He Who Sings, Prays Twice

The Value And Navigation

Of The Old Hymnal

By S. Pretty

IT?S BEEN AROUND for some 65 years, but chances are only a minority of those who still use it really know their way around it?or all the riches to be found in it.

The major U.S. Continuing Church bodies had a strong sense of its value, though, because they retained The Hymnal 1940 as their standard musical accompaniment for worship.

This volume contains 600 hymns. The first group is arranged according to the Church Year?Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Ascension; after these are hymns to be sung in celebration of the sacraments, on feast days and high holy days, at certain times of the day and on special occasions. Then come the ?general hymns,? suitable for singing at any given time.

As you leaf through the Hymnal, you will notice that some hymns have an ?Amen? and others do not. Why? ?Amen? is sung at the end of hymns of prayer and is omitted for hymns of praise.

After the ?general hymns? you will find the service music?four complete musical settings of the Mass, as well as other tunes for certain portions of the Mass, and music for the morning, evening and occasional canticles. Canticles are parts of the Bible which are sung at worship services, either by the choir alone or by the choir and congregation together.

Canticles for Matins are the invitatory antiphons, the Venite, the Te Deum Laudamus, the Benedictus and the Jubilate Deo. Sung at Evensong are the Magnificat, the Cantate Domino, and the Nunc Dimittus. Psalms are sung at both Matins and Evensong to a variety of Anglican chants, so called because they were sung in English. Occasional canticles are used on feast days and for special services. We say these canticles when Morning and Evening Prayer are read from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (BCP).

The last part of The Hymnal 1940 is made up of various indices of the service music and hymns, acknowledgements for use of copyrighted words and music, and a liturgical index, which suggests hymns for days and seasons in conjunction with the collect, epistle and gospel for the day according to the BCP, not only for the Holy Communion service, but for Morning and Evening Prayer. Following that section is often a supplement with alternate tunes for some of the hymns, as well as some ?new? hymns, and some additional settings of various music for the Mass.

If you use Morning and/or Evening Prayer in your daily devotions, look up the suggested hymns. Even though you might not sing them, read the words. Even the dreary hymn you think is sung a little too often might be seen in a new light when you concentrate on the lyrics alone; indeed, those words can often be said as a prayer.

Many hymns are sung on a regular basis and?for one reason or another?others are rarely, if ever, sung, even though they are suggested for particular days and seasons.

Onward, Christian Soldiers was one of the hymns that struck me as particularly silly. It brought visions of heavily armed, flag-waving crusaders marching off to save the Holy Land by chopping off the heads of the heathens. The morning of my confirmation in the Anglican Province of Christ the King, I was absolutely horrified that Archbishop Morse had chosen this dreadful hymn as the recessional on ?my? special day! As we recessed, I thought about the words I was singing: This hymn was about following the example of a good and loyal soldier as I walk along life?s road; about being alert to the snares and diversions set for me by the enemy; about keeping Christ?s cross, the symbol of His love and His crucifixion for me, always in mind, and rejoicing in His victory over Satan and His most precious gift of salvation. Onward, Christian Soldiers is now one of my favorite hymns!

Some hymns aren?t sung because people find them too difficult and just don?t sing! True, some are more difficult to sing than others. But with hymns, as with anything else, practice makes perfect. Many hymns have more than one tune to which they can be sung. Learning an alternative tune is a good idea; don?t be afraid of change. You may find that the second tune you?ve never heard before pleases you more than the first, which you have sung on a regular basis.

I recommend that, before the service begins, you take out the program, look up the hymns, read the words. If the hymn is unfamiliar to you and you don?t read music, you?ll probably have a little difficulty singing it. Rather than stand there mute, hoping the person next to you won?t notice that you?re not singing, try to rely more on the organist, whose main job is to accompany the congregation as they sing the service music. He or she will play each hymn completely through before we start to sing it. And here?s where the choir comes in handy as well.

Contrary to popular belief, the choir?s job is to lead the musical worship. They are not there for your entertainment, no matter how beautifully they sing! The choir will always sing the melody to the first verse of a hymn. If the hymn is one that isn?t sung very often, they?ll sing the melody all the way through and save the harmony for another time. By the time you?ve heard the hymn played and one verse sung, there?s usually no reason for you not to sing, too.

APCK parishes usually sing four hymns at each Mass, the processional being the first, followed by the sequence hymn (also called the gradual hymn), the sermon hymn and the recessional. Sometimes a Communion hymn is sung, and other times the choir sings after the Communion. These hymns are usually chosen by the priest, often after consulting guides on hymns appropriate to the theme of the day?s scriptural message. But parishioners should feel free to make requests and offer other suggestions about church music.

For most folks, the service music is probably easier to sing than the hymns, because it doesn?t vary from Sunday to Sunday, although it does vary with the season or feast. But no matter which setting of the Mass is sung, the words for the Kyrie Eleison, the Gloria in excelsis, the Sanctus and Agnus Dei are always the same.

Singing is a very important part of our worship. Open the Hymnal, open your mouth, lift up your voice and sing; make a joyful noise! God doesn?t care how well you sing; He?s pleased that you do sing. Remember: He who sings prays twice.

Mrs. Pretty served for several years as the music director at the APCK?s Parish of Christ the King in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. She presently attends an APCK mission, St. Matthias in Arlington, Virginia, as she and her husband prepare to retire to Arizona. n