Songs in Word of Life's "Top 100" Not approved by NLCMB review of "As One Voice"

How much difference would the National Liturgical Commission Music Board's evaluaton of songs make to the standard of music sung in our parish liturgies if all parishes scrupulously followed their recommendations (something which, by the way, will only happen in your dreams)?

One indication would be to compare the list songs in "As One Voice" that did not get the NLCMB's approval with Word of Life's "Top 100" hymns. (Word of Life would know - they are the main licencing body used by Australian Catholic parishes and have all the stats).

Thirteen of the WOL "Top 100" did not get the NLCMB's "tick". They are as follows (the number indicates the song's ranking on the list of the Top 100):

3 Come to the water (Andersen, F)
6 Come as you are (Brown, D)
15 Companions on the Journey (Landry, C)
18 We remember (Haugen, M)
19 Our supper invitation (Bates, K)
20 Galilee song (Andersen, F)
22 All the ends of the earth (Dufford, B)
28 Song of the body of Christ (Haas, D)
32 Blest be the Lord (Schutte, D)
61 Celebrate (Brown, M)
64 Yahweh is the God (Norbet, G)
86 To be your bread (Haas, D)
90 We are many parts (Haugen, M)

Hymn titles from "As One Voice" rated "NO" by the National Liturgical Commission Music Board

Title Author Number
A circle of love (Sandier) II:114
A journey remembered (Bates, Kevin) II:047
A shepherd I'll be to you (Bates, Kevin) I:001
A Voice in the wilderness (Robinson, Chris) I:062
Act Justly (Watts, Trisha) I:050
Advent Chant (Porter) II:123
All Creation sings (Reid) II:045
All I ask of you (Norbert, Gregory) I:150
All the ends of the earth (Hurd, Bob) I:004
Always there (Coleman) II:036
And the Father will dance (Landry, Carey) I:113
As grains of wheat (Rosania) II:153
As the deer longs (Hurd, Bob) I:120
Be it done unto me (Hurd, Bob) I:119
Be with me Lord (Joncas, Michael) I:116
Because the Lord is my Shepherd (Walker, Christopher) I:066
Behold the Cross (Hurd, Bob) I:105
Bless the Lord (Smith) II:083
Blessing on the King (Lynch, Michael B.) I:104
Blest be the Lord (Schutte, Dan) I:179
Bread broken, wine shared (Horner, Robyn) II:155
Break open the word and renew the face of the earth (Paxton, Ray) I:038
Bridegroom and bride (Bell/Maule) II:042
Bring many names (Wren/Young) II:010
Called to create (Spence/Lewis) II:121
Celebrate (Brown, Monica) I:044
Christmas in the scrub (Newton) II:168
Come as you Are (Browne, Deirdre) I:031
Come now, Holy Spirit (Kearney, Peter) II:087
Come to the water (Andersen, Frank) I:074
Comfort, comfort all my people (Mann, Robin) II:012
Communion Song (Grant, Peter) I:187
Companions on the Journey (Landry, Carey) I:188
Create in us (Hannah) II:021
Creator and poet (Sears, Sandra) II:084
Different gifts (Russell) II:013
Do not be afraid (Farrell, Bernadette) I:079
Do not worry (Reid) II:122
Don't be afraid (Bell/Maule) II:070
Dreams and visions (tanner) II:061
Easter People (Light) II:147
Enemy of apathy (Bell/Maule) II:075
Enviatu Espiritu (Hurd, Bob) I:095
Everlasting your love (Hurd, Bob) I:128
Father Welcomes (Mann, Robin) I:024
Feed us now, bread of life (Mann, Robin) II:093
First Sunday Advent (Smith, Colin) I:108
Flow river flow (Hurd, Bob) I:163
For you are my God (Foley, John) I:178
Freedom is coming (Fjedur) I:061
From heaven you came (Kendrick) II:077
Galilee Song (Andersen, Frank) I:005
Gathering song: though so many (Smith) II:104
Give thanks (Smith) II:017
Glorify the Lord with me (Doheny) II:026
God beyond all names (Farrell, Bernadette) II:023
God has made us a family (Landry, Carey) II:111
God is good (Chan) II:120
God is rich in mercy (Landry, Carey) II:027
God of all the earth (Winter/Maker) II:134
God's Circle of love (McRae) II:038
Going home (Halloran/Millward) II:082
Great is thy faithfulness (Chisholm/Runyan) II:127
Halle, halle, halle (Carribean) II:046
Heal me O God (Norbert, Gregory) II:052
Heaven and earth (Bell, John) II:053
Here in the busy city (Murray/Hopson) II:166
Holy, holy, holy Lord (Ham, Liat Chung) I:173
How lovely is your dwelling place (Joncas, Michael) I:041
How shall I call you (Mann, Robin) I:047
I am the Light of the world (Hayakawa, Greg) I:176
I found the treasure (Schutte, Dan) II:022
I have seen the Lord (Hurd, Bob) I:098
I know that my Redeemer lives (Soper) II:034
I rejoiced (Walker, Christopher) I:069
I say yes, my Lord (Pena, Donna) I:155
I shall dwell in the Lord's house (Ramondo) II:069
I will lift my eyes (Conry, Tom) I:084
I will sing and make music for the Lord (Smith) II:028
I will sing for ever of your love (Horner, Robyn) II:161
Icon of grace (Watts, Trisha) II:057
If today you hear his voice (Crocker) II:072
If we all could live in peace (Trad. Austrian) II:115
I'll be always loving you (Watts, Trisha) I:082
I'll sing your song (Marshall, Erica) I:034
In love we choose to live (Cotter) II:063
In the beginning was love (Rowe/Wolf) II:110
In the brightness (Horner, Robyn) I:070
In the radiance of your gaze (Honer) II:009
Jesu Tawa Pano (Matsikenyiri) II:015
Jesus Christ is waiting (Bell/Maule) II:008
Joyful in hope (Herry, Michael) I:020
Lady Mary (Sears, Sandra) I:117
Lead us break bread together (USA Folk Hymn) II:098
Let all creation dance (Darwall/Wren) II:130
Let all the earth (Haugen, Marty) II:152
Let God's dream be born (Bates, Kevin) II:030
Let there be peace on earth (Miller/Jackson) I:190
Lift this child (Anna's Song) (Mann/Habel) II:125
Light of Christ (Zaragoza, Rufino) I:143
Lord of the Dance (Carter, Sydney) I:018
Love calls me back (Bates, Kevin) II:025
Love is the greatest gift of all (Marshall, Erica) II:086
Love will bring them home (Marshall, Erica) I:121
Loving Spirit (Murray/Trad) II:133
Masithi Amen (Molefe/Trad.) II:090
May we come to know the Lord (Gagnon) II:019
Mother Earth (Brown, Monica) I:157
My heart is a stable (Sears, Sandra) I:147
Nearer my God to thee (Adams/Mason) II:154
New People, New life (Beha, Helen) I:011
O God Nothing can take us from your love (Walker, Christopher) I:139
O God, hear us (Hurd, Bob) I:022
O Lord, your tenderness (Kendrick) II:107
On holy ground (Pena/Kodner) II:103
One Body (Watts/O'Brien) II:146
Open the heavens (Boniwell) II:163
Our blessing cup (Hurd, Bob) I:007
Our supper invitation (Bates, Kevin) I:185
Passionate God (Fulmer) II:068
Praise and glory (Zaragoza, Rufino) I:051
Pulsing spirit (Dufner/Trad.) II:058
Returning our gifts (Porter) II:065
Sanctus and Benedictus (Bell/Maule) II:081
Santo (Trad. Argentinian) II:092
See his hands (Sears, Sandra) II:048
See I make all things new (Watts/O'Brien) II:007
Send forth your spirit O Lord (Walker, Christopher) I:107
Sing our God together (Haas/Haugen) II:050
Sing to God (Kirkland) II:105
Sing to the Lord (Alstott, Owen) I:046
Song at the Centre (Haugen, Marty) II:106
Song for the Journey (Marshall, Erica) II:108
Song of gathering (Wise, Joe) I:023
Song of the Body of Christ (Haas, David) I:027
Speak from your heart (Brown) II:051
Spirit blowing through creation (Haugen, Marty) II:157
Spirit come transform us (Norbert, Gregory) I:096
Spirit of life (Mangan) II:043
Star-child (Murray/Young) II:018
Summoned by love (Watts/O'Brien) II:020
Table of plenty (Schutte, Dan) II:162
Take and Eat (Communion Mantra) (Russell) II:064
Taste and see (Hurd, Bob) I:067
Taste and see (Robinson, Stephen) I:088
Taste and see that the Lord is good (Barr) II:151
The Bridge Song (Bolton) II:006
The deeper River (Hannah) II:062
The fullness of God (Andersen, Frank) II:159
The great Southland (Bullock) II:141
The Light of Christ (Fishel, Donald) I:186
The Spirit of the Lord (Horner, Robyn) I:101
The story we share (Kearney, Peter) I:093
The whole world is waiting for love (Misetich) II:148
They'll know we are Christians (Scholtes) I:130
This day was made by the Lord (Walker, Christopher) I:183
This is all our joy (Horner, Robyn) II:100
This is the day (Joncas, Michael) I:193
Three round table rounds (Bates, Kevin) II:160
To be your bread (Haas, David) I:065
To you O my God, I lift up my soul (Hurd, Bob) II:014
Travel on (Carter, Sydney) II:033
Wake up (Watts/O'Brien) I:008
We are many parts (Haugen, Marty) I:086
We are marching (Trad. African) II:074
We believe (Walker, Christopher) I:149
We remember (Haugen, Marty) I:081
We shall draw water (Inwood, Paul) I:072
We shall overcome (Adap. Horton et al.) II:149
We welcome this child (Kearney, Peter) II:144
We welcome you little baby (Holmes) II:112
Welcome home (Andersen, Frank) II:145
Were you there when they crucified my Lord () I:103
What is this place (Zang, Komt Numet) I:132
When I needed a neighbour (Carter, Sydney) II:136
When the night (Toolan) II:091
When we eat this bread (Joncas, Michael) I:099
Where is your song, my Lord (Kearney, Peter) I:122
Where there is love (Haas, David) I:087
Who will speak if you don't (Haugen, Marty) II:102
Yahweh (Norbert, Gregory) I:068
You are mine (Haas, David) II:002
You are the voice (Haas, David) II:080

Hymn titles rated "Yes" by the National Liturgical Commission Music Board

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of investigations into a new document entitled "Hymn Titles from Australian Resource Books - Rated "Yes" by the NLC Music Board".

In paragraph 108, Liturgiam Authenticam made the following stipulation:

Within five years from the publication of this Instruction, the Conferences of Bishops, necessarily in collaboration with the national and diocesan Commissions and with other experts, shall provide for the publication of a directory or repertory of texts intended for liturgical singing. This document shall be transmitted for the necessary recognitio to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Well, that was in 2001, and since then, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has commissioned the National Liturgical Music Board to compile a list of “approved hymns” for use in the liturgy.

The task that faced this group was so immense that they simply had to put some limits on it. In the end, they decided to go through five readily available collections, “As One Voice”, “Gather Australia”, “Catholic Worship Book”, “New Living Parish Hymnal”, and “Together in Song”. Also, they excluded from this initial scan any liturgical or ritual music, since this will largely depend upon the new translations.

The criteria by which they judged the songs seems to me to be rather too broad, especially in relation to the texts:

MUSICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

1) The music should enable the fostering of participation
2) The Technical aspects of musical language – melody, rhythm, pitch etc. / instrumentation/ and
accompanimental styles must enable participation.
3) Musical style must promote a sense of the “sacred” and avoid profane;
4) Music must reflect the ideals of true art and beauty.
5) Music must properly support text being sung-proper relationship of verbal and music accents etc.
6) Maintenance and promotion of traditional sacred repertoire – including chant and melodies
especially where they remain in the collective consciousness of catholics

TEXT EVALUATION CRITERIA

Several criteria were proposed to guide judgements about the suitability of texts, ie that they be:
· scriptural
· apt for the season
· theologically robust
· thematically and linguistically coherent
· in ‘modern/classical’ language (rather than in archaic or temporarily contemporary
language)
· in common possession and with likely appeal
· with poetic power.

Those versions have been preferred which:
· use ‘you’ rather than ‘thou’
· do not include words or phrases with an obsolete or archaic ring
· use inclusive rather than exclusive language in reference to human beings
· do not conflate verses
· have more effective rhyme.

LITURGICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. Liturgically related to Scripture: A= Strongly Scriptural… B = Based on Scripture i.e. used as a departure point for poetic reflection
2. General Seasonal Suitability
3. Not Liturgical
Refer: Not specifically for the specified season– but liturgically suitable for another
Pastoral Judgement:
1 widely used ; 2 sometimes used 3 rarely used

I am afraid that "Pastoral Judgement" in a number of cases led to approving songs that would have been much better left out. On the other hand, "robustness" seems an odd category to use to evaluate the theological appropriateness or otherwise of a text.

In any case, the result was quite a long list (about 750 titles) that got a “yes” vote. Although the resulting list has been sent to Rome for approval (as LA required), it is, I understand, now a public document. Unfortunately, it is not yet available on the ACBC website (I understand this is due to external factors beyond the control of the ACBC office). If you want a copy, I suggest you email Bernard at bfk at ozemail dot com dot au .

The practical usefulness of such a list is really as a basis for a future resource to be published. As of this moment in time, there are no more available copies of three of the hymnbooks surveyed: New Living Parish, Catholic Worship Book, and Gather Australia (I understand that the remaining copies of the latter two went up in smoke when the Feb 7 bushfires burnt down the publisher’s storehouse).

And, of course, the real upshot of this document in the mean time is that from it one can infer which hymns and songs in the current resources DID NOT get a tick. It is my intention to publish this lists for each resource - starting with "As One Voice".

More Great Online Resources

And here are a few extra suggestions from Ben George on my other blog:

http://isaacjogues.org/
http://lalemantpolyphonic.org/antoine_daniel_mass_parts/

Online Resources recommend by Jeffrey A. Tucker in "Sing like a Catholic"

Jeffrey A. Tucker, in "Sing Like A Catholic" recommends a number of very good online resources. Here are the links.

MusicaSacra.com
Chabanel Psalms (these are really good)
Gregorian Missal
The Parish Book of Chant
Anglican Use Gradual
American Gradual

"Sing like a Catholic"?

Yesterday, at the Anima Conference, I picked up a book from Mary Long's bookstall (from the Catholic Bookshop next to St Francis in the City) called "Sing like a Catholic" by Jeffrey A. Tucker (the link, BTW takes you to a page where, for free registration, you can download a full copy).

It is a passioned piece intended to follow up where Thomas Day's 1995 book "Why Catholics Can't Sing" with a practical guide to the restoration of the "treasure of inestimable value" (Vatican II) which is the traditional sacred chant of the Latin Rite in our parish liturgies.

There is some talk - of which I would be fully supportive - of inviting Mr Tucker to come to Melbourne to give some lectures/training sessions - but perhaps I am jumping the gun by even mentioning this in public?

His modus operandi is Fr Zuhlsdorf's "brick by brick" strategy. All it takes (all it HAS taken in the States) to begin a true revival of the true music of the Roman Rite of the Mass is dedicated and voluntary enthusiasts who have the support of their parish pastor to have a go and start learning and using the traditional chants in their liturgies. Get informed and experienced by attending training days, colloquiums etc. Download the music from the internet for free (he gives a host of sites that are now on the web, foremost of which is MusicaSacra.com), form a schola of singers, and go for it. Of course there is more to it than that, but the first requirement seems to be the will to do something rather than nothing.

Nevertheless, I am in two minds about Mr Tucker's project.

1) My first mind is to say "Yea and Amen". After attending Fr Lawrence Cross's Byzantine liturgy at the ACU chapel last Friday at 12noon (something I do every now and again) I am reminded of how beautiful a liturgy can be when the music that is sung is an organic part of the liturgy itself. Although I won't say a lot more about my "first mind" at this point, let the Reader understand that I see the restoration of chant in the liturgy as "a good thing".

2) But then my second mind kicks in - primarily because my task today is prepare the music for the liturgy at our "mass centre" at the girl's Primary School for next Sunday morning when I am rostered on as Cantor. This "second mind" is what I want to give some time to in this blog.

The liturgy in our parish has been on the up and up over the last four years or so. Two parish pastors ago, what happened at Sunday morning mass was so laid back it was almost horizontal. It was a valid Eucharist (more or less), but sometimes strained the definition of "liturgy" to breaking point. The pastor had been there for a dozen years, and this was "the way things were done" in our "community". A change of pastor's saw, as ever, a change in style of the liturgy, and it was a step in the right direction. Two years later another change of pastor has brought in another giant step in the right direction, and, thanks to the wise guidance of the intervening priest, the liturgical good sense of the new pastor has been widely accepted without comment.

That being said, music is still a problem. Many weeks the mass is spoken except for tape recorded songs. The groups who do provide music put a lot of effort and skill into leading the singing of the songs, but still the choice of song material is a little sad, and the emphasis continues to be upon the songs in the classic four-hymn sandwich rather than on the ordo or the propers of the mass. For eg. only at masses for which I am cantor is there a sung psalm and Gloria.

I myself am limited. I have tried encouraging others to join me to form a small choir, but with no success (keep in mind that the congregation at our mass centre is under 100 generally). I also have no musical backup – again, not through lack of trying. I have received criticism during the singing of the psalm because "no one wants to listen to your [ie. my] voice when they come to mass". Fair enough. Why should they? So I am disinclined to use music that would have large parts of me singing solo.

So, here's what I do.

I use a good quality keyboard with midi-file programs to provide the accompanying music while I cantor. I aim to have all the usual ordinary parts of the mass sung, although Kyrie and Lord's Prayer continue to be said. I use modern settings generally rather than chant settings (although I would love to introduce the simple settings we use unaccompanied when I cantor at lunch time masses at the Cathedral). I chose three or four hymns that follow my guidelines for good hymnody for the procession, communion and recessional (the fourth being for the offertory). For the communion, I tend to favour the use of simple repetitive chants such as Taize or Michael Herry's stuff so people can sing them without having to look at the overhead screen for the words while they are moving about.

In general visitors (rather than regulars) have commented upon my choice of music favourably, and it seems that the midi-file thing works very well in the circumstances (and yes, the keyboard can do a passable imitation of an organ).

So that's the reality. I applaud Mr Tucker's ideals and wish I could see them in my time and in my parish, but for the moment it seems like the hope of heaven rather than anything truly achievable.

And my one and only misgiving about the whole project of restoring the chant (which somewhat qualifies my "Yea and Amen" in my first mind) is that it seems that this is done at the expense of hymnody. I know we have had some god-awful songs thrust upon us over the last forty years, but the Church universal also has a treasury of hymnody which could be described as "of inestimable value". The Sunday mass is about the only time when Catholics ever come together for worship, and if they don't learn to sing hymns at mass, where will they get the value of this rich treasury?

Perhaps it is the Lutheran in me, but if Mr Tucker says he wants Catholics to "sing like Catholics", why is it that what he seems to be proposing actually proposes that Catholics SING LESS in the liturgy, and LISTEN MORE to the choir or schola? Is this entirely healthy? At least in the Byzantine liturgy with Fr Cross, all those present joined in singing the choirs pieces. I don't see it as a step forward in Catholic sacred music to silence the congregation to the point of being a prayerful audience. This isn't an expression of some post-Vatican II "participation theology" at work in my mind here, it is the conviction that singing praise to God is an valuable act of worship for the soul and the Church, whether in the choir or in the pews. Of course they don't have to sing everything all the time (I am in favour of good choirs singing a polyphonic Sanctus without the congregation jumping in to spoil it all), but they need to have an opportunity to sing to God – and hymnody provides that opportunity. Hymnody and chant ought not to be seen as enemies or as “either/or”. Lutherans after all (there I go again) are capable of doing both well.

Any way, over to you for discussion.

Is this the Revised Grail Psalter???

Click to enlarge and laugh.



HT to Ironic Catholic, who got this via CMinor, who originally got it from the Intrepid Soprano, who got it from Sinden.org who got it from Tompmost Apple who got it from etc. etc....

Hymn for the Conversion of St Paul

In case you are wanting do take up the Holy Father's suggestion of observing the Conversion of St Paul this Sunday, here is a song you might want to use. You can sing it to Aurelia ("The Church's One Foundation"). I don't have an author for it. It is a modernised version of a hymn that appeared in Lindemann's Daily Office book, which I pilfered back when I was doing the Lutheran Worship Resources project.

We sing the glorious conquest
before Damascus' gate,
when Saul, the persecutor,
came breathing threats & hate;
the ravening wolf rushed forward
to make the sheep his prey,
but see! the Shepherd met him
and claimed his life today!

O glory beyond telling
that struck across his path!
O light that pierced and blinded
the zealot in his wrath!
O voice that spoke within him
the calm, reproving word!
O love that sought and made him
the servant of the Lord.

Lord, teach your Church to love you,
& in the darkest hour
of weakness and of danger
to trust your hidden power.
For by your grace & mercy
Paul's hate & fear were bound,
and in your bold opponent,
your chosen saint was found.

An Ode to the Error Code?

Searching for midi files today, I came across this little ditty:

"Drat!" The Herald Angel says,
"Page Not Found," the screen displays.
"404": the error code;
Where's that page? It just won't load!

Unfortunately, it was telling me I couldn't find the midi file I wanted. But what a nice way to do it! Source.

Rorate Caeli - Advent Prose

It has been a while since I have posted a song here, so here are two versions of Rorate Caeli which I have prepared. The first is an English setting to the traditional chant (click on the pictures for the full sized version - my apologies for the difference in notation between pages one and two - I did these at different times and haven't had the time to put the difference right) and the second is a metrical paraphrase to a German chorale tune.




HYMN By David Schütz
(Based on the Tune: Wer nun den lieben Gott [Neumark])

Do not be angry, Lord, forever
do not remember how we've sinned.
Your holy city and your temple
where once we praised you, lies in ruin:
Pour down, O heavens, from above,
righteousness, peace, salvation, love.

Like those unclean, we sinned against you;
like faded leaves, we drift away.
Your face is hidden from your people,
our sins have caught us in their sway.
Pour down, O heavens, from above,
righteousness, peace, salvation, love.

“You are my witnesses, my servants;
I chose you that you may believe.
I am the Lord, there’s none beside me;
look to none other power to save.”
Pour down, O heavens, from above,
righteousness, peace, salvation, love.

“O comfort, comfort all my people,
my saving power shall not be slow.
So do not fear, for I will save you;
your scarlet sins shall be like snow.
Pour down, O heavens, from above,
righteousness, peace, salvation, love.

A Peter and Paul Song

Here is another one that I haven't posted yet. I wrote it for the Festival of St Peter and Paul with which the Pauline Year began. The tune (click here for the midi file) is a modified version of "Faith of our Fathers" - the ENGLISH not the American version. Also, it has been modified so that the music for the first couplet is repeated (note that the midi file begins with an introduction).

1. Eternal God we give thanks to you
today for Peter and for Paul.
In grace you chose them for yourself
and consecrated them for all.
You made Paul blind so he could see;
and gave to Peter heaven's keys.
Their faithful service brought the faith to us,
so may their prayers bring us to you. (Repeat)

2. You called the fisherman from mending nets
and taught him how to fish for men.
You turned the persecutor's heart around
to preach your name in every land.
You made Peter to be "the Rock",
and Paul the preacher of the Cross.
Their faithful witness won the martyrs' crown,
so may their prayers bring us to you (Repeat)

A hymn in honour of St Peter (for 21st Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A)

I had forgotten that I had written this, and only found it today as I was preparing for leading singing at Mass this Sunday. It is very suitable for the Gospel for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) and for any festival of St Peter. Tune: Any 8.7.8.7.8.7.8.7 tune will do, try "Ode to Joy".

1. When the Lord asked his disciples,
“Who do people say I am?”,
they replied, “Some say Elijah,
some a prophet—just a man.”
“But,” he told them, “more important
is the answer you would give.
I now ask you: what do you say?
Speak the faith by which you’d live.”

2. When Saint Peter said to Jesus,
“You’re the Christ, the Son of God!”
he confessed the truth from heaven,
not revealed by flesh and blood.
Then the Lord Christ said to Peter,
“On this Rock I’ll build my church.
God will bind and loose in heaven
what you bind and loose on earth.”

3. For our priests and for our bishops,
and for Benedict, our pope,
let us pray to God the Father,
firm in faith and strong in hope.
Let us take hold of the promise
made by Jesus Christ our Lord:
“Never shall the gates of Hades
overcome the Church of God.”

Revising songs that use the "name" Yahweh?

There have been some who have asked whether it would be possible to give a list of songs that use the pseudo-name Yahweh for God, and to suggest possible alternatives.

For instance, the popular (with a certain set) Frank Anderson song "Strong and Constant" has the line "I will be Yahweh who walks with you". You could sing this as "I the Lord will always walk with you" (which also actually makes better sense).

But my question is: Name one song that uses "Yahweh" which might actually be worth singing or might be worth perpetuating with alterations?

I think this is a good opportunity just to completely scrap the whole sorry lot. There is a saying that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but if it is completely stuffed, one could say, don't bother stuffing around with it.

[Actually, I can name ONE song that uses "Jehovah" and is worth singing, but most hymnals have already altered it: "Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah" is now universally sung as "Guide me O thou Great Redeemer". It is worth singing, but then it comes from a different time and a different school of hymnody than the modern "Yahweh is my buddy" stuff.]

Letter to the Bishops Conferences on the Name of God

I have not yet had a rant about a subject that has infuriated me for years: the use of the "name" of God "Yahweh" in so many popular Catholic liturgical songs. Now, thanks to the Congregation for Divine Worship, it looks as if I don't have to, as they have done a good job for me.

Of course, the story is all over the blogosphere by now (most citing this CNS news story that has interesting statements from the big publishers OCP and GIA), but you may be interested to read the source document in this regard (when dealing with the Vatican, always, ALWAYS find the actual document in question rather than rely on news reports).

And here it is folks, for you to cut and paste and refer to:

Congregatio de Cultu Divino
et Disciplina Sacramentorum
Prot. N.213/08/L

Letter To The Bishops Conferences On "The Name Of God"

Your Eminence\Your Excellency:

By directive of the Holy Father, in accord with the congregation for the Doctrine Of The Faith, this Congregation For Divine Worship And The Discipline Of The Sacraments deems it convenient to communicate to the Bishops Conferences the following as regards the translation and the pronunciation, in a liturgical setting, of the Divine Name signified in the sacred tetragrammaton, along with a number of directives.

I. Expose

1. The words of Sacred Scripture contained in the Old and New Testament express truth which transcends the limits imposed by time and place. They are the Word of God expressed in human words, and, by means of these words of life, the Holy Spirit introduces the faithful to knowledge of the truth whole and entire and thus the Word of Christ comes to dwell in the faithful in all its richness (cf. John 14:26; 16:12-15). In order that the word of God, written in the sacred texts, may be conserved and transmitted in an integral and faithful manner, every modern translation of the books of the Bible aims at being a faithful and accurate transposition of the original texts. Such a literary effort requires that the original text be translated with the maximum integrity and accuracy, without omissions or additions with regard to the contents, and without introducing explanatory glosses or paraphrases which do not belong to the sacred text itself.

As regards the sacred name of God himself, translators must use the greatest faithfulness and respect. In particular, as the Instruction Liturgiam authenticam (n. 41) states:

"In accordance with immemorial tradition, which indeed is already evident in the above-mentioned "Septuagint" version, the name of almighty God, expressed by the Hebrew tetragrammaton and the rendered in Latin by the word Dominus, is to be rendered into any given vernacular by a word equivalent in meaning. [Iuxta traditionem ab immemorabili receptam, immo in (…) versione "LXX virorum" iam perspicuam, nomen Dei omnipotentis, sacro tetragrammate hebaraice expressum, latine vocabulo "Dominus" in quavis lingua populari vocabulo quodam eiusdem significationis reddatur."]"

Notwithstanding such a clear norm, in recent years, the practice has crept in of pronouncing the God of Israel's proper name, known as the holy or divine tetragrammaton, written with four consonants of the Hebrew alphabet in the form hwhy, YHWH. The practice of vocalising it is met with both in the reading of biblical texts taken from the lectionary as well as in prayers and hymns, and it occurs in diverse written and spoken forms, such as, for example, "Yahweh", "Yahwè", "Jahwè", "Jave", "Yehova", etc. It is therefore our intention, with the present letter, to set out some essential facts which lie behind the above-mentioned norm and to establish some directives to be observed in this matter.

2. The venerable biblical tradition of Sacred Scripture, known as the Old Testament, displays a series of divine appellations, among which is the sacred name of God revealed in a tetragrammaton YHWH (hwhy). As an expression of the infinite greatness and majesty of God, it was held to be unpronounceable and hence was replaced during the reading of sacred scripture by means of the use of an alternate name: "Adonai", which means "Lord".

The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the so called Septuagint, dating back to the last centuries prior to the Christian era, had regularly rendered the Hebrew tetragrammaton with the Greek word Kyrios, which means "Lord". Since the text of the Septuagint constituted the Bible of the first generation of Greek speaking Christians, in which language all the books of the New Testament were also written, these Christians, too, from the beginning never pronounced the divine tetragrammaton. Something similar happened likewise for Latin speaking Christians, whose literature began to emerge from the second century as first the Vetus Latina and later, the Vulgate of St Jerome, attest: in these translations, too, the tetragrammaton was regularly replaced by the Latin word "Dominus", corresponding both to the Hebrew Adonai and to the Greek Kyrios. The same holds for the recent Neo-Vulgate, which the Church employs in the liturgy.

This fact had important implications for New Testament Christology itself. When in fact, St Paul, with regard to the crucifixion, writes that "God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name" (Phil 2:9), he does not mean any other name than "Lord", for he continues by saying, "and every tonne confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Phil 2:11; cf, Isaiah 42:8: "I am the Lord; that is my name"). The attribution of this title to the Risen Christ corresponds exactly to the proclamation of his divinity. The title in fact becomes interchangeable between the God of Israel and the Messiah of the Christian faith, even though it is not in fact one of the titles used for the Messiah of Israel. In the strictly theological sense, this title is found, for example, already in the first canonical Gospel (cf. Matthew 1:20: "the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream"), and one sees it as a rule in the Old Testament citations in the New Testament (cf. Acts 2:20: "the sun shall be turned to darkness ... before the day of the Lord comes (Joel 3:4); 1 Peter 1:25: "the word of the Lord abides for ever" (Isaiah 40:8)). However, in the properly Christological sense, apart from the text cited in Philippians 2:9-11, one can remember Romans 10:9 ("if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved"), 1 Corinthians 2:8 ("they would not have crucified the Lord of glory"), 1 Corinthians 12:3 ("no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit") and the frequent formula concerning the Christian who lives "in the Lord" (Romans 16:2; 1 Corinthians 7:22; 1 Thessalonians 3:8; etc).

3. Avoiding pronouncing the tetragrammaton of the name of God on the part of the Church has therefore its own grounds. Apart from a motive of a purely philogical order, there is also that of remaining faithful to the Church's tradition, from the beginning, that the sacred tetragrammaton was never pronounced in the Christian context, nor translated into any of the languages into which the Bible was translated.

II. Directives.

In the light of what has been expounded, the following directives are to be observed:

1. In liturgical celebrations, in songs in prayers the name of God in the form of the tetragrammaton YHWH is neither to be used or pronounced.

2. For the translation of the biblical text in modern languages, destined for the liturgical usage of the church, what is already prescribed in n. 41 of the Instruction Liturgiam Authenticam is to be followed; that is, the divine tetragrammaton is to be rendered by the equivalent of Adonai/Kyrios: "Lord", "Signore", "Seigneur", "Herr", "Senor", etc.

3. In translating, in the liturgical context, texts in which are present, one after the other, either the Hebrew term Adonai or the tetragrammaton YHWH, Adonai is to be translated "Lord" and the form "God is" is to be used for the tetragrammaton YHWH, similar to what happens in the Greek translation of the Septuagint and in the Latin translation of the Vulgate.

From the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, June 29, 2008.

+ Francis Card. Arinze
Prefect

+ Albert Malcolm Ranjith
Archbishop Secretary