St. Michael Hymnal

St. Michael Hymnal The St. Michael Hymnal is published by St. Boniface Catholic Church, Lafayette, IN Originally, in the early 1990’s, St. Fundamentally, the St. Michael Hymnal.

In the decades that have passed since the Second Vatican Council there has been much experimentation in liturgical music, as well as the advancement of various political and ideological agendas. Michael Hymnal aspires first and foremost to be faithful to that original vision of sacred music presented by the Second Vatican Council. Boniface Parish in Lafayette, Indiana, in response to a gradual pol

iticization of traditional hymn texts, searched for a hymnal or missalette that preserved the original language, but could find none; and so the parish began working to produce for its own use a simple supplement with traditional hymns. However, this idea soon took on a life of its own and came to be seen as a tremendous opportunity for a much larger project. Michael Hymnal was the result of this initial desire to promote the musical treasures of the Church’s tradition and to maintain unadulterated language in traditional hymns. The hymnal is unique among most contemporary hymnals precisely because of its concern for authentic texts and its particular promotion of Gregorian chant. At the same time, the hymnal stands out among the smaller collection of more traditional hymnals because of its realistic assessment of the present state of liturgical music and its prudential judgment of how to address this situation. Michael Hymnal is predicated on the belief that what is most useful at the present time is a hymnal which provides for taking a decisive step forward, rather than one which prematurely tries to achieve the final goal. The third edition of the St. Michael Hymnal has proven to be very successful in providing hundreds of parishes throughout the country with a middle ground between the political ideologies of contemporary hymnals and the unhelpful extremism of some of the more traditional hymnals. For over a decade now, pastors and musicians alike have rejoiced in the unique collection of “old and new” offered by the St. This hymnal has indeed made it possible for many parishes to gradually move forward and embrace more deeply the Church’s vision of the sacred liturgy. Now, with the decisive direction set by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, along with the implementation of a new translation of the Roman Missal, the St. Michael Hymnal is very happy to take its next step forward and present a new edition of the already well-loved hymnal. The fourth edition of the hymnal will contain more Latin Gregorian chant mass settings, many new and beautiful settings of the Mass in English, as well as an even better selection of the classic, traditional hymnody that is treasured by parishes across the country. In addition to hymnody, the new edition will contain a complete collection of Entrance Antiphons for Sunday Mass. We are very excited about all that the fourth edition of the St. Michael Hymnal has to offer and we are convinced that it represents a real contribution to the renewal of the sacred liturgy in this country. In the end, our only hope is that the music offered in this hymnal will adorn the Church’s liturgy with grace and beauty and will move hearts and minds to the praise and worship of Almighty God.

St. Michael Hymnal in the wild! Holy Guardian Angels Church in Cedar Grove, Indiana (built in 1895).
05/31/2026

St. Michael Hymnal in the wild!
Holy Guardian Angels Church in Cedar Grove, Indiana (built in 1895).

05/20/2026
05/17/2026

Friends, we know it’s Ascension Sunday. But it was also 1st Communion this afternoon at our home parish, St. Boniface Catholic Church. Here is a snippet one of our favorite new hymns in the 5th Edition of the St. Michael Hymnal, “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”. Perfect for the day. Have you used this wonderful hymn yet?

Ascension Sunday at our beautiful home, St. Boniface Parish in Lafayette, IN. How do things look where you are, friends?...
05/17/2026

Ascension Sunday at our beautiful home, St. Boniface Parish in Lafayette, IN. How do things look where you are, friends? What did you sing for the Solemnity?

Friends, we are coming up on “travel season” and would love to see the St. Michael Hymnal as found on your journeys. We’...
05/04/2026

Friends, we are coming up on “travel season” and would love to see the St. Michael Hymnal as found on your journeys. We’ll start- some of our staff traveled to Benedictine College in Atchison, KS recently and were thrilled to see new 5th Editions in the pews at St. Benedict’s Parish Church. It is wonderful that the Ravens have a little “home-away-from-home” while on campus!!

05/03/2026

Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above is sung to a German hymn tune that originated in Hildesheim in 1736. This melody was paired with the Marian hymn Gegrüßet seist du, Königin (1687). When the hymn was translated into English in the 19th century, this triumphant melody was retained.

We sang Good Christians All, Rejoice, and Sing #535, Virgin Great and Glorious #816, As Longs the Deer #429, and Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above #538.

04/26/2026

The King of Love (ST COLUMBA) for the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

Thou spread'st a table in my sight,
Thy grace so rich bestoweth;
And oh, what transport of delight
From thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never,
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
Within thy house forever.

04/26/2026

Be Thou My Vision (Arr. M. B. Haan) as a choral meditation for the Fourth Sunday of Easter.
We sang “The Head That Once Was Crowned With Thorns (ST. MAGNUS), Now the Green Blade Riseth (NOËL NOUVELET), The King of Love (ST COLUMBA), and Be Joyful, Mary, Heavenly Queen (REGINA CAELI).

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Who all else be nought to me, save that thou art.
Be thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
Be thou ever with thee and thy with thee, Lord:
Be thou my great Father thine own may I be:
Thou in me dwelling, and I one with thee.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight.
Be thou my soul’s shelter, thou my high tow’r;
Raise thou me Heavenward, O Pow’r of my pow’r.

High King of Heaven my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

04/23/2026

Starting off the day with a little bit of home! Where are we?

04/15/2026

Beautiful sounds coming from our friends at the University of Mary (Bismarck, ND)

Address

318 N 9th Street
Lafayette, IN
47904

Telephone

(765) 742-7457

Website

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