In 1992, Linda Schafer undertook direction of St. Boniface’s choir, later entitled the St. Boniface Schola Cantorum, a post she retained when Fr. Timothy Alkire became pastor of St. Boniface Parish in 1994. Together, church organist Scott Kemmer, Linda Schafer, and Fr. Alkire began a project to renew liturgical music at St. Boniface in the spirit of the directives of the Second Vatican Council. The challenges were these:

      - To obey the directives of the Council by giving Gregorian chant ”pride of place” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, #116), and also to orient the music to the standards first articulated by Pope St. Pius X in 1903: holiness, true artistry, and universality (Tra lle sollecitudini, #8).

     - To form a repertoire for the choir with increasing emphasis on Gregorian chant, polyphony, and more traditional hymnody; and to assist the congregation with “full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, #14) by producing a usable collection of music which could serve the needs of a bi-lingual parish of over 3,000 members in all the diverse aspects of parish life from Mass, weddings, and funerals, to Benediction, Vespers, and Eucharistic Processions.

The goal was to begin at St. Boniface, in a small way, with patience and charity, the reclamation and restoration of the musical patrimony of the Catholic Church. The St. Boniface Schola Cantorum and the St. Michael Hymnal were the final result of this effort. The St. Michael Hymnal was first published for the use of the parish in 1998. Growing interest, beginning first with several parishes in the Diocese of Lincoln, and then spreading by word of mouth, convinced Fr. Alkire to publish the hymnal officially and make it available to parishes around the country.

The hymnal, about to go into its fourth edition (Summer 2011) has seen numerous printings and has sold tens of thousands of copies. Its reputation continues to grow, both for the orthodoxy of its texts and for the beauty of its musical collection.

Thirdly, this hymnal is the fruit of a parish that has for many years tried to be faithful and obedient to Holy Mother Church. We believe that the St. Michael Hymnal is very usable in any parish that would like to reclaim and restore some of the traditional music of the Church without moving precipitously or too hastily.

Absolutely. The fourth edition is being produced in order to accommodate the changes in the Missal text. We will have several beautiful new Mass settings, including some written especially for the St. Michael Hymnal.

 It is important to remember that just as Rome was not built in a day, neither can a restoration be effected in a day.  We have received a surprising number of calls from pastors who are grateful that we have continued to include some of these contemporary songs, since many members of their congregation, particularly some of their volunteer musicians, have become quite attached to them over the last thirty years, and would not be as ready to accept any hymnal that did not include them.

Moreover, not all parishes have the resources to pay for a professional organist who can play the great hymns that comprise the vast majority of this collection.  Many of the contemporary songs that are included are meant to serve as a stepping stone and a transition to the kind of music that is more suitable for the sacred liturgy.  It should be noted that care was taken to insure that there are no doctrinal problems with the texts of any of the songs. 

Finally, the Church has always extended a large sympathy and charity for those devotional type of songs that many people associate strongly with childhood or family memories.  We should not be too hasty in jettisoning everything that we judge less worthy from a professional musical perspective.  Some songs such as “On This Day O Beautiful Mother” have become part of the Catholic identity in this country, and it is likely that some of the more contemporary pieces will also become part of that tradition of folk classics.  We will continue to include those pieces.

The new edition of the St. Michael Hymnal is presently being printed and will be available soon.  You will be able to order individual copies of the hymnal here through PayPal beginning December 19th.

 The Accompaniment/Choirbook for the St. Michael Hymnal is in the final stages of production.  It will be available in early 2012.

The cost of the pew edition will be $16.00 each, with a 5% discount at 300 copies, a 10% discount at 600 copies, and a 15% discount at 900 copies.  Please consult the "Buy" page for more information about ordering when the hymnal becomes available.

Yes.  You will be able to purchase hymnal directly from this website using PayPal.