FREE RARE HYMNAL: Catholic Hymns (Fr. Selner)
I was recently listening to a fascinating lecture (†1) by Fr. Samuel Weber (of english propers fame) where he was describing his childhood at Catholic schools in Chicago in what I shall call the ‘before times’. It’s enough to break one’s heart to hear how they had holy water fonts in every classroom, chanted some of the divine office in class, every day, had fully-habited nuns as the teaching staff, and celebrated sung high-masses every Friday morning… But in the midst of these details, he made one passing remark about a “beautiful hymnal by Fr. Selner” that he still remembered it fondly decades later.
As the current Director of Sacred Music & Organist at St. Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo, my ears perked right up. You see, we have the Fr. Selner Memorial Music Fund. Fr. Selner, a Sulpician, was an illustrious musician who, as I’ve come to learn, had a tremendous impact on Catholicism (and sacred music) in the USA in the wake of the council. (I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read the colorful biography of Fr. Selner hosted on the Sulpicians’ own website.)
Among his illustrious credits, he was a mover and shaker in the Society of St. Gregory and was a huge advocate for authentic liturgical music, both through numerous teaching seminars and through the publication of multiple books of music including Chant at the Altar, Breviary, the Seminary Hymnal and the Catholic Hymns - Gregorian Institute Hymnal. (You know… when ‘GIA’ actually meant ‘Gregorian Institute of America’!)
He also served as director of music for the Theological College in DC, adjunct professor at the Catholic University of America (for over a decade), and even served at the National Shrine, where he was one of the directors of music for its dedication. (I have been told by a priest who knew him personally that Fr. Selner’s duties as homiletics professor at CUA resulted in his personally influencing the majority of US bishops in the seventies, who all filtered through his class.)
Fr. Selner’s link to St. Augustine Cathedral is twofold: first, when he was a young boy, he attended the live-in boy school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Nazareth, Michigan, which was overseen by Fr. F.A. O’Brien, pastor of the (then Parish) of St. Augustine. In Fr. Selner’s later years, he retired to the convent (only a few miles from St. A’s) as their chaplain. This is where we again turn to the “Fr. Selner” hymnal casually mentioned by Fr. Weber.
I was immediately desperate to find this book—as you can imagine—since we have a memorial fund which bears his name, founded with the express purpose of supporting our music ministry. Furthermore, Fr. Selner was personally connected to many of the priests of this diocese, and he spent a significant portion of his life in my backyard. (As it happens, I live very close to the monastery grounds where he spent the last 23 years of his life.)
Unfortunately for me, all I was able to track down was the melody-only edition of the hymnal which was scanned and made available by the ever-illustrious Corpus Christi Watershed, to whom we all owe a very deep debt of gratitude. The innumerable treasures made available to the world by this one non-profit is nothing short of astonishing.
As it happens, Divine Providence is ever at work. After scanning through the melody-only edition, I was intrigued by a particular hymn which I had never encountered before, and which had almost no information to help me search further (no tune name, no composer attribution, etc.). But! Lo & behold: unprompted, a brown bag full of old scores showed up in my office one day last week, compliments of our Director of Music Emeritus, Frank Zajac. Frank was at the helm of the program here at its zenith, even ushering in our fabulous Nichols & Simpson organ, and he has been exceptionally kind to me as I’ve transitioned into my new role. Since my arrival, he has passed along a number of treasures to me—not least of which were a collection of 100 year old Requiem missals replete with stunning engravings which I have begun to scan and intend to share here in due course.
Hiding among this new collection of books was a complete copy of the accompaniment / choir edition of the Fr. Selner hymnal for which I had been searching! I wasted no time in scanning this book to preserve it, and without further ado, (and complements of Frank’s generosity,) I’d like to make that scan available to all of you, to complement the melody-only version released by CCWatershed.
Of particular interest to me was #8, Praise the Lord. Keep your eyes peeled for a future post sharing a fresh engraving and new recording of this hymn. As it happens, the third edition has additional copyright information which was lacking from the earlier editions, and this un-named tune was actually written by Fr. Selner himself, and was originally published anonymously via the Sisters of St. Joseph. Perhaps ironically, it would be a fitting hymn for the solemnity of Christ the King which is this coming Sunday (in the new calendar).
Let us say an ‘Ave’ for the repose of Fr. Selner’s soul, and thank God for the heroic efforts he made to preserve authentic liturgical music, when the zeitgeist was firmly set against it.
†1 • To hear Fr. Weber’s lecture, visit this link and scroll down to just above the Friday header.
