The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal: Edited with Introduction and Notes by Rev. Matthew Britt, O.S.B. 1922 Hardcover – Large Print, January 21, 2024

The purpose of this volume is to provide an introductory work on the hymns of the Roman Breviary and Missal. In its pages will be found all the hymns in the Breviary since the Bull Divino Afflatu of Pope Pius X (1911), together with the five sequences of the Missal, and a few other hymns. There is at present in English no work that even approximately covers this ground. Many thoughtful men have long felt that something should be done to make our liturgical hymns better known and better understood. The Dies Ira, the Vexilla Regis, the Stabat Mater, the Lauda Sion, and the Pange Lmgua are of incomparably greater value to the Christian than the greatest of pagan odes. However, the study of the ancient classics and of Christian hymns may and should go hand in hand. Each has its own purpose; there is no quarrel between them. The one serves to cultivate a delicate and refined taste, the other enkindles in the soul the loftiest sentiments of religion. The study of the former prepares one for a fuller and more generous enjoyment of the latter. Read more