Fr. Dwight Longenecker
6. Good Hymns Connect Us with the Great Tradition – Soul of My Savior was written by Edward Caswell–an Anglican priest who converted to the Catholic faith and was ordained as a member of the Birmingham Oratory. Caswall translated many Latin hymns into English. This is his most famous. It is the ancient hymn Anima Christi which was used and much loved by St Ignatius Loyola.
John Mason Neale was an Anglican clergymen of the nineteenth century who translated ancient Latin hymns which were then set to music for congregational use. Among the Greek and Latin hymns of the early church he translated into English poetry are, All Glory, Laud and Honor, Christ is Made the Sure Foundation, Creator of the Stars of Night, Good Christian Men Rejoice, O Come O Come Emmanuel and many more.
The hermaneutic of continuity is the idea that we live in the present and build the future rooted firmly in the riches of the past. When we sing an ancient Greek or Latin hymn translated into English we are reaching back to the most ancient roots of liturgy and worship, communing with our forefathers in the faith and joining our lives with theirs. A sentimental ditty set to music that sounds like it is from a Broadway musical doesn’t really cut it. Here are the words to Caswall’s Soul of My Savior
Soul of my Savior sanctify my breast,
Body of Christ, be thou my saving guest,
Blood of my Savior, bathe me in thy tide,
wash me with waters gushing from thy side.
Strength and protection may thy passion be,
O blessèd Jesus, hear and answer me;
deep in thy wounds, Lord, hide and shelter me,
so shall I never, never part from thee.
Guard and defend me from the foe malign,
in death’s dread moments make me only thine;
call me and bid me come to thee on high
where I may praise thee with thy saints for ay.
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