Are Church Hymns merely a heritage we preserve?

The ultimate goal of Church hymns is not the past. Some who claim to preserve the heritage of the Church actually do so in a dead and literalistic way, often without spirituality and without a real purpose. It is quite saddening that a person should consider himself a faithful guardian of Church Hymns while he remains ignorant of their true purpose — the salvation, if possible, of all humanity.

Thus, we ought — especially in liturgies — to take great care that we fulfil the true purpose of praises and Church Hymns:

• a. We saw that God, in His love for humanity, created us to be joyful musicians who, together with those in heaven, share in the joy and praise of God. Here on earth, the believer lives the heavenly life that knows unceasing joy. The psalmist sings, “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy (Ps. 33:1–3).

• b. The beauty of Church Hymns lies not in the sweetness of the voice or fidelity to the correct musical melody. They are so much more — a flood of true spirituality that carries us irresistibly to a foretaste of heaven. That is why the apostle Paul affirms that we must praise with the spirit and with the mind also (1 Cor. 14:15), lest we utter words without understanding.

St. John Cassian says, “For they [Egyptian monastics] do not care about the quantity of verses [that they sing in their prayers], but about the intelligence of the mind;

607 Cf. David Arida’s Hymnology.

aiming with all their might at this: ‘I will sing with the spirit: I will sing also with the understanding’ (1 Cor. 14:15). And so they consider it better for ten verses to be sung with understanding and thought than for a whole Psalm to be poured forth with a bewildered mind. And this is sometimes caused by the hurry of the speaker, when, thinking of the character and number of the remaining Psalms to be sung, he takes no pains to make the meaning clear to his hearers, but hastens on to get to the end of the service.”⁶⁰⁸

• c. In his tour of the Egyptian monasteries, St. John Cassian noticed that they take some care not to allow the recitation of the psalms to go on for too long, whether in church assemblies or in the monasteries. This was for the sake of the younger monks.⁶⁰⁹

• d. All Church Hymns are focused on God’s salvific work, even the venerations of the heavenly beings and the saints, and all the commemorations that concern the universal Church, so that all our emotions and feelings may be swallowed up by the eternal love of God.

• e. Like the heavenly hosts, it is not right for a believer to chant a congregational Church Hymn as a solo or with just a small group of people.

• f. We should distinguish profound, spiritual, and theological praises (such as the Theotokias ) from popular folk hymns.

• g. Praise and prayer should be characterized by a spirit of reverent love, tinged by the fear of the Lord.

• h. Deacons must be servants of the word who are able to connect the singing of hymns to the word of God.

• i. St. Jacob of Sarug emphasizes that the believer should praise God with all his being; body, soul, spirit, and mind, so that he may become like a harp with various strings on which the Holy Spirit of God can play the symphony of heavenly love throughout all our lives and to the last breath. As the psalmist says, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being” (Ps. 104:33).

St. Jacob of Sarug says:

“Lord, I will not cease from praising you, even after my death.

He who lives for You and by You does not die; even the silence of death cannot silence him.

608 St. John Cassian, Institutes 2.11 (NPNF II/11:209).

609 See St. John Cassian, Institutes 2.11 (NPNF II/11:209–10).

Humans are created to praise much,

and perhaps they remember to praise abundantly every day …

A person’s mouth is perfect, that it may praise the Lord, and he who ceases from praise denies [what is beautiful].

So, that is why you have a mouth with which to praise, and with which to give thanks, and with which to bless.”⁶¹⁰

“May my mouth be for you a censer of voices, Son of God, And instead of incense (cf. Ps. 141:2), receive praise from one who is weak. …

May the homilies of your faith be a complete sacrifice: Receive them at the temple as an offering! [cf. Ps. 51:18–21]

Rather than sacrifices in psalms, may my tongue honor you, And in every hymn, may all thanksgiving be sacrificed to you.”⁶¹¹

“You are the One opening mouths closed shut for speech. Indeed, who can open his mouth without You?

Once even a donkey spoke that all might know that it is easy for You to grant speech even to livestock (Num. 22:28).”⁶¹²

610 St. Jacob of Sarug, Homilies 96 The Beheading of John the Baptist. 611

Jacob of Sarug’s Homily on Simon Peter, When Our Lord Said, ‘Get Behind Me, Satan,’ trans., Adam Carter McCollum (Gorgias Press, 2009) 5–6, 9–13: p. 8.

612 Jacob of Sarug’s Homily on the Lord’s Prayer, trans., Morgan Reed (Gorgias Press, 2016) 10.1 (19–23): pp. 16–18.