F YOU LISTEN to recordings of the great monasteries, they often do something cool when it comes to singing AMEN at the end of hymn. Over the years, I have adopted this “trick.” Today, I’d like to share it with our readers. From an aesthetic point of view, I hate hearing everybody present “pile on” for the AMEN, making an unpleasantly raucous sound. A more sophisticated and beautiful way—in my humble opinion—is to have one of the antiphonal choirs sing the AMEN. It’s important to recall that the tradition of the church doesn’t have everybody singing everything all the time. As Saint Paul says: “Faith cometh by hearing.”
An Example • In the following video, the AMEN is sung that way at marker 1:42. I’m curious to know your thoughts:
To access this hymn’s media in the Brébeuf Portal, click here.
More To Learn • You can learn a lot more about this hymn for the souls in Purgatory—most especially the translation of the original Latin into English—if you visit this link. A wise priest wrote to us and pointed out how the hymn “mirrors” or “reflects” or “is based upon” Psalm 129: De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine…
