{Singing with the Saints} September Hymn Study: “Stabat Mater Dolorosa”

Join us this month as we learn a beautiful piece of our Catholic history with one of the seven great Latin hymns of the Church, "Stabat Mater Dolorosa."

Your family can choose to focus on the Latin text, the English text, or both.

All your family has to do to learn this hymn is sing along with me!

If you are new to our hymn study videos, Singing with the Saints is a ministry whose purpose is to bring the ancient Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Church into the hearts and homes of Catholic families through sacred music.

We typically begin our Hymn Study time by reviewing an older hymn we have learned, then proceed to the new hymn. Only two of my sons are of reading age, so I introduce a new hymn by having everyone repeat the lines of the first verse after me. Next I sing the first verse once and then have my boys join in the second time through with humming, a neutral syllable, or attempting the words. We sing the current verse we are learning about three times a day during our Morning Liturgy (Morning Time). They pick up a verse in about a week. After our singing we choose a few of the additional activities below to help us dig a little deeper. I have provided some printable sheets for your family’s use, should you be interested in having them participate in any of the following with us.

A few ideas for expanding a Hymn Study:

Catechesis: discussing the theological truths painted in the text.

Commonplacing – Florilegium entries: choosing to copy down a line that is personally meaningful.

Dictation: use a selection from the hymn text

Ear Training: have your family practice Attentive Listening by drawing what is heard in the text or music

Handwriting: use a selection from the hymn text

Memorization

Narration of Hymn Text: have your family speak and/or write what they remember about the hymn text in their own words

Singing for Beauty and Enjoyment: add hymn singing to a meal or bedtime ritual

Vocabulary Enrichment: discuss unfamiliar words and phrases with your family

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You can find all our past Singing with the Saints resources here.

Verse 1

Verse 2

Solfege

Verse 3

Verse 4

Do you have questions or suggestions for a future hymn to be covered? Please enter them below and I'll do my best to answer and include the hymns in an upcoming Hymn Study.