The Lutheran custom of singing hymns during Holy Communion is rich and venerable, dating back to Martin Luther himself. As we have mentioned before, Luther wanted German hymns to be sung after the Gradual and after the Sanctus and Agnus Dei. In the same breath he complains that there are few hymn writers (that he knows of) who are capable of composing “evangelical and spiritual songs…worthy to be used in the church of God.”1 At the time, no such tradition existed of singing songs during the Roman mass. If there were hymns about the Body and Blood of Christ, they were either folk hymns in the vernacular (such as Gott sei gelobet [“O Lord, We Praise Thee”], approved of and expanded upon by Luther), or hymns written specifically for the feast of Corpus Christi, namely those by Thomas Aquinas.2 Any others were evidently absent from German lands or not of sufficient quality.
Later on, in the Deutsche Messe, Luther mentions some hymns that are suitable for the Distribution: the German Sanctus (“Isaiah, Mighty Seer in Days of Old”); Gott sei gelobet; the “hymn of John Huss,” Jesus Christus unser Heiland (“Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior”); and the Agnus Dei in German (“O Christ, Thou Lamb of God”).3 All of these to some extent build upon pre-existing material.4 Note, however, that they all have to do with the Sacrament of the Altar, either with the ceremonies surrounding it or with the thing itself.
Günther Stiller, in his study of Lutheranism in Leipzig in the era of Johann Sebastian Bach, discusses music and hymnody for communion. After quoting from the agenda for Leipzig churches, which mentions the hymns recommended by Luther in his German Mass, he writes:
During the distribution in Leipzig, in addition to the special music for the Sacrament, a whole series of church hymns were sung, and of these especially seven came to belong to the standing set sung for generations during the distribution, namely “Jesus Christus, unser Heiland,” “Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet,” “Nun freut euch, lieben Christengmein,” “Wo soll ich fliehen hin,” and the three already mentioned on p. 84 [“Es wolle Gott uns gnädig sein,” “Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren,” and “Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt”].5
Friedrich Lochner, too, devotes space to a quote from the Braunschweig-Lüneburg church order which mentions hymns sung during communion:
As soon as Communion is begun, without any prelude from the organ or any other music, the whole congregation shall immediately sing ‘Lamb of God, Pure and Holy,’ slowly and with devotion. If, when it is finished, there are still communicants present, the hymn on Christ’s Passion, ‘Christ, Who Saves Us by His Cross,’ etc., shall be sung. And after that, depending on the number of communicants: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Highest Good,’ ‘Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior.’”6
Note the significant overlap between the sources cited here. For example, “Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior” occurs in Luther’s German Mass, Stiller, and Lochner. “O Lord, We Praise Thee” is cited positively by Luther in his Formula Missae, again in the German Mass, and in Stiller—and even though the Braunschweig church order does not have it as a communion hymn, it is later prescribed to follow the Nunc Dimittis after the Benediction.7 Both of these hymns were surely dear to the hearts of many generations of German Lutherans.
In contrast, the hymns sung during communion in American Lutheranism seem to follow no principle. Some churches select hymns from the Lord’s Supper section of the hymnal. Others use that space as an opportunity to sing other hymns which are appropriate to the theme of the day, but were not chosen as the chief hymn. Many do a mixture of both kinds.
It is to be preferred that communion hymns are in fact about the Lord’s Supper. There are innumerable hymns in our tradition that extol the benefits of this sacrament, and there is no better time to sing them than during the Distribution. But even more than that, we should follow our forefathers’ example and repeat these hymns often, maybe even every week. Why shouldn’t “Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior” be learned by heart by every Lutheran? Why shouldn’t “O Lord, We Praise Thee” be our joyful response every Sunday to the reception of the very Body that was born of Mary and given into death and the Blood which blesses and sustains us?8 The catechetical benefits of such a practice are obvious, too. Non-Lutheran hymns that have made their way into our hymnals muddy the waters of the clear teaching regarding the Lord’s Supper. As in so much else, here we are in dire need of the pure doctrine, the sound pattern of words provided by the Small Catechism and these hymns, treasured by Lutherans for centuries.
S. D. G.
Martin Luther, “An Order of Mass and Communion for the Church at Wittenberg” (1523): vol. 53, p. 36, in Luther’s Works, American Edition, vols. 1–30, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan (St. Louis: Concordia, 1955–76); vols. 31–55, ed. Helmut Lehmann (Philadelphia/Minneapolis: Muhlenberg/Fortress, 1957–86); vols. 56–82, ed. Christopher Boyd Brown and Benjamin T. G. Mayes (St. Louis: Concordia, 2009–), hereafter AE.
Two of which are brought into LSB: “Now, My Tongue, the Mystery Telling” (LSB 630) and “Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior” (LSB 640).
Martin Luther, “The German Mass and Order of Service” (1526), AE 53:82.
“Isaiah, Mighty Seer” is a versification of Isaiah 6:1–4; Gott sei gelobet and Jesus Christus unser Heiland were both pre-Reformation hymns upon which Luther expanded and improved, the former by Jan Hus (1370–1415) and the latter a Leise; and the Agnus Dei is, of course, a part of the historic mass.
Günther Stiller, Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig, ed. Robin A. Leaver, trans. Herbert J. A. Bouman, Daniel F. Poellot, and Hilton C. Oswald (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1984), 128. In order, these hymns are in English as: “Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior,” “O Lord, We Praise Thee,” “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice,” Oh, Whither Shall I Flee,” “May God Bestow on Us His Grace,” “My Soul, Now Praise Thy Maker,” and “My Faithful Shepherd Is the Lord.” All can be found in LSB, TLH, or WH (Walther’s Hymnal), except for the last one.
Agenda Oder: Erster Teyl . . . (Wolfenbüttel: Sterne, 1657), 42, quoted in Friedrich Lochner, The Chief Divine Service, ed. Jon D. Vieker, Kevin J. Hildebrand, and Nathaniel S. Jensen, trans. Matthew Carver (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2020), 277.
Lochner, The Chief Divine Service, 294. Of the matter of closing hymns we will have more to say later.
Many will no doubt cite the widespread adoption of the Nunc Dimittis as a “post-communion canticle” as a counter to this argument. It is a laudable custom. But “O Lord, We Praise Thee” could just as easily be placed as the final communion hymn, or even as the closing hymn, every Sunday, or in alternation with another.