Non solum: Hymnal ribbons

In this new year of grace, Pray Tell is happy to continue the Non solum series. Down lower the description of this series is reprinted for those of you who might be new to Pray Tell.

Here’s today’s question: what is your experience with hymnal ribbons? Have you had trouble with them raveling? Have you had to remove them? Have any of you purchased ribbons to insert in a hymnal, such as what GIA offers? How do they hold up?

Feedback invited!

awr

Moderator’s note: “Non solum” is a feature at Pray Tell for our readership community to discuss practical liturgical issues. The title comes from article 11 of the Vatican II liturgy constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium: “Therefore there is to be vigilance among holy pastors that in liturgical action not only are laws for valid and licit celebration to be observed, but that the faithful should participate knowingly, actively, and fruitfully.” (Ideo sacris pastoribus advigilandum est ut in actione liturgica non solum observentur leges ad validam et licitam celebrationem, sed ut fideles scienter, actuose et fructuose eandem participent.) May the series contribute to good liturgical practice – not only following the law, but especially grasping the spirit of the liturgy! – awr

Anthony Ruff, OSB

Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, is a monk of St. John's Abbey. He teaches liturgy, liturgical music, and Gregorian chant at St. John's University School of Theology-Seminary. He is widely published and frequently presents across the country on liturgy and music. He is the author of Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform: Treasures and Transformations, and of Responsorial Psalms for Weekday Mass: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter. He does priestly ministry at the neighboring community of Benedictine sisters in St. Joseph.

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Comments

28 responses to “Non solum: Hymnal ribbons”

  1. Kevin Vogt

    We only have them in The Mundelein Psalter, from which we sing the Divine Office in the choir of our parish church. The children in the choir braid them.

    Reply
  2. Ron Jones

    They don’t hold up very well. We had them in our old copies of Ritual Song because it seemed like a good idea. They frayed horribly and were never used by the assembly. The idea behind them is great in concept but your typical Sunday morning (Saturday evening) worshiper just doesn’t care to take the time to place the ribbons. I found books where the ribbons had never been moved. We cut most of them out and supplied the assembly with bookmarks we published each weekend. They had the music listed in a manner that also instructed the people in the order of the liturgy. Our kids tied knots in them.

    Reply
  3. Father Robert Lyons

    I take the edges, cut them as I want them, and then run then ever so quickly through a candle flame, barely grazing them.

    Reply
  4. Charles Jordan

    View from the Pew
    Regarding: hymnal ribbons
    – For just this type of dilemma 3M developed post it notes.

    Reply
  5. Jordan Zarembo

    Yale Div library merely cuts the ribbons from the binding beforehand. This is sensible, given that a careless patron might snag a ribbon and destroy the binding by pulling it apart.

    Reply
  6. Don Donaldson

    Yes to ribbons. The look of Post-it’s, fragments of torn papers, and other markers just look ragged. Love watching them fall out of the books while singing another piece.

    There is a product called “Fray Away” which virtually eliminates fraying. I use a small drop of thin CA glue, my wife uses clear nail polish. Seal the end of the ribbon with it. If the ribbon has a decorative fray, seal above the fray. Yes, you will see it, but only you will see it.

    A sacristan I knew always secured knots in the fold-back Missal ribbons using a drop of CA glue. I now do this as well … no problems!

    Reply
  7. David Mathers

    I once attended Eucharist at the Cathedral in Aachen (the one-time Palatine Chapel) and during the welcome announcement, the titles and numbers of ALL the hymns were given. This particular situation demonstrated the value of ribbons for hymnals in the pew, as the info was not in the worship aid or announced during the liturgy. (Let me tell you, with my German spotty on a good day, it was all I could do to get those hymns marked!)

    Reply
  8. Scott Pluff

    Hymnal navigation is a daunting task for many people who attend church infrequently or are new to a church. This past Sunday, if one followed the order of Mass (conveniently located starting on page 82 of our hymnal), he would turn to page 82 for the opening dialog, then page 83 -or- 84 -or- 85 for the penitential act, then number 1103 in the supplemental booklet for the Gloria, then number 881 for the first reading, then see the worship aid for the psalm refrain, then to one page past number 881 for the second reading followed by number 879 (option C) for the Gospel. He would get a break during the homily, but then there are about fifteen page flips between two different books and a worship aid for the remainder of Mass, if he is trying to follow the Order of Mass section of the book interspersed with acclamations and hymns/songs. Of course no one actually attempts this, people unfamiliar with the liturgy most likely just sit there with no idea of what to say or do.

    All of this paper shuffling could be eliminated with the use of projection screens. Even if you used a hymnal for singing the hymns, showing the text of congregational responses along with basic section headings (Gospel: Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22) and subtle reminders of when to stand/sit/kneel would go a long way in helping people who are unfamiliar with the ritual to get acclimated. If done tastefully and unobtrusively, projection screens could give the congregation information at just the right moments to aid in their prayerful participation.

    Reply
    1. Karl Liam Saur

      @Scott Pluff:
      FWIW, I would flee any parish that used projection screens during Mass. Can’t say that I’d be in a majority, but I am not alone in that reaction.

      Reply
      1. Scott Pluff

        @Karl Liam Saur:
        Similar to having incense: some people object to it and leave, others prefer it and seek it out, while many people have no preference.

  9. Tim Sharrock

    I have added a bundle of twelve different colour ribbons to each of the hymnbooks used in our Children’s music group, and I preset all of them to the hymns for the week (about two minutes per book). It is much easier for the children to “turn to rainbow” than to find number 666. Yes they are sometimes braided, and I have used drops of PVA glue to stop fraying.

    Reply
  10. Doug O'Neill

    I can’t imagine any way to position projection screens that would not intrude on what you are actually supposed to focus on in the Mass. The ideal visitor-friendly solution would be to print everything sequentially in a worship aid, but in a big parish that uses a LOT of paper.

    Reply
    1. Scott Pluff

      @Doug O’Neill:
      If you object that people will be reading text that is projected onto screens, how is that different than reading text printed in a book? Is it not more distracting to have to navigate two books and a worship aid? Should we get rid of our hymnals and worship aides because they distract people from what they are “actually supposed to focus on”?

      Reply
      1. Karl Liam Saur

        @Scott Pluff:
        Well, it’s the size of the screens and their insistent visual omnipresence that one cannot escape from that’s the problem. It’s a jarring element. It doesn’t fade like incense. Our eyes are cultivated in our culture over several decades to maintain a focus on any screens present. The screen is like a giant eye.

        You can choose not to open, or to close, a book (or a program). You can much more easily glance at it for reference and then move your eye away from it. It’s not nearly as distracting.

      2. Scott Pluff

        @Karl Liam Saur:
        I’ll grant you that screens can be obtrusive if used with eye-popping colors and graphics. I’m thinking of something more like the supertitles projected on the proscenium arch at an opera-visibly present but could easily be ignored. I’ve seen screens used for worship with plain white text on a black background.

      3. Karl Liam Saur

        @Scott Pluff:
        At the risk of going too off topic – a discreet, NON-LED, supertitle might work in certain contexts, but the presence of a large, visible screen – blank or otherwise – is the omnipresent distracting eye problem. Blankness of this sort can be just as distracting, because of how we’ve been cultivated to fix our eyes on screens over the decades. It’s terrible awful.

        Anyway, as for ribbons, I am a fan of them. More than one, please.

        One could do some research first to see if the lack of them is a problem and if the presence of them would be a solution.

      4. Doug O'Neill

        @Scott Pluff:
        I would concur with what Karl has to say about the difference, so I won’t add to that, except to say that the slim supertitle method causes some great challenges with music. You’d better have somebody in control of changing the slide who really knows what s/he is doing, and you would have to have one slide per phrase of a hymn. With text only, that’s not so much of a problem, but if one is trying to promote musical literacy, that’s an awful lot of tedious work for anybody who is not employed full-time in music ministry. What I suggested is to sequentially print everything, including all the music, in which case you wouldn’t need a hymnal and missal at all. But now that you mention it, yes, to a certain extent the other methods are also distracting, although less so, to what we are supposed to be focusing on. Having the choir sing the propers would eliminate some of that problem (sorry, had to get that in :))

  11. Bryan Walsh

    My multi-colored hymnal ribbons are elegant, the cut fine, in a tasteful style, and the ultimate in good design. A king would stop and stare.

    Reply
  12. Fr. Jack Feehily

    I’m frankly appalled at the atavistic reaction to some kind of displays that could be easily read by the assembly. They wouldn’t have to be giant white screens that look weird when nothing is projected on them. There are many large cathedrals and churches that have installed TV like displays throughout the church so that people can actually see the action taking place at or near the altar. Hymn numbers can be superimposed on those feeds. Imagine for a moment TV like displays that suit the architecture of the building upon which are beautiful images of Saints or pastoral scenes when they are not announcing numbers of hymns or the lyrics of a hymn not found in the hymnal. Nothing ugly or unsightly at all if done carefully and sensitively. This is the 21st century after all.

    Reply
    1. Karl Liam Saur

      @Fr. Jack Feehily:
      “Atavistic” . . . how . . . .affirming, inclusive and non-judgmental. It seems inclusivity rachets only one-way (and then at only one-wing of one end, given that I am no liturgical traditionalist let alone a technological Luddite).

      I am not a fan of papal (mostly outdoor, but I find St Peter’s when full to be too much, for that matter) mega-Masses for the very reason that FCAP becomes more of a passive, mediated thing (through screens and audio feeds) than what Vatican II called for. For the same reason, I believe it’s better practice that, when the main space of a church overflows into separate chambers (like, for example, a lower church) that another Mass be celebrated in such places (if possible) rather than simply reduce participation below stairs to remote/virtual access.

      Just because this is the 21st century doesn’t mean everything current is wunnerful, any more than was the case in 1962, 1903, 1846, et cet., after all.

      Be appalled, if you will. But if you’re appalled by my reaction, I can see how people might not feel truly free to share their opinions in the presence of someone who reacts that way but temper/trim them accordingly – such a common dynamic in erstwhile clerical-lay “conversations” . (I am not appalled by your reaction. I just disagree. So sue me.)

      Now, back to ribbons: ribbons are a wonderful low-tech tool. We undervalue such tools.

      Reply
  13. Chuck Middendorf

    Back to ribbons:
    Most excellent for cantors walking to the ambo.
    Great for really any music leader in a public setting.
    Even great for in my office or in meetings. (A form of a post-it note.)

    Not so great for everyone in the assembly.

    Reply
  14. Ron Jones

    Amen Chuck! Just because we like them, (I do think they are classy) and just because they work for us as professional leaders or well trained choirs, doesn’t translate to the spotty usage of our assemblies. When we first got them, I would help the assembly before mass to place the ribbons in stratigic places. They would sit there and stare at me. So I asked what would inspire them to use the ribbons. They thought it would be wonderful if we had all 350 hymnals preset before they arrived for mass. I thought that was a special idea. Spe………cial!

    Reply
  15. Bryan Walsh

    http://www.npr.org/2014/07/26/335402996/an-idea-that-stuck-how-a-hymnal-bookmark-helped-inspire-the-post-it-note

    Reply
  16. Ed Nash

    Just a matter of time before we hand out kindle like tablets that will be programmed to move to the next song or prayer on the command of the tech person in charge.

    It’s just a matter of time.

    Reply
  17. Scott Knitter

    Ed Nash : Just a matter of time before we hand out kindle like tablets that will be programmed to move to the next song or prayer on the command of the tech person in charge.

    Probably. I imagine the development of inexpensive “tablets” no thicker than a piece of cardstock that can display in e-ink whatever material is sent via wi-fi or bluetooth. These can be in pew racks or handed out to arriving churchgoers. They’d be cheap enough that losing one is no bigger deal than someone taking a leaflet that’s meant to be left in the church. But they’d be worthless outside the church, as they’d be blank. Or perhaps they’d be meant to take away, as they’d turn into a weekly bulletin once outside the church.

    Reply
  18. Brendan Kelleher svd

    Here in Japan we have one “national” hymnal, edited and published by Bishops Confrence Liturgical Commission back in 1980. It has always had ribbons, four of them, though it would be better with six. If they put it out without ribbons there would probably be a lot of blowback. Now showing signs of age, needs updating, but Rome still hasn’t given the nod on the revised Japanese translation of the Roman Missal. We wait and live in hope.

    Reply
  19. Kimberly Hope Belcher

    Coincidentally, I just ran into this fun post on medieval bookmarking: http://medievalbooks.nl/2014/09/22/smart-medieval-bookmarks/

    It might be an interesting way to approach these questions to think about characterizing our reading culture (as they put it in the article) first, and then how that translates to the problem of encouraging active participation through written materials.

    Reply
  20. Ruby Elizabeth Wolcott

    I like the look of burgundy ribbons. All of them! I do not care for the multi-color ribbons. Is there any significance attached to the various colors. If not, I would prefer the sedateness of just one color.

    Thank you,

    Reply

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