![\"Harp,](\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/files\/2025\/06\/lorica.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Lyrics by Kevin Cawley<\/p>\n
In 1928 \u00dana N\u00ed \u00d3gain published her collection of D\u00e1nta D\u00e9 with Irish music, arranged for the organ by Robert O’Dwyer, and lyrics in Irish. In the same year Colm O’Loughlin at the Sign of Three Candles in Dublin published a volume of English translations called Danta De — hymns to God : ancient and modern. Some of the music from Danta De has been recorded — for example, Danta De: classic Sacred Music of Ireland by Michael James, Steve Warner, and Criag Watz (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press), available as a cassette or compact disk.<\/p>\n
I have made lyrics for a dozen of these songs, some of which I am presenting here for liturgical musicians who might like to use them. At St. Patrick’s in South Bend, our band, Lorica, has used some of these lyrics. I hereby give permission through the year 2029 for anybody who wants to use them in liturgical celebrations or for live performances to do so, and to copy and distribute the lyrics so that those in attendance can sing them. Please do give me credit. If you want to record or publish them, write to me, wcawley@nd.edu.I have provided a PDF file for each song here, associated with the line that gives the number of the melody in Danta De. The PDF file is in the same key as in Danta De; the chords have been transposed into a key I can sing. In most cases, the lyrics follow the sense of the literal translation more or less closely, though some (e.g., the last one here) take a hint from the original lyrics but depart significantly from them, following more closely the Biblical passages that seem to have influenced the Irish lyrics.<\/p>\n
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MORNING SONG Having Jesus in my heart, Without Jesus in my heart For with Jesus in my heart <\/p>\n KING OF SAINTS Grant us shelter O King of Saints! Grant us shelter O King of Saints! <\/p>\n CHRISTMAS AND EPIPHANY God means life: God led kings <\/p>\n THE GREAT AMEN You said Amen to your Father in Heaven. We hold the whip when they scourge you and mock you. Dwelling on earth as we do only briefly <\/p>\n PRAISE THE LORD Praise the Lord as the Word made flesh! Praise the Father who lights the stars! Let us never offend you, Lord. Praise the Lord on the harp and drum, Praise the Lord on the slide trombone, <\/p>\n KNOCK In the King of the Seas With Peter and John In the land of the saints With Peter and John <\/p>\n BEATITUDE Blessed are you poor ones: But woe to wealth and power Lord, we have no home here. Lovely is your dwelling, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lyrics by Kevin Cawley In 1928 \u00dana N\u00ed \u00d3gain published her collection of D\u00e1nta D\u00e9 with Irish music, arranged for the organ by Robert O’Dwyer, and lyrics in Irish. In the same year Colm O’Loughlin at the Sign of Three Candles in Dublin published a volume of English translations called Danta De — hymns to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5084,"featured_media":0,"parent":41,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-111","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/111\/revisions\/351"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/wcawley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nDanta De 1<\/a>
\nchords<\/a><\/p>\n
\nrecollecting hour by hour
\nhow I’ve failed to do my part
\nhow my sins have turned me sour:
\nhaving Jesus in my heart,
\nHis communion and his love,
\nI don’t want to live apart again.
\nOh Jesus, keep me safe!<\/p>\n
\nI don’t like the taste of talk;
\nwithout Jesus in my heart
\nI cannot enjoy my thought;
\nwithout Jesus in my heart
\nnot one action bears good fruit.
\nJesus, walk before me, walk behind me,
\nease me in my plight!<\/p>\n
\nand with Jesus on my lips
\nI can bear to do my part,
\nI can rise if I should lapse.
\nI delight as glories pass
\nglimpsing in my looking glass
\nfleeting glances of the Lord, my Love.
\nOh Jesus, never leave!<\/p>\n
\nDanta De 6<\/a>
\nchords<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe devil has aimed his darts.
\nHe follows the traces of every saint
\nintending to pierce our hearts.
\nHe hates the children of Eve so much:
\nworn by the lies he speaks
\nin danger of giving ourselves away
\nand losing the peace we seek.<\/p>\n
\nIn weariness and in pain
\nwe slip all the snares he has set for us
\nwhile quivering with the strain.
\nUnbolt your portals O King of Saints!
\nMay we come safely through,
\nand fasten the shutters and lock the doors,
\nin safety at last with you!<\/p>\n
\nDanta De 27 and 28<\/a>
\nchords<\/a><\/p>\n
\ndown in a manger with donkey and ox
\na baby
\nand a Prince beyond grief.
\nFrom your heaven you came
\nto this house full of pain
\nwith the Father and Spirit as one.
\nYou are the only God.
\nYou are the Son who brings light to the world.<\/p>\n
\nover a distance of desert that night:
\nthey sought Him
\nwho had come for us all.
\nLet us follow his tracks
\nas they did full of love
\nand our debts be forgiven as well.
\nHe is the only God.
\nHe is the Son who brings light to the world.<\/p>\n
\nDanta De 33<\/a>
\nchords<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWe say Amen to the Father, Son, and Spirit.
\nAnd may your will be done in our homeland as in heaven.
\nLive in us, Lord, and our lives will be fearless.<\/p>\n
\nWe drive the nails in your hands and in your feet again.
\nO come and help us, Lord, to eliminate our mocking.
\nYour will be done in our hearts as in heaven.<\/p>\n
\nwe must remember our homeland in eternity.
\nO come and help us, Lord, in our labor and our grieving.
\nYour will be done till we meet you in heaven.<\/p>\n
\nDanta De 52<\/a>
\nchords<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWe praise you, O Lord, in your life and death.
\nWe praise you, O Lord, in your glory when
\nyou defeated death and arose again.<\/p>\n
\nSing praise to the Spirit in us and ours.
\nWe pray for the help of your Trinity
\nas your love calls us to eternity.<\/p>\n
\nNo longer permit us to break our word
\nbut bring us around with your Precious Blood
\nto accept your will as our only good.<\/p>\n
\non fiddle, guitar, and accordion.
\nWe play and we sing with a single voice
\nand praise you, Lord, with a joyful noise.<\/p>\n
\nthe trumpet, the flute, and the saxophone,
\non clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and bass
\nand in every clan of the human race.<\/p>\n
\nDanta De 71<\/a>
\nchords<\/a><\/p>\n
\nin the Master of the Earth
\nin the Lord of the Heavens above them
\nI have found a true friend
\nwho has known me from my birth
\nand has chosen to offer me love.<\/p>\n
\nand the Mother of God
\nI will wait for the moment of honor
\nand trust in His promise
\nto open when I knock
\nand remember and welcome me in.<\/p>\n
\nin the Kingdom of the Lord
\nwhere his other friends gather to greet Him
\nwith Thomas and Paul
\nwith the Marys and all
\nthe apostles and angels I’ll meet Him.<\/p>\n
\nand the Mother of God
\nI will wait for the moment of honor
\nand trust in His promise
\nto open when I knock
\nand remember and welcome me in.<\/p>\n
\nDanta De 85<\/a>
\nchords<\/a>
\nLuke 6:20-26, Psalm 84<\/p>\n
\nthe reign of God is yours.
\nBlest are you when you cry:
\nyou’ll find your way to joy.
\nAnd blessed all you hungry ones:
\nyou shall eat till you’re full.
\nYou live with mockery
\nbecause you follow me.<\/p>\n
\nunless they serve the poor.
\nWoe to heartless delight
\nand laughter born of spite.
\nAnd woe to you who eat your fill
\nthough your neighbors may starve.
\nIn popularity
\nyou turn your back on me.<\/p>\n
\nThe sparrow has a home.
\nSwallows fly to their nest
\nand with their young find rest.
\nO hear our prayer, O Lord of Hosts:
\nlead us back to our home —
\nour restlessness not through
\nuntil we rest in you.<\/p>\n
\nthe household of the Lord.
\nHappy families there
\nshine out in thankful prayer.
\nOur hearts are set on pilgrimage:
\nthrough these valleys and woods
\nyou lead us out of time
\nto our eternal home.<\/p>\n