So what were they singing?

So what were they singing?

Yesterday's Gospel (from Mark) tells us that at the end of the Lord's Supper, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  But what were they singing?


Well, no one really can say for sure, but since Jesus was celebrating Passover with the disciples, there's a good chance he was following the traditional Passover ritual.  Four cups of wine are poured during the Passover meal, and each has certain prayers and responses associated with it.  Toward the end of the meal, the leader pronounces a final blessing in the form of a prayer of thanksgiving, perhaps something along the lines of, "Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine," after which the fourth cup of wine is consumed.  The final sung prayer would likely have been the great Hallel, Psalms 115-118.


If you can't recall these psalms off the top of your head, think back to Mass yesterday: we sang Psalm 116 between the first and second readings -- how cool is that!  You can also listen to David Haas's version of this psalm, a hymn called "The Name of God," by clicking on the video above (and available on his "Blest Are They" CD).


Video credit
Source, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/, articles "Hymn" and "Passover"