovers with the missalettes. These new hymnals more than pay for themselves in two years and every year of use after that the parish saves approximately $2,500.00.

This new hymnal contains all the Sunday readings for years A, B, and C as well as for 18 of the other most important feasts and solemnities; it contains a much larger number of Mass settings, both in English and Latin, and also has a number of optional psalm settings along with many familiar hymns. It also contains the text of the Mass in English and in Latin for both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form. Same may not have heard, but since July 7, 2007 we have officially two Masses for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church (that is the rite we belong to in the Diocese of Madison): the Ordinary Form or Novus Ordo (the Mass promulgated after Vatican II) and the Extraordinary Form or Tridentine Mass (the Mass that has been in use since the Council of Trent finished in 1563). Pope Benedict made this possible by his declaration called“Summorum Pontificum”.

The use of this hymnal will allow us to more completely “sing the Mass” rather than ‘sing AT the Mass.’ Over time, we will begin using more Proper texts, adding the Introit and Communion verses to the Responsorial Psalm/Alleluia which we already sing. We will also learn a few more Ordinaries.

We will begin with the Ordinary parts which are available in the Heritage Missal (#s 9 and 14). They are also present in the new hymnal, and are appropriate for Advent and Lenten use. During Advent, we will learn a new Ordinary which we will sing for the Christmas season, and during that season, we will learn another Ordinary which will serve as an alternative. We will also begin to learn Mass VIII, a well-­known Gregorian Chant setting for the Mass, in Latin— which is already in use here for our Friday morning Masses. So we will once again connect to the fullness of our Catholic Sacred Music heritage and be able to experience the incomparable beauty of Gregorian Chant in the active participative way that the Vatican II Council asks for. I am sure that you are getting as excited about this as I am, being people of open minds and open hearts, always ready for something new and invigorating.

If you have any questions, feel free to email Larry Stich. He’ll be happy to explain in more detail what’s about to happen.