This wonderful hymn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has seen different publications and various translations since it first appeared in the 17th century. It is not known who originally authored the hymn. However, Father John Croiset, S. J., (1656-1738), a French Jesuit priest, and spiritual director of Saint Mary Margaret Alacoque (1647-1690) is most likely the author of the hymn text.
Saint Mary Margaret Alacoque was a nun from the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary and a mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Father Croiset wrote DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS at the bequest of Saint Mary Margaret Alacoque on behalf of our Lord Jesus Christ which was first published it in 1691.
Since that time other books on the devotion have appeared by many authors including Father Galliflet, S.J., (1663-1749) who is also considered by some to be the author of the hymn text. As time passed, several papal encyclicals promoting this devotion were issued including most recently by Pope Francis new encyclical, Dilexit nos.
The earliest appearance of this hymn in American Catholic hymnals was the LAUDIS CORONA published by D. & J. Sadler & Co., of New York City. The LAUDIS CORONA was published in 1880 and again in 1885. When I review the Preface, it says the tunes were selected by a lady in Baltimore and the music arranged by Professor Francis A. Harkins, M.A., of Boston College. Additional attributions were given to the Sisters of Notre Dame for allowing the use of their hymn book May Chimes; also to Mr. Fred Eversmann, Jr., and Mr. Harry Sauders, both from Baltimore; and to Mr. RoSewig, Music Publisher, of Philadelphia. (Click on any image to enlarge)
The hymn next appeared in the CANTABO DOMINO published by the Oliver Ditson & Co., of Boston in 1886. This collection of Latin hymns and motets was compiled by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur from Philadelphia with two separate arrangements found in the hymn book. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur came from Belgium and arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1840. They began teaching in the Philadelphia area in 1856. A study of the Latin text found in these two arrangements suggest that the hymns could be sung at different times of the day corresponding to the prayer life of the Sisters.
O Cor Amoris appeared in another hymn collection that was compiled by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. This was the SUNDAY SCHOOL HYMN BOOK. This collection of hymns was first published by the Oliver Ditson Co., of Boston in 1887, with later printings in 1907, and 1935.
The Sisters of Notre Dame played a pioneering role at St. Mary’s mission church in Akron, Ohio, which was situated on South Main Street opposite McCoy Street in 1887. Though the Sisters of Notre Dame withdrew in 1895, their influence on the parish music was long-lasting. Several of the hymns including Ave Verum; Holy Mary, Mother Mild; Veni Jesu Amor Mi; Jesus Teach Me How to Pray, and others continued to be sung by St. Mary’s Choir into the early 21st century. St. Mary’s was officially designated a parish on December 12, 1896.
Albert H. RoSewig (1846-1929) also composed an arrangement for O Cor Amoris. This arrangement is from his CONCENTUS SACRI, 1913 compiled by him and published by the Oliver Ditson Company of Boston. This collection of Latin hymns was originally published in 1877 by the same company. Several of the hymns can be found on Youtube and other internet sources (i.e. IMSLP, ChoralWiki, etc.).
Albert Henry RoSewig was born in Hanover, Germany and came to Philadelphia at the age of 10 in 1856 and remained there for the rest of his life, he was 83 years of age when he died. He was director of music at St. Charles Borromeo Church for nearly thirty-five years. During his musical career he devoted himself to composing Masses, hymns, and motets. He was severely criticized by reformers and drew condemnation from Pope Pius X for his use of romanticized harmony in Gregorian and priest altar chants. Despite facing significant criticism, the collection CONCENTUS SACRI played a crucial role in its time by offering Catholic choirs access to works from prominent composers like Geibel, Rossini, Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, and Gounod.
His music is still used today, during my time singing with St. Mary’s Choir in Akron, Ohio two of his compositions Ave Maria, Op. 346, and his Ave Maris Stella No. 2, were sung on various occasions. In 2008, the St. Joseph’s History Society of South Camden, NJ, produced a CD recording of Eucharistic Adoration with RoSewig Vespers with the proceeds to benefit the restoration of the church.
I next located the hymn in the AMERICAN CATHOLIC HYMNAL published in 1913 and again 1921 by P. J. Kenedy & Sons, New York City. There is a separate melody in each edition and there are Latin text differences between the two arrangements. The 1913 edition uses a melody composed by Anthony Werner (1816-1866) which was used often for the Benediction hymn O Salutaris/O Saving Victim Opening Wide. The Latin text of the hymn matches that found in the Sunday School Hymn Book by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. In the 1921 edition, an old German melody is used.
The significance of the American Catholic Hymnal is worth mentioning. During a time when most hymnals repeated the same texts, this collection shows many were taken from various religious periodicals, including the Messenger of the Sacred Heart, Ave Maria, the Rosary Magazine, the Voice, and the Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament.
The German melody would reappear again in the 1953 ALVERNO HYMNAL AND CHOIR BOOK, Part 3. The Alverno Hymnal and Choir Book was published in three parts by the McLaughlin & Reilly Co., of Boston between 1948 and 1953. Each hymnal was compiled, edited, and arranged by Sister Mary Cherubim Schaefer, O.S.F., (1886-1977). Sister Cherubim was a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis.
During the 1920s and 1930s [devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus grew perhaps as a result of the Canonization of Margaret Mary Alacoque by Pope Benedict XV in May of 1920 or perhaps Pope Pius XI Encyclical Miserentissimus published in May of 1928.] Catholic hymnals featuring hymns to the Sacred Heart of Jesus were numerous. These include the PSALLITE and HOSANNA both compiled by Father Ludwig Bonvin, S.J., the CATHOLIC HYMNAL compiled by Father John Hacker, S.J., the SURSUM CORDA compiled by the Sisters of St. Francis for the school children of New York, HYMNS USED BY THE PUPILS OF THE SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME, the HYMN BOOK for the use of the PUPILS OF THE SACRED HEART, the ST. BASIL’S HYMNAL, the ST. GREGORY HYMNAL, the ST. MARY’S HYMNAL, the DIOCESAN HYMNALS especially the EUCHARISTIC HYMNAL compiled by Cleveland, Ohio Bishop Schrembs, the AVE MARIA HYMNAL, the ST. CECILIA HYMNAL, the PAROCHIAL HYMNAL and the CANTICUM NOVUM both collections compiled by Father Carlo Rossini, the MOUNT MARY HYMNAL, and the ST. ROSE HYMNAL.
One could debate which of these hymnals was the most widely used as each of them have their own place and importance in Catholic hymnody. My intention is to keep this write-up short, informative, and concise. So I decided to focus on the hymnal that I deemed to be the most widely used and perhaps the most widely criticized – the ST. BASIL’S.
O Cor Amoris appeared in the ST. BASIL’S HYMNAL from 1925 to 1953. With some helpful hints from the CMAA forum, this arrangement was composed by Canon Désiré Planque (1805-1888), a musician from France. His TTB arrangement for O Cor Amoris Victima was published in 1926. He also composed another hymn O Bone Pastor in F major, and other works including Masses, psalms, hymns, antiphons, and restored plain chant in the Diocese of Arras, France.
The St. Basil’s Hymnal drew severe criticism by the Society of St. Gregory, a new group inspired by Nicola A. Montani who was friends with the clergy and laity and who felt there was a need for a new society to promote the reform of church music that was indicated by Pope Pius X, Motu Proprio of 1903. The societies bulletin, The Catholic Choirmaster, first issued in February 1915 and having received approbation of the Holy See began a relentless campaign against what they deemed as the poor quality of American hymnals. In the April 1916 issue of the bulletin, in an article signed Hymnologus (aka Nicola A. Montani), various examples of text and tune were sited as being inferior because of their secular origins. A number of hymnals were mentioned but the criticism was largely aimed at the St. Basil’s Hymnal.
Another critical review of the Revised Edition of the St. Basil’s Hymnal, appeared in the April 1919 issue of The Catholic Choir Master under the pseudonym M. Colas (Nicola A. Montani), giving further musical examples of the secular sources of many of the melodies.
The Society of St. Gregory’s campaign against Catholic hymnals graduated to an all-encompassing Black List of disapproved church music as well as a White List of approved church music. In 1919, the Diocese of Ft. Wayne was the first to adopt church music regulations according to the Black and White List. Over the years other dioceses across the United Stated also adopted similar regulations including Indianapolis (1935), Pittsburgh (1937), Chicago (1955), and Cleveland (1964).
In my review of these regulations, especially those from the Cleveland Diocese, (Banned Hymns in the Cleveland Dioceses), the hymns that were condemned consisted mostly of Marian hymns, Communion hymns, and hymns to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In addition to these, various Mass settings, Choral pieces, Catholic hymnals, Wedding Marches, and Ave Maria’s were banned from all liturgical functions as well as extra-liturgical devotional ceremonies.
In my survey of Catholic hymnals O Cor Amoris last appeared in OUR LADY OF THE LAKE HYMNAL AND CHOIR BOOK published by the Gregorian Institute of America in 1956. This collection of hymns was composed and arranged by Sister Mary Elaine Gentemann, C.D.P., (1909-2008) from Our Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio, Texas.
The hymn book contains a good measure of Latin hymns, motets, and Mass settings with a few English hymns such as Daily, Daily, Sing to Mary and Good St. Anne sprinkled in. Sister Mary Elaine composed several Mass settings between 1945 and 1965. One of her Mass settings, Mass in Honor of Blessed Martin de Porres, composed in 1945, drew criticism over her use of Negro Spirituals for the various parts (i.e., Nobody Knows the Troubles I’ve Seen for the Kyrie). For further reading consult the Caecilia magazine March 1945, page 153.
This arrangement of O Cor Amoris would be a beautiful piece to sing with a full choir or a small group of talented singers.
Reflection
O Cor Amoris was a favorite of St. Mary’s Choir in Akron, Ohio and a favorite of my friend and fellow choir member Telford Wartko. Tel as he was known, was a construction worker and was one of many men who worked on the Ohio stretch of I-77 highway project back in the 1950s. He was a member of St. Joseph’s Church in Randolph, Ohio where he lived and a member of the Knights of Columbus.
I recall Tel being a great fan of NASCAR and he would go to the races every year. He was an outdoorsman, and he had a lifetime appreciation for music. Tel was a soft-spoken man when I knew him and a good friend. Tel, Tom McNeill, and I were the last of the men from St. Mary’s Choir and we became affectionately known as the three tenors by music director Mary Leary who served as organist of St. Mary’s until she retired in 2005. Tel died December 16, 2010, after a lengthy battle with cancer.
The melody that St. Mary’s Choir learned to sing is from the SUNDAY SCHOOL HYMN BOOK published by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Singing Latin hymns at Sunday Mass in the Ordinary Form was a cherished tradition at St. Mary’s with the choir frequently singing these beautiful compositions during Offertory and Communion.
Here is my translation of the hymn O Cor Amoris. The first column is the Latin text from the SUNDAY SCHOOL HYMN BOOK. The second column is somewhat word for word, while the last column fits the melody from the Sunday School Hymn Book.
O cor amoris victima,caeli perenne gaudium,mortalium solatium,mortalium spes ultima |
Cor dulce, Cor amabile,Amore nostri languidum,Amore nostri saucium,Fac sis mihi placabile, |
Jesu Patris cor unicum,Puris amicum mentibusPuris amandum cordibusIn corde regnes omnium |
O heart victim of love,Heavens eternal joy,Mortal comfort,Mortal hope forever |
Heart so kind, Heart so loving,Our love so faint,Our love is so wounded,Make me (like Thee) (appeasable) |
Jesus is one Heart with the Father,A pure friend in minds,Pure hearts to be loved,In the heart the kingdoms of all |
O Heart of Love, Lamb of GodHeaven’s eternal endless joy!Our earthly comfort, Our sure reliefOur true hope forever more! |
Heart so kind, Heart so lovingOur love so faint, Our love so weakOur love so wanting, Our love so woundedMake us so like to Thee! |
Jesus is one Heart with the FatherA pure friend in thought, word, and deed.Pure hearts that we should loveSo let our hearts join with Theirs! |
Below are computer generated sound files of the hymn melodies mentioned in this write up. The tempo is approximate but should provide the listener with a good sense of what the hymn sounds like.
