Our Hymnal as it is to-day is much more than a mere book of tunes with appropriate words designed to be used only in our churches. It denotes the best aid to public worship and private devotion that a consecrated committee twenty years ago could prepare after long and prayerful endeavors; and now, after years of utility, steps are being taken to enlarge and enrich it by the addition of many new tunes and words.

As stated in the Preface of our present Hymnal, "It is believed that it is representative of the best religious and poetic thought in hymnology;" and as the announcement has been made that the new edition will be completed and ready for distribution sometime in 1932, it is timely that an appreciation of the good the Hymnal has accomplished in its present form should be made.

Apart from its being a necessary adjunct to every service, our Hymnal should be given an honored place in every Christian Science household. It has proved its worthiness to such hospitality, for wherever it has had an opportunity it has shown itself to be a wholesome helper, a friend in need, a guide to uplift and inspiration. It has provided the cradle song for many a dutiful mother putting her little one to rest for the night; its lines with healing in their wings have often entered the sick room and left there the consciousness of Love that "healeth all thy diseases."

The family who gather and sing together their favorite hymns from our Hymnal are forging a chain of unity more precious than gold and stronger than steel. Many of the children in our Sunday schools come from families where Christian Science is approved, but is little known. These children take home with them the tunes from our Hymnal, a spontaneous, useful missionary service that is often fruitful and permanent. More than one non-Scientist mother, unfamiliar with either the words or the music, has been perplexed when her little one has asked her to sing "Shepherd" when things were going wrong.

Our Sunday school teachers can do much towards awakening a greater interest in our Hymnal among their pupils by explaining to them somewhat of its history and characteristics, and calling their attention to the important place our Leader has given it in our services. Many of them, perhaps, have regarded the Hymnal as merely a necessary convenience when the time for singing has arrived. In this connection the teacher may ask, How may I introduce so unusual a subject into our Sunday lesson? It could appropriately be done whenever, for example, you have a reference from the Bible Lesson which is taken from the Psalms. You could point out that the Psalms held the same relationship to ancient worship as our hymns do to our services to-day. They were written to be sung to the accompaniment of some musical instrument, and in that respect our Hymnal is to us to-day much as the book of Psalms was to the worshipers of God thousands of years ago. The very name "Psalms" is derived from the Greek word psalmos, which means the musical sound produced by the twanging of the strings of the musical instruments of that day.

The Psalms were written in verse, just as our hymns are. Perhaps your scholars have never observed that all of our hymns are poems, a fact that might well be brought to their attention. The hymns of our Leader which appear in our Hymnal were published originally as poems and were later set to music. They are sung more frequently in our churches and Sunday schools than any other hymns in the book, as they are more purely scientific. In The Mother Church one of our Leader's hymns is sung each week, either at the Sunday services or on Wednesday night; and whenever one of Mrs. Eddy's hymns is announced it is read from beginning to end, instead of merely the first stanza, as is customary with other hymns. This practice is common to all our churches.

Your pupils would probably profit by the explanation you might give them of the words that appear on each page over the music, as they are both instructive and interesting. After the number, the title of the hymn is given in heavy-faced type. This title may consist of the words of the first line of the hymn; in other cases it is the name of the tune, which in many instances is hundreds of years old. Our fathers and grandfathers and their fathers and grandfathers when they were children sang many of the old tunes that we now sing from our Hymnal Sunday after Sunday. Some of them, indeed, are so old that their very origin is lost in obscurity.

After the name of each hymn there appear in smaller type the letters and figures which indicate the versification of the hymn, "S. M." standing for short meter, "L. M." for long meter, "C. M." for common meter, "P. M." for peculiar meter, and the like. Sometimes the figures "8s," "7s," et cetera, appear, which indicate that there are eight syllables to one line and seven to the other, as the case may be. Below the title is sometimes given the name of the composer of the words of the hymn. The abbreviation "anon." means that the author's name is not known. The letters "abr." mean that the hymn has been shortened or abridged; while the abbreviation "alt." signifies that some alteration has been made in the words of the hymn to suit our needs. Opposite the name of the author of the words is usually given the name of the composer of the music when known. In other cases the origin of the hymn is indicated, as for instance, "Sicilian melody" and the like.

There are some illustrious names to be found in our Hymnal, names that will shine for generations to come among those whom the world counts great. Luther, Wesley, Watts, Milton, Cowper, Whittier, and Lowell are a few which surround the name of our Leader. It is interesting to recall that the hymn whose first line is "Still, still with Thee when purple morning breaketh" was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and that the one which in our Hymnal begins, "Sun of our life, Thy quickening ray," is from the pen of "our genial philosopher," Oliver Wendell Holmes. We find among the hymn tunes the work of some of the old masters—Schumann, Handel, Mendelssohn, Haydn, Rossini, and others. Martin Luther should be given a place in that classification also, as he is the author of "Ein' Feste Burg," and the composer of the music as well.

Between the covers of our Hymnal there is healing awaiting those who will seek it. An interesting and helpful volume could be compiled of instances of healing in which our Hymnal supported our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, in the understanding of divine Love, which voices "the music of Soul" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 106).

You can acquaint your Sunday school scholars, little by little, with the value of the Hymnal, for a few interesting facts briefly told are the best kind of introduction to a better acquaintance with it. Do not forget to encourage them to think of the meaning of the words they are singing, and how they may use them for themselves.

Those whose great privilege it has been to be with our Leader in her home as members of her household, will remember with gratitude the important place the Hymnal was given in the tutelage of her home. At Chestnut Hill there were three pianos, one in the downstairs sitting room used exclusively by the members of her household, who would gather together in the early evening to sing from the Hymnal; another in the parlor, where occasionally a few of us would assemble to sing; and the third in our Leader's own sitting room, or Rose Room as she frequently called it. There we would gather about her regularly on Sundays, and occasionally at other times at her invitation; and a happy family it was indeed. The value of the instruction, admonition, and loving counsel she gave us on such occasions is above appraisal. But always before we separated, and usually as we assembled, the Hymnals were brought out and our Leader's choice awaited. Frequently she would ask us to do our own selecting, and then each did his very best with words and music. None of the five had what Byron called a "singing education," and while the voices of most of us were more resonant than musical, yet our Leader habitually thanked us all graciously, probably more for what we tried to do than for what we succeeded in doing. But however sonorous may have been our efforts, above them all rose the clear, sweet treble of our Leader's voice, which, once heard, could never be forgotten. She sang each hymn with us from beginning to end; and memory can paint no more delightful picture than that of her as she sat there in the sunlight, dainty and erect as a flower on its stem, tastefully gowned, quietly smiling and giving to each of us a word of good cheer as we went to our rooms.

Doubtless our Hymnal is linked up with many tender associations of this nature, both in homes, church, and Sunday school; and we may confidently expect that when the time has arrived for its enlargement, the increase of good it will accomplish will be proportionate to its expansion.

Copyright, 1930, by The Christian Science Publishing Society, Falmouth and St. Paul Streets, Boston, Massachusetts. Entered at Boston post office as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at a special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 11, 1918.