352 words about a hymnal

My grandfather’s hymnal.

I’m not sure how I ended up with my grandfather’s hymnal. You might be thinking to yourself, “Oh Amanda, did you get that when Hermano Lima died?” No, it’s not that grandfather’s hymnal. It belonged to my living grandfather. I think he gave it to my mother when she played the piano, but my grandfather’s name is in it. And as a teenager I wrote my name under his. Anyway, after my prayers tonight, I glanced up and the hymnal caught my eye. Now, my room’s pretty dark, but it did anyway. I opened it up to page one and there before me is the one hymn I know by heart in Spanish:

“Santo! Santo! Santo! Senor Omnipotente, Siempre el labio mio lores te dara; Santo! Santo! Santo! Te adoro reverente, Dios en tres Personas, bendita Trinidad.”

There you have it. And even though this hymnal is from my living grandfather, it reminds me of time spent with the other one. Instantly I’m eleven again in my other grandfather’s church with the hard wooden pews singing this hymn, and looking around to see how Bergenfield Bautistas worshiped. Its funny how a song can transport you back to a different time in your life. I remember the meals in that basement, and the women all dressed up, and the tension in the air, and coffee. And I only went to that church a couple of times.

My sister says she loves hymns. I’m more of a charismatic arm-waver honestly, and sometimes hymns are lost to me. But as I flip through this book, I’m just in awe of the beautiful sentiment behind the words, and it makes me curious about the person who either wrote or translated these hymns. If they wrote it, what heavenly moment inspired the event? And if they translated it, did were they happy to do so and did they feel that their message was understood and received by the listener?

“Santo! Santo! Santo! Por mas que estes velado, e imposible sea tu Gloria contemplar, Santo tu eres solo y nada hay a tu lado, en poder perfecto, pureza y caridad.”