Favorite Hymns

This meme's currently making the rounds in the Catholic blogohood, so I figured I'd list some of my favorite hymns. In no particular order:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

That's a classic, and one that most Catholics can get behind.

Holy God, We Praise Thy Name

Holy God, we praise Thy Name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee!
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in Heaven above adore Thee;
Infinite Thy vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.

Another Catholic classic, and a hymn that puts our place at the feet of our God. No happy-clappy, Jesus-is-my-pal nonsense.

To Jesus Christ, Our Sovereign King

To Jesus Christ, our Sov'reign King,
Who is the world's salvation,
All praise and homage do we bring,
And thanks and adoration.

Yeah, you can't help but get the sense of Jesus' majesty in this hymn, and I bet the regal references drive the liberal, 'horizontal church' folks absolutely nuts.

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

Sure, the timing is more waltzy than most, but the melody is simple enough for folks to be able to sing it.

Salve Regina

Hail Holy Queen enthron'd above, O Maria
Hail Mother of Mercy and of love O Maria

Triumph all ye Cherubim
Sing with us ye Seraphim
Heav'n and earth resound the hymn
Salve Salve Salve Regina

Yeah, you wouldn't find this one in most Protestant hymnals, but this is one of my favorite Marian antiphons. Just a part of what makes us Catholic, right, is a loving respect for our Mother.

I've been trying to learn these songs on the keyboard, dialing up the biggest sounding organ preset I can find and cranking it up. Remember, when we sing, we pray twice!