Hymns

“When we chant and sing for Him, we clear a path by which He comes to our heart and sets us afire with the grace of His love.”

-Pope Saint Gregory the Great

First Homily on Ezekiel

Welcoming Children with Sacred Music

hymns every catholic child should know

An outward expression of our praise to God is necessary to us as human persons. We first encounter the sacred through our senses. Throughout each year we participate in a liturgy formed by the Church to help her children discover the sacred through outward signs, gestures, music and art. May this selection of hymns, chosen especially for the youngest members of our Church, help forge a path they may follow and light a fire in their hearts.

Students of the B.T. Rome School of Music, Drama and Art of The Catholic University of America have performed and conducted the hymns. These video recordings will assist those for whom these hymns are new and give inspiration to all.

These hymns have been chosen so the youngest members of our congregations may sing their prayers in beauty. Young children delight and deserve to discover the best and the most beautiful in nature and art. Doctrinal content, teaching recommendations and a musical analysis are given for each hymn so the hymns can be made easily accessible to children.

We invite you to share these hymns for the liturgical seasons and feasts of the year chosen from a repertoire of sacred music in the Catholic, Protestant, and North American folk traditions. (We look forward to expanding this hymn list to include hymns from the Hispanic tradition as well.)

Amy Zuberbueler

MME Director

International Center for Ward Method Studies

Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art

The Catholic University of America

Hymn Library

Our hymns are updated regularly, please check back often!

All
Ages 4-6
Ages 7-10
Advent
Christmas
Lent
Easter
Pentecost

Ave Maria

To introduce the children to the mystery of the Annunciation when Mary said “yes” to God’s request to be the Mother of Jesus.

On Jordan's Bank

To help remind the children of the role of Saint John the Baptist as herald of the coming of Christ.

Creator Alme Siderum (Dear Maker of the Starry Skies)

To allow the children to ponder the great mystery, that because of His great love for us, God came down to earth and became man, so that we might be saved.

The Friendly Beasts

To remind the children that Christ, our God and King, humbled Himself, became man and was born in a stable amidst the animals.

Forty Days and Forty Nights

The text helps the young child remember the forty days and forty nights Christ spent in the desert and the length of time the Church spends in preparation for the great Season of Easter.

All Glory Laud and Honor

To bring to the child’s mind, the triumphant procession of Christ into Jerusalem, when He allowed Himself to be acknowledged as a King, by the children of Israel, before His Passion.

Concordi Laetitiae

We rejoice with Our Blessed Mother, and all the Church, that Christ has Risen! The children can begin to see the Paschal Mystery unfold in the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ.

Regina Caeli

We rejoice with Christ’s Mother in the Resurrection of her Son from the dead.

Spiritus Paraclitus

To remind the child that after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, He sent
the Holy Spirit to guide and protect us through His Church.

Veni Creator

We invite the children to ask the Holy Spirit, third person of the Most Holy Trinity, to come and
dwell in them, showering His grace upon them and the whole Church.

O Lord I Am Not Worthy

To help prepare the child for reception of the Holy Eucharist in First Holy Communion.

All Creatures of Our God and King

Arouses the interest of the child in God’s creation - the wonder of the sun and the moon, light and the stars, the wind and all the natural beauty of our created world.

Adoro Te Devote

To help prepare the child for reception of the Holy Eucharist in First Holy Communion.

Alleluia! Sing To Jesus

We rejoice in the Ascension of Christ to His Father and we wait in great anticipation with Mary and the Apostles for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The children see the Paschal Mystery unfold in the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ.

Christ the Lord Ascends to Reign

Christ, the Paschal Lamb, has conquered death and has opened the gates of heaven for all of us.

Jesu Dulcis Memoria

To remind the 21st century child of the importance of the sacred Name of Jesus.
Philippians 2:10 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”

Lumen ad Revelationem

The Feast of the Presentation, formerly marked the end of the Sundays after Christmas and now occurs in the midst of the first Sundays of Ordinary Time. It is a time to remind the children of the obedience of Mary and Saint Joseph, who presented Jesus in the Temple.