In addition to providing the Latin version with accent marks, the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal commissioned English translations from Latin scholars to help congregations appreciate these ancient prayers. Until the Brébeuf Hymnal appeared in 2018, literal translations for many of these hymns had never been made.

Translation is a CENTO by Fr. Edward Caswall (d. 1878); Very Rev’d Dominic Aylward (d. 1872); Denis Florence MacCarthy (d. 1882); Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth (d. 1884); Aubrey Thomas de Vere (d. 1902); Fr. John Fitzpatrick (d. 1929); Hon. Daniel Joseph Donahoe (d. 1930); Msgr. Hugh T. Henry (d. 1946); and Msgr. Ronald A. Knox (d. 1957).

Translation is a CENTO by Fr. Edward Caswall (d. 1878); Very Rev’d Dominic Aylward (d. 1872); Denis Florence MacCarthy (d. 1882); Athanasius Diedrich Wackerbarth (d. 1884); Aubrey Thomas de Vere (d. 1902); Fr. John Fitzpatrick (d. 1929); Hon. Daniel Joseph Donahoe (d. 1930); Msgr. Hugh T. Henry (d. 1946); and Msgr. Ronald A. Knox (d. 1957).

Since this is a “historic” translation, conscientious choirmasters should make sure their individual circumstances warrant its selection.

In the 1599AD Preface, Richard Verstegan says: “Notwithstanding the difficulty, these hymns have been so turned into English meter that they may be sung unto the same tunes in English that they bear in Latin.” For this particular translation, the harmonic rhythm must be that of Solesmes Abbey, generally known as the “Classical Solesmes Method.” See the following: (1) Daily Hymn Book (Westminster, 1949) p. 64, by Henri Potiron (d. 1972), Maître de Chapelle de la Basilique du Sacré Coeur et Professeur a l’Institut Grégorien; (2) Liber Cantualis Comitante Organo (Solesmes, 1981) p. 37, by Abbé Ferdinand Portier; (3) Accompaniment to the Music of Holy Week (Gregorian Institute of America, 1957) p. 83, by Dr. Eugene Lapierre, organist at Saint-Alphonse-d’Youville in Montréal.