[Heart-Rest]

I agree completely with Msgr. Charles Pope.    Bring back those good old hymns, and lose the new ones they try to foist on us.

As a quick example of some old hymns I really like (among many others), which I believe would get a much greater and more enthusiastic and active singing response from the congregation, are these great old classic ones:

• "Faith of Our Fathers" (When old Father Jim occasionally has the congregation sing this during the daily Mass, everyone there joins in and sings with great enthusiasm and volume.)

• "There Is A Fountain" (Beautiful)

• "Sweet Hour of Prayer" (I always thought this old hymn would be good as an "entrance hymn" for Mass, or as a hymn to listen to prior to starting an hour of prayerful adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.)

[Heart-Rest]

Correction:

"are these great old classic ones" should read "check out these great old classic ones"

(Sorry for the awkward wording.)

[YouGoTexasGirl]

Here I Am Lord; Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing; I Come to the Garden Alone....just a few that I LOVE!

I heard a sermon about a decade ago on singing. The preacher had just buried an older man in his church. He had Alzheimer's. He knew no one’s name. IF he heard you sing one of the old church songs, he could sing it word for word! There was not a dry eye in the congregation.

My Grandmother and family spent Sunday afternoons congregating at one of their siblings homes where the kids played together and then in the late afternoon they'd sit on the porch and sing....no books, just by memory. When she was about 94 years old, she could no longer see more than a blur. At church she could sing every verse to every song!!! Okay, I've got a tear now!