I often read footnotes and copyright data from Breaking Bread before or after singing a hymn. In each section, side by side, are hymns from this century and from centuries before. We benefit from publishers who can “bring out of their treasure what is new and what is old.” (Mt. 13:52)
St. John of Damascus (8th c.) is one of the “old” sources of hymn texts I have noticed several times. John was an Arab Christian monk from Syria, a doctor of the church learned in Christian philosophy, theology and doctrine, fluent in Greek and Arabic. His reputation for liturgical poetry rests on his revision of the Eastern church’s hymnal. The small print next to his name gives us the translator’s name, John Mason Neale. His name, too, recurs regularly in BB. In the 19th century Neale made English-speaking congregations aware of the tradition of Latin, Greek, Russian and Syrian hymns. His translations from Latin restored medieval hymns to Anglican use. We sing them, too. Some of these are:
Good King Wenceslas
Good Christian men rejoice
O come, O come Emmanuel
All glory, laud and honor
Ye sons and daughters
As I investigated more of the small print below the hymns I grew more and more grateful to the translators. Along with John Mason Neale, Jane Leeson and Catherine Winkworth are two of the women who are recognized to this day for faithful and accurate translations from original sources. They have interesting histories as well.
It seems that there is no aspect of life in which we are not indebted to those who have gone before us. Not least, in the case of hymnody, is another small abbreviation, “alt.”, which means that the publisher has made small changes to alter a few words to keep the translation fresh and the language current. We are grateful to all.
