***scroll to the bottom of the page to access your FREE April Sheet Music with Catholic Hymns***
Find Catholic devotions for April as well as various prayers, feasts and even *free* sheet music below.
*you can also find our family’s liturgical board here*
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Our Lord rewards the faithfulness of His servants. Sometimes we reap, sometimes we sow…and unbeknownst to me I had seeds of faith sown early on.
When I was in my tender years, I remember going on long walks with my grandma (RIP) during the day.
Though she was already advanced in age, I remembered that we would walk about a mile on a busy street, stop at church to pray, and then grab some ice cream at Burger King and enjoy the play place with my siblings.
The interesting thing is that while we were at church, I remember being bored in this tiny little room, sitting in a couch in the back whilst my grandma prayed on the kneelers. I didn’t understand why it took so long, and naturally I was restless. I could not sit still for the life of me, and was relieved when finally we were headed for the door.
It was only until later that I realized my grandma had taken my siblings and I to pay a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
She was so devoted to Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist that she would stop at nothing, even going so far as to inculcate that love into her grandchildren!
It occurred to me that Our Lord truly poured out signal graces upon me and our family through the prayers of my grandmother and those visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
I truly believe that among other things, it was principally the power of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist that brought me to the Traditional Latin Mass.
So this April, in memory of my grandmother’s love of the Blessed Sacrament, I will be striving to honor the Blessed Sacrament more deeply, armed with books, devotions, prayers and a handy liturgical board!
Liturgical Board for April
I have compiled a whole year’s worth of liturgical boards which you can find on my Etsy shop, but I also have the individual month of April available here, which includes prayers and devotions to the Blessed Sacrament. It includes the prominent feasts of April according to the 1962 calendar, a Baltimore Catechism reading plan (which starts in September), as well as a Bible Verse, an Ejaculatory Prayer from the Raccolta, another common prayer, an original virtue poem based off of definitions from the Baltimore Catechism and Summa Theologiae, as well as 3 traditional hymns in Latin (Gregorian chant), English and Spanish (which you can find free sheet music for below). I began designing these for my young children and I as memory work and finally decided to share them with other Catholics through my Etsy shop. I hope you find it useful!
Books to Read on the Blessed Sacrament for April
Faith is really very simple – I believe because Our Lord said so! This is a good thought to meditate on which also ties into the Resurrection which we celebrate many times in April.
However, the mystery of transubstantiation is so deep, so sublime that to attempt to understand the meaning of the Real Presence requires a veritable treatise to even approach the surface of its beauty.
If you struggle with belief in the Blessed Sacrament, or just want to take your knowledge of it to a deeper level, I highly recommend reading great books on the subject. Remember that just as our bodies need food, our souls require a spiritual food – mental prayer and meditation, aided especially by the reading of holy books.
I have read some wonderful classics on the Blessed Sacrament, but even so beautiful a subject such as this one could hardly ever be exhausted.
So I have jotted down a few of my favorite books as well as a few others which are on my must-read list. I’ve also included books on the Mass as it and the Blessed Sacrament are inextricably linked.
- Visits to the Blessed Sacrament by St. Alphonsus Liguori
- A classic, short book filled with beautiful meditations on the Blessed Sacrament. I’ll be revisiting this during the day when we take a break from school.
- The Blessed Sacrament: The Works and Ways of God – Fr. Frederick William Faber
- This is another one I’m excited to add to my book list for April, it’s written by one of my favorite musician authors, Fr. Faber, who is also the author of many well-known Catholic hymns.
- The Divine Eucharist (St. Peter Julian Eymard)
- While not on my reading list this book was mentioned in my various searches for books on the Blessed Sacrament.
- Eucharistic Miracles (Joan Carroll Cruz)
- Joan Carroll Cruz has written a number of books on the history of the church, including a book on Relics and one on Our Lady of Guadalupe, both of which we have in our home library. This is another one we inherited that we already have, so we’ll be happy to take a look at it!
- The Holy Eucharist (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)
- I first became acquainted with the spiritual master St. Alphonsus de Liguori upon reading one of his most famous books, Preparation for Death. It was recommended to me by my spiritual director, and I’m happy to find that he wrote another book on the Eucharist! I highly recommend all his works as they will increase your piety and love of each subject he writes on.
- The Hidden Treasure of the Holy Mass by St. Leonard of Port-Maurice
- This one was recommended to me by a friend, and I’m happy to say I have multiple copies of this book! I don’t think I’ve finished this one but it might be worth finishing this April 🙂
- The Holy Mass (St. Alphonsus de Liguori)
- Another masterpiece by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, you can make a whole month’s reading on the Blessed Sacrament with just him as an author!
- Legends of the Blessed Sacrament Gathered from History of the Church and the Lives of the Saints – Shapcote
- Another interesting book that I haven’t read yet but the name caught my eye – Emily Shapcote wrote the text to the beloved Catholic hymn O Queen of the Holy Rosary.
Devotions for the Blessed Sacrament
Some ideas which we will try to incorporate this month with our family include the following:
- Make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament
- Color a picture of the Blessed Sacrament!
- Participate in a Eucharistic procession
- Sing any of the following Eucharistic hymns after family rosary (scroll down to “hymns for April”)
Prayers to the Blessed Sacrament
A prayer I’m teaching my children this month is the simple “My LORD and my GOD” usually said quietly during the elevation.1
1 116. Raccolta. i. Seven Years and Seven Quarantines.* T.Q. ii. Plenary, once a week, if used daily, II.* See Instructions. 116 Pius X, May 18, 1907. *These words are to be said with faith, piety, and love, while looking upon the Blessed Sacrament, either during the Elevation in the Mass, or when exposed on the altar.)
Here is an Act of Spiritual Communion by St. Alphonsus de Liguori that we can say everyday:
MY Jesus, I believe that Thou art truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love Thee above all things and I desire to possess Thee within my soul. Since I am unable now to receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace Thee as being already there, and unite myself wholly to Thee; never, never permit me to be separated from Thee. Jesus, my sweet love, wound, inflame this heart of mine, so that it may be always and all on fire for Thee.2
2 104. Raccolta. 60 Days, once a day. (See Instructions.) 104 Leo III, June 30, 1893.
And finally, a beautiful litany to pray this month is the Litany of the Blessed Sacrament which you can find here. I recommend praying it after the daily recitation of the rosary.
Hymns for April
Eucharistic Hymns:
- O Salutaris Hostia
- Tantum ergo
- Adoro te Devote
- Soul of my Savior
- Ave Verum Corpus
- Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Easter Hymns:
Since in April we usually celebrate the feast of Easter, we will be learning 3 hymns this month (Latin, English, Spanish), as well as Mass I (Lux et origo) from the Kyriale. Scroll down for the free sheet music!
One of my favorite Easter hymns is “Salve Festa Dies”, found in the “Cantus Selectii” hymnal of “Select [Gregorian] chants”. It’s in mode 4, which makes for a hauntingly beautiful, mysterious sound. It’s short and sweet and I have found that my children have quickly gotten the hang of it! In fact, I realized most of the hymns they usually learn after the second week of me teaching them.
Here’s the translation: “Hail, festal day, venerable of all ages, by which God conquers hell and holds the stars.” Pretty awesome text!
See the music here below:
Another hymn I am teaching my children is “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”, probably the quintessential Easter hymn, usually with the hymn tune LYRA DAVIDICA. I’ve included a different hymn tune and harmonization by Dr. Theodore Marier which was in my Traditional Catholic Roman Hymnal. It appeared originally in the St. Pius X hymnal in 1953, which Dr. Marier was known for publishing. See the music here below, feel free to print.
I also choose to focus on a particular Mass for each liturgical season since they are actually specified to be used in certain times of the year – some are recommended for Advent, some for Easter, some for feasts of the Holy Angels, etc. Much like language, there is no formal teaching here, just absorbing the music in a natural environment, either through recordings or singing. It would be well to see if you can learn it yourself and then sing it to your children, their interest will be increased when you model for them.
For Easter we are learning Mass 1, titled “Lux et origo” for Paschaltide. I have included it in the Spotify playlist link below and have included the music as well. Note that Gregorian chant was a precursor to modern music notation and thus only uses 4 lines on the staff. Try to see if you can follow the shape of the line as the notes go up and down! If you’re interested, for further study on Gregorian chant I recommend Christopher Jasper’s awesome chant tutorials playlist on Youtube.
FREE Easter Sacred Music Playlist
Here’s a playlist I put together of the chants I mentioned above.
How can beginners learn the hymns?
My method is simple – I play or sing the music over…and over…and over. I make it a point to sing the hymn to my children after breakfast (during “morning time), to each child in bed right before their nap, and same thing right before bedtime. I also try to sing this hymn throughout the day on my own while I’m doing housework or busying myself with something while the children are playing. I even will break the hymn down to short phrases or words that I will practice by myself for intonation or stylistic things (crescendos, decrescendos).
Why I think everyone should do hand signs with hymns
I began singing and signing hymns to my twin girls when they were about 12 months old. They started signing between 12-14 months when their language just exploded and I think it developed their language greatly because they are my most articulate out of my 4 speaking children. I have seen the incredible benefits of by signing and singing hymns:
- It assists in word memorization (kinesthetic learning or learning through movement is proven to help with memory)
- It provides “words” for pre-speaking infants or nonverbal children to “sing”
- It bridges the gap between languages for multi-lingual children
- It gives meaning to the words
- It helps children teach hymns to their younger siblings
- It is perfect for special needs children
- It is also good for children on the move (aka “high gross motor needs” children)