Vita Sanctorum, Decus Angelorum (“Life of thy saints and glory of thine angels”)
Translation: Alan Gordon McDougall
Tune: “Kenmore” • 11 11 11 5
Page 696
Page 692
Meditationes Divi Augustini (“Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended?”)
Translation: Robert Bridges
Tune: “Herzliebster Jesu” • 11 11 11 5
Page 679
“Brightest And Best” by Reginald Heber
Tune: “Epiphany” • 11 10 11 10
Page 681
“Songs Of Thankfulness And Praise” by Christopher Wordsworth
Tune: “St George” • 77 77 D
“The Epiphany—a cardinal feast—commemorates three manifestations of Christ’s divinity: the visit of the Wise men, our Lord ’s Baptism, and the miracle at Cana.”—Fr. Adrian Fortescue
Page 678
Stille Nacht (“Silent Night, Holy Night”)
This German text was composed by Fr. Josef Mohr, a Catholic priest who died in 1848. He should not be confused with a Jesuit priest, Fr. Josef Hermann Mohr (d. 1892), who published many German hymnals. The English translation (“Silent Night”) was composed by John Freeman Young.
Tune: “Stille Nacht” • 66 88 66
Page 662
Huron Carol of St. Jean de Brébeuf (“Upon the birth of Jesus”)
Translation: Fr. Dominic Popplewell
Tune: “Une Jeune Pucelle” • 86 86 88 R
This famous Christmas carol was possibly written around 1642AD, when Saint Brébeuf was in Quebec, recuperating from a broken collarbone, which had left him in excruciating pain for many months.
Page 669
“God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”
The meaning of “God rest you merry” is “God keep you merry.” Note the archaic use of the word rest (“keep”)—indeed, this carol probably dates from the 16th century.
Tune: “God Rest You Merry” • 86 86 86 R
