52 pages.
Traditional Catholic hymns for Catholic Parochial and Home Schools.
The words of the hymn are on the left page for use in prayer and meditation. In fact, it is suggested that your students be encouraged to memorize and be able to recite them from memory.
A reward, such as a gold star added to the page, could encourage the students for successfully memorizing the hymn verses.
For those who grew up in Catholic schools and later, many years later, come across a small hymnal or song sheet from school days, it is disappointing to not have the music with the words in your hands, as most schools in time gone by just typed in the words.
The music for each hymn is harmonized, making them easy to play and nice to have in the home with a keyboard, piano or organ.
The companion book, The Saint Scholastica Hymnal Organ Book teaches young students who play piano (and adults as well) how to play hymns. But the organ book for this hymnal also has a has a very special feature.
Congregational singing during the Communion procession is difficult unless we are singing hymns from memory. Sung music in the Catholic church has always been about repeating music, reinforcing the words instead of singing new music. The best example we can give you is Holy God. The church has always known that repetition is paramount in the sung music and always to be encouraged rather than discouraged.
In Europe, France especially, it is common during processions for the people to sing a verse followed by the organist playing verse on the organ. The name for these played but not sung verses, Alternatim, has come down through the centuries. This is not a new invention.
Each of the Communion hymns in this hymnal has additional organ verses composed, each one a variation on the melody of the hymn so that, there is no need to sing two hymns at communion, instead one hymn may be sung by memory with alternate organ verses being played, so that communicants may meditate upon the words of each verse as they go forward.