Think of the Son of God

January 26, 2015 by 2 Comments

I love this hymn. Why is it one of my favorites? Because 1) It is a meditation on the Passion of Christ, 2) the melancholy melody makes me immediately become aware of His sufferings, and 3) the simple poem is bursting with imagery.

I hope you come to love this hymn as well! It is so nice to sing during Lent – it’s our  bedtime “Lenten Lullaby”.

Think of the Son of God header

 

From the St. Pius X Hymnal. Found online at ccwatershed.org.

From the St. Pius X Hymnal. Found online at ccwatershed.org.

1.
Think of the Son of God, how He
Died on the tree our souls to save,
Think of the nails that pierced Him through,
Think of Him, too, in lowly grave.

2.
Think of the spear the soldier bore,
Think how it tore His holy side,
Think of the bitter gall for drink,
Think of it, think for us He died.

3.
Think upon Christ Who gave His blood
Poured in a flood our souls to win,
Think of the mingled tide that gushed
Forth at the thrust to wash our sin.

4.
Think of repentance timely made,
Think like a shade our time flits, too
Think upon death with poisoned dart
Piercing the heart and body through.

 

The other hymn shown can be learned here: Glory Be to Jesus. The sheet music I made is on that page, and the MIDI goes with it. (The above score I found months later.)

 

 

Filed Under: Catholic Music Tagged With: , ,

St. Paul says, “Sing hymns!”

January 11, 2015 by 2 Comments

This morning, on the Feast of the Holy Family, we read the Epistle from St. Paul as a blueprint for a holy, happy family life. As a mother who’s always looking for guidance, I tried to pay close attention to what St. Paul says. What are the essential virtues and practices of family life?

First, here are St. Paul’s words:

EPISTLE (Col. 3:12-17)
Brethren: Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another. Even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly: in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

 

Now I’m going to put those wise words into a list. I’m a visual learner, and lists help me.

Some virtues specifically mentioned to practice:
Mercy
Benignity (Kindness)
Humility
Modesty
Patience
Charity

 

St. Paul’s tips on how to act:
Bear with one another’s faults
Forgive one another
Let the peace of Christ rejoice in your heart
Be thankful
Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly
Teach and admonish one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles
Sing in grace in your hearts to God
Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
Again, give thanks to God

 

Later on, we get specifics for each family member:

 

Wives:
Be subject to your husbands

 

Husbands:
Love your wives and be not bitter towards them

 

Children: 
Obey your parents in all things

 

Fathers:
Do not provoke your children to indignation, lest they be discouraged.

 

Wow! Did St. Paul miss anything? He was pretty thorough! As I look over the list, an image of a peaceful family comes to mind. And of course, on this feast day, I realize that the only family in history who lived this list perfectly was the Holy Family.

 

What a beautiful life to aspire to! Even if our family continually fails in practicing certain virtues, it is still worth every effort to persevere and try again, with every new day, to be more and more like the Holy Family.

 

And did you notice something – MUSIC is included in St. Paul’s list!

 

…in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God.
Colossians 3-16
[clickToTweet tweet=”Bringing sacred music into your family life is important, joyful, prayerful.” quote=”Bringing sacred music into your family life is important. It is joyful. It is prayerful.”]

 

The most perfect way to follow St. Paul’s suggestion is to sing the Divine Office. David Clayton, co-author of  “The Little Oratory”
says:

 

Pray the Liturgy of the Hours in the family.  This is perhaps the single most important item.  Where possible the father, as head of the family, should lead the prayer and it should be sung.  Wherever possible the psalms should be sung and the prayer should be oriented towards a sacred image or images. 

 

 – from the article “How do We Develop the Cultural Sensibilities of Children?”  (well worth the read!)

 

If you feel way out of your league singing the Divine Office, I encourage you to take it upon yourself to work your way up to it. Learn it for yourself, and then, if you have children (or a spouse), teach them! The Mundelein Psalter is my recommended version to start with. The way the text is pointed to the psalm tones makes sense, and is easy to get used to. PLUS, they have a great website that has audio for the psalm tones and most of the hymns!! It’s SO much easier to learn a song when you can hear it!

Another way to bring hymns to your family life is by adding them to your family prayers, like morning, evening, or rosary. Tying in the hymns to the month’s dedication is what I like to do. (So in January, dedicated the the Holy Name, I make sure we sing “O Holy Name” a few times during the month. Or during May, we sing a variety of Marian hymns.) Then there are hymns in honor of certain saints, and those are great to sing on their feast days! Simple things, here.

But I find things go easier if I have the hymns memorized, that way I can just sing them anytime for my kiddos to hear. So we’re back to self-education. Learning hymns, chants, and how to read chant becomes a skill that really does help your spiritual life. After all, St. Augustine said, famously:

“He who sings, prays twice.”

I’m here to help you get started on your way to blending sacred music into your family life. Please, if you have any questions, connect with me on Google+, or comment below.

For some hymns to learn, please visit Catholic Songs to Learn & Sing.

 

If you are homeschooling, check out my plans for a 12-year Catholic Hymn Study.

 

For additional motivation, please sign up to receive my newsletter. You’ll learn one hymn or chant each month!

 

Filed Under: Family Life Tagged With: , ,
%d bloggers like this: