Well here’s something you don’t see often, a hymn for the souls in purgatory.
It was written by John Henry Cardinal Newman, I suppose so everyone knew he wasn’t an Anglican anymore.
This song would have a special use for All Souls Day.
It is here set to DUNDEE from the Scottish Psalter from 1615. The tune certainly sounds like all the Presbyterian hymns I sang as a child. Liturgyshare has all the sheet music for this one.
The text below is that found in this hymnal.
1 Help, Lord, the souls that thou hast made,
The souls to thee so dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.2 These holy souls, they suffer on,
Resigned in heart and will,
Until thy high behest is done,
And justice has its fill.3 For daily falls, for pardon’d crime
They joy to undergo
The shadow of Thy Cross sublime,
The remnants of thy woe.4 Good Jesu, help! sweet Jesu, aid
The souls to thee most dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.
I found some extra verses:
Oh, by their patience of delay,
Their hope amid their pain,
Their sacred zeal to burn away
Disfigurement and stain.
Oh, by their fire of love, not less
In keenness than in flame,
Oh, by their very helplessness,
Oh, by Thy own great Name.
All sounds very Clement of Alexandria.
It seems to be set to many other tunes.
St Flavian:
Belmont:
Not sure of this setting: