Clarum Decus Jejunii (“The glory of these forty days”)
Text by Saint Gregory the Great translated into English by Maurice Frederick Bell
Text only—can be used with any 88 88 (LM) N.B. This text is usually sung to Spires (“Erhalt Uns Herr”), which has many variants. Let the congregation, therefore, follow the choir.
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.