While only remnants of the music survive, many hymns from the Western Church have been translated from the Latin and a few choice ones have found their way into the Hymnary.
Latin Hymns in the Hymnary
Prudentius, 348-c. 413, “Bethlehem, of noblest cities” ([88]) Gregory the Great, 540-604, “Father, we praise Thee” ([24]) Anonymous, 6th or 7th century, “Christ is made the sure” ([277]) “Joy dawned again on Easterday” ([415]) Theodulph of Orleans, 9th century, “All glory, laud, and honor” ([100]) Bernard of Clairvaux, 1091-1153, “Jesus the very thought” ([155]) “O sacred Head, now wounded” ([539]) Bernard of Cluny, 12th century, “Jerusalem, the golden” ([262]-3) Anonymous, 12th century, “O come, O come, Emmanuel” ([67]) Savonarola, 1452-98 (Italian), “Jesus, Refuge of the weary” ([536]) Anonymous, 17th-18th centuries, “O come, all ye faithful” ([80]) “The year is gone beyond recall” ([382])
5. Hymns of the Bohemian Brethren.
The followers of John Hus who came to be known as the Bohemian Brethren, and later as the Moravians, were the first Protestant group to introduce congregational singing into their worship. They also published the first Protestant hymnbooks, one in 1501 and another in 1505, containing 89 and 400 hymns, respectively, in their native Bohemian tongue. Their efforts to introduce congregational singing were sternly opposed by the Roman hierarchy. The Council of Constance condemned Hus to be burned at the stake and warned his successor, Jacob of Misi, to cease the singing of hymns in the churches. It decreed:
If laymen are forbidden to preach and interpret the Scriptures, much more are they forbidden to sing publicly in the churches.
As a result of their persecution, the Brethren in 1508 sent out messengers to search for true Christian people into whose communion they might apply for admission—one to Russia, one to Greece, one to Bulgaria, and one to Palestine and Egypt. All returned unsuccessful. No such Christians had been found. They therefore remained in their own country, giving themselves assiduously to the translation and printing of the Bible.
In 1522 the Brethren sent two messengers to Luther to greet him and ask his advice. Luther became interested in them and welcomed their fellowship. He was impressed with the hymnbook the Brethren had published, and later used some of the hymns in his own work.
Two centuries later, the Brethren, known now as the Moravians, settled on Count Zinzendorf’s estates in Saxony, spreading rapidly from thence into other countries in Europe and to the United States. One of England’s foremost hymn writers and hymnologists, James Montgomery, was an adherent to their faith.