English Romanism has shared in the revival of hymnody, and has been
greatly enriched by the men who, to quote Mr. Moorsom’s delightful
record of Faber, ‘left the Church of England for the Roman schism in
England.’ From Austin to Faber, Romanism has hardly any English
hymn-writers. Some of the Latin hymns by English writers have an
alluring rhythm, the ideal tone of a Christmas carol. It is easy to
understand how popular they might be in the vernacular. Here is a
bright lilting verse from a thirteenth-century hymn:
Gabriel to Mary went,
A mighty message bare he;
Deep in awe the maiden bent
To hear the first Hail Mary![201]
Richard Crashaw (d. 1650) was a poet, but scarcely a hymn-writer,
though from his ‘Hymn of St. Thomas’ a good cento may be made.
With all the powers my poor heart hath
Of humble love and loyal faith,
Thus low, my hidden Life, I bow to Thee,
Whom too much love hath bowed more low for me.
Faith is my force: Faith strength affords
To keep pace with Thy powerful words,
And words more sure, more sweet than they,
Love could not think, Truth could not say.
Help, Lord, my faith, my hope increase,
And fill my portion in Thy peace:
Give love for life; nor let my days
Grow but in new powers to Thy praise.
O dear memorial of that Death,
Which lives still and allows us breath!
Rich, royal food! Bountiful bread!
Whose use denies us to the dead.
Come, Love! come, Lord! and that long day
For which I languish, come away!
When glory’s sun faith’s shades shall chase,
And for Thy veil give me Thy face.[202]
Robert Southwell (d. 1595) did not write so good a hymn as this, but
several of his very striking poems are included in the Arundel
book—‘The Burning Babe,’ ‘New Prince, new Pomp,’ ‘A Child my choice.’
Early in the nineteenth century efforts were made to provide English
hymn-books for Romanists. Father Haydock (1823) even adapted some of
the hymns of Wesley, Watts, Montgomery, and other Protestants, but the
effort does not seem to have been appreciated.[203]
Frederick William Faber (1814-63) did for English Romanists what Watts
had done for Nonconformists more than a hundred years earlier. He is
the Watts and Wesley of Romanism. Faber ‘went over’ in 1846, after a
brief ministry in the Anglican Church. He lamented that Catholics had
not ‘the means of influence which one school of Protestantism has in
Wesley’s, Newton’s, and Cowper’s hymns, and another in the more
refined and engaging works of Oxford writers.’ As ‘an English son of
St. Philip’ Neri, he claimed to be following in the steps of that
‘right merry saint’ in his attempt to provide ‘English Catholic hymns
fitted for singing.’ ‘St. Philip devised a changeful variety of
spiritual exercises and recreations, which gathered round him the art
and literature, as well as the piety of Rome, and was eminently
qualified to meet the increased appetite for the word of God, for
services in the vernacular, for hymn-singing and prayer-meetings.’
These last words have a fine Methodist flavour, and increase one’s
sympathy with their writer. But it must be admitted that Faber was a
thorough-going Romanist. He believed that ‘God raised up our dear and
blessed Father, St. Philip ... just as the heresy of Protestantism was
beginning to devastate the world.’[204] Faber’s hymns must not be
judged simply by our Protestant versions, but we may be thankful that
he gave a new and better tone to the hymn-singing of the Roman Church.
His best hymns, with their exquisite yearning tenderness, are so dear
to us that there is no need to speak of them; they speak the language
of the Christian heart, and he who sings thus sings the Holy Spirit’s
song.
It must be admitted, however, that we have taken the best of Faber
into our hymnals, and the residue is not—from the Protestant
standpoint—of great value. What one may call the lighter songs of
Roman Catholic psalmody are so little known to us that I quote, as a
favourable illustration of a class of hymn that bulks largely in
Romanist books, two verses of Faber’s song for St. Patrick’s Day. One
can readily imagine that such a hymn would be popular in Ireland, and
serve to keep alive the legend of St. Patrick.
All praise to Saint Patrick who brought to our mountains
The gift of God’s faith, the sweet light of His love!
All praise to the shepherd who showed us the fountains
That rise in the heart of the Saviour above!
For hundreds of years,
In smiles and in tears,
Our saint hath been with us, our shield and our stay;
All else may have gone,
Saint Patrick alone,
He hath been to us light when earth’s lights were all set,
For the glories of faith they can never decay;
And the best of our glories is bright with us yet,
In the faith and the feast of Saint Patrick’s Day.
There is not a saint in the bright courts of Heaven
More faithful than he to the land of his choice;
Oh, well may the nation to whom he was given,
In the feast of their sire and apostle rejoice!
In glory above,
True to his love,
He keeps the false faith from his children away:
The dark false faith,
That is worse than death,
Oh, he drives it far off from the green sunny shore,
Like the reptiles which fled from his curse in dismay;
And Erin, when error’s proud triumph is o’er,
Will still be found keeping Saint Patrick’s Day.
Edward Caswall (1814-78), who resigned his Anglican living in 1847,
was received into the Roman Church in 1850. He is a more successful
translator than composer, his best original hymn being ‘Days and
moments quickly flying.’ His translations from the Latin and German
are in all our hymnals.
Romish hymnals contain many prayers for the reconversion of England.
There is something pathetic in such lines as these in a hymn of Father
Potter’s—
Oh! yet once more, o’er English fields,
The glorious Cross shall wave;
The solace of the broken heart,
The standard of the brave.
Oh, isle of Saints! oh, Mary’s dower!
How long ere this shall be?
When wilt thou rise, throw off thy chains,
And once again be free?
But if our Romish brethren sing thus, why should not we teach our
children Mr. Gill’s stirring hymn, which includes the lines
Sing how He His England crownèd,
When He loosed the yoke of Rome?
Have we not as good cause for praise as they for prayer?
One turns from the study of Romish hymn-books with a sense of having
travelled in a far country, where yet there is much to remind one of
the home-land. There is a great gulf, as we thankfully acknowledge,
between even the High Anglican and the Romanist—a considerable portion
of the Romish hymn-book is, and we trust ever will be, impossible to
the bulk of English Christians. On the other hand, one can neglect the
chaff and gather golden grain, for saintly Romanists have a genius for
devotion. It is much to be wished that the readiness with which we
have adopted hymns from Roman Catholic sources had been reciprocated.
But almost all the great English hymns are missing from Catholic
hymnals. The Arundel editors admit translations by Dr. Neale, and even
Miss Winkworth, but no original hymns save those by writers of their
own faith. Mr. Tozer, in his _Catholic Hymns_, includes Charlotte
Elliott’s ‘Thy Will be done,’ and gives the author’s name, but I am
afraid he did not know she was a Protestant—though I hope he did.
Naturally, Faber and Caswall are the chief contributors; and books
that contain their hymns and those of Matthew Bridges, Adelaide Anne
Procter, and J. H. Newman, cannot be without much spiritual wealth.
The two collections I have named give a very hopeful impression
concerning the future of Roman Catholic hymnody; though they are
practically innocent of Protestant hymns, they contain many which are
Catholic, and not Roman. Indirectly, the use of such books must
prepare the way for a greater freedom in worship and a nearer
approximation to the general company of believers.