Jesus, Jesus, Come To Me

Number 131 from the St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book, 1920. Organist: Chuck Lenz. Soloist: Richard Schletty.

Jesus, Jesus, Come To Me

1. Jesus, Jesus, come to me,
All my longing is for Thee,
Of all friends the best Thou art,
Make of me Thy counterpart.

2. Jesus, I live for Thee,
Jesus, I die for Thee,
I belong to Thee,
Fore'er in life and death.

3. Comfort my poor soul distressed,
Come and dwell within my breast,
Oh how oft I long for Thee,
Jesus, Jesus, come to me.

© 1920 by. Nicola A. Montani
Copyright renewal assigned 1947, to the St. Gregory Guild, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Originally published 3-17-2015

Comments

Jesus, Jesus Come to Me

Looking for different melody with alto we used to sing in the 1960's in our choir:

Jesus, Jesus come to me
Oh how much I long for thee
Come, thou of all friends the best
Take possession of my breast.

Comfort my poor soul distressed
Come and dwell within my breast,
Oh, how oft I sigh for thee
Jesus, Jesus come to me

Jesus, Jesus, Come to Me

Joan, I'll take a look through my old Catholic hymnals. Any idea what hymnal you were using? Or were you singing from an octavo?
—

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

Jesus, Jesus, Come to Me

Is this the version of "Jesus, Jesus, Come to Me" that you sang?

https://hymnary.org/hymn/LCNS1885/158

It was in Laudis Corona: the new Sunday school hymn book, containing a collection of Catholic hymns, arranged for the principal seasons and festivals of the year, #158.

—

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

Jesus, Jesus, Come To Me alternate melodies

According to the Handbook for American Catholic Hymnals by J. Vincent Higginson, in addition to the St. Gregory melody, there are six additional melodies which appeared in the following hymnals. Mediator Dei No. 61;  the Pius X hymnal No. 56; the De LaSalle hymnal No. 41; the Alverno III hymnal No. 70; the Laudate No. 127; the Roman hymnal No. 11; the Catholic hymnal by Fr. John Hacker, S.J., No. 108; the St. Mary's Manual No. 66; and the Monastery hymna; by A. Brager's No. 58; 

The original hymn text is by Angelus Silesius (Johann Scheffler) from his Heilige Seelenlust 1657. He was a convert to Catholicism. In the Trier Gesangbuch the text is revised to "Jesu, Jesu,komm' zu mir."  Translators of the hymn include: Fr. Ernest M. Barrett and DOM S. Ould, O.S.B., and Sister Jeannie Marie, S.N.D. who is credited with the translation found in St. Gregory's hymnal.

It does appear in early American hymn books like Cantica Sacra 1865, Laudis Corona 1880, Laudate Pueri 1886, Roman Hymnal 1884, and Sodalist Hymnal 1887 which is captioned "Loving Savior come to me" 

I do have some of these hymn books and could share the different melodies. 

Many settings for Jesus, Jesus, Come to Me

Thanks, Don, for the historical info on the hymn "Jesus, Jesus, Come to Me." You are quite the archivist! As you saw in the comment above by Joan, she is "looking for different melody with alto we used to sing in the 1960's in our choir." Unfortunately, Joan did not log in when she posted her inquiry in 2017, so I have no contact info. I am sure you could identify the exact setting she sang and the hymnal she sang from. Maybe Joan will wander back to this post some day.
—

Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com

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