On March 11, 2021, the Ensemble Altera Singers recorded several selections at Blessed Sacrament Church in Providence, Rhode Island.

“Again The Slowly Circling Year” Catholic Devotional Hymns
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1. Again The Slowly Circling Year (Richardson)

2. Te Joseph celebrent (Ravanello)

3. Lord, I Give My Life To Thee (Louis Berge)

4. O Jesu Mi (Sr. Mary Alexis Donnelly)

5. Come, Holy Ghost, Send Down Those Beams

6. Hail, True Body (Kuntz)

7. I See His Blood Upon The Rose (O’Carolan)

8. O God Of Earth And Altar (Davies, arr. Giffen)

9. The Saviour Is Our Very Food (Webbe)

10. Silent Night (Gruber, arr. Michael Garrepy)

11. O God Of Earth And Altar (Corner)

12. Rose Of The Cross (Notre Dame Hymn Tune Book)

13. Rose Of The Cross (Sunday School Hymn Book)

14. Yes, Heaven Is The Prize

15. Hail, Thou Star Of Ocean

The Ensemble Altera Singers

Rachel Garrepy, soprano
Olivia Miller, soprano
Janet Stone, soprano
Olivia Kleyla, alto
Christopher Lowrey, alto
Brad Kleyla, tenor
Grant Randall, tenor
Michael Garrepy, bass
Nathan Halbur, bass
Nicholas Larocge, bass
Christopher Lowrey, director

Michael Garrepy, organ

Sound engineer: Brad Kleyla

Notes on the hymns

Two versions of Chesterton’s O God Of Earth And Altar are presented; the first is set to a melody by H. Walford Davies and arranged by Charles H. Giffen. The second was published with a melody by David Corner, OSB.

In addition, Rose Of The Cross (Rosa Mystica) is presented with two melodies: one by Victor Pastore from the Notre Dame Hymn Tune Book, and one from the Sunday School Hymn Book.

The version of Silent Night heard here has a text that appeared commonly in Catholic hymnals in the first half of the 20th century, though the choral arrangement is a recent one by organist Michael Garrepy. The lyrics are:

Silent night, sacred night,
Bethlehem sleeps, yet what light
Floats around the holy pair;
Songs of angels fill the air,
Strains of heavenly peace.

Silent night, sacred night,
Shepherds first see the light,
Hear the Alleluias ring,
Which the angel-chorus sing;
Christ the Saviour has come.

Silent night, sacred night,
Son of God! Oh, what light
Radiates from thy manger-bed
Over realms with darkness spread,
Thou in Bethlehem born.

Sources for the other hymns can be found below.




Title
Description
Themes
More info at hymnary.org
Again The Slowly Circling Year
translator: Rev. Edward Caswall
composer: John Richardson
St. Basil's Hymnal
The Holy Spirit
Come Holy Ghost, Send Down Those Beams
translator: John Austin (William Birchley, pseud.)
Crown of Jesus Music
also: St. Basil's Hymnal
The Holy Spirit
Hail, Thou Star Of Ocean
translator: Rev. Edward Caswall
composer: John Richardson
St. Basil's Hymnal
Blessed Virgin Mary
Hail, True Body
composer: P. Emil Kuntz, MSC
Mount Mary Hymnal
Blessed Sacrament
I See His Blood Upon The Rose
author: Joseph Mary Plunkett
composer: Thulough O'Carolan
Pius X Hymn Pamphlet
Lent
Lord, I Give My Life To Thee
composer: Louis Berge
Half a Hundred Catholic Hymns, selected from The New Catholic Hymnal
also: The New Catholic Hymn Book
also: McLaughlin & Reilly Hymn Pamphlet
The Lord Jesus Christ
O God of Earth and Altar
author: G.K. Chesterton
composer: H. Walford Davies
arranger: Charles H. Giffen
The Lord Jesus Christ
O God of Earth and Altar
author: G.K. Chesterton
composer: David Corner, OSB
Pius X Hymn Pamphlet
The Lord Jesus Christ
O Jesu Mi
composer: Mother Mary Alexis Donnelly, RSM
Our Lady of Mercy Hymnal
Blessed Sacrament
Rose Of The Cross (Rosa Mystica)
author: Matthew Bridges
composer: Victor Pastore
Notre Dame Hymn Tune Book
Blessed Virgin Mary
Rose Of The Cross (Rosa Mystica)
author: Matthew Bridges
Sunday School Hymn Book
Blessed Virgin Mary
Silent Night
author: Rev. Joseph Mohr
composer: Franz Gruber
Christmas
Te Joseph Celebrent
author: from the Breviary
composer: Oreste Ravanello
St. Joseph
The Saviour Is Our Very Food
author: Rev. Hugh T. Henry
composer: Samuel Webbe
Mount Mary Hymnal
Blessed Sacrament
Yes, Heaven Is The Prize
author: Rev. Edmund Vaughan, CSSR
St. Basil's Hymnal
Heaven