Some Favorite Hymns

My post the other day regarding my dislike of most hymns sung in Catholic churches got me thinking, what are my favorite hymns? After all, I am a firm believer that singing makes you pray twice. But hymns must be singable, beautiful and meaningful -- and too many of the songs in our Catholic hymnal fail on all three counts.

But there are great hymns out there, some are even sung in Catholic Churches. A few favorites, off the top of my head (and not including Christmas songs):

• The King of Love my Shepherd Is (perhaps my all time favorite, and one I want sung at my funeral)


• Amazing Grace


• The Prayer of Saint Francis


• Holy, Holy, Holy


• Holy God We Praise Thy Name


• Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above (hearing this hymn reminds me of being little and watching the old Italian ladies walk through the streets of Williamsburg, Brooklyn with a statute of the Virgin)


• We Walk by Faith

Of these quick hymns, three are Anglican hymns, three are "old" Catholic hymns thought no longer relevant by many, and one (the Prayer of St. Francis) is relatively old but still often sung.