The Hymnarium presents hymns for the major and minor hours for Sundays and weekdays throughout the year, the Proper of Time, the Proper of Saints (including proper hymns for many Dominican saints), and the Common of Saints. The texts of the Hymnarium are derived from the Breviarium O.P. of 1952 and the Irish Dominican Breviary of 1967. Each hymn is provided in Latin and English versions set to a limited variety of chant melodies that are reused on various occasions throughout the book. Each verse is set to a chant melody, while also providing indications for singing the texts to metrical hymn melodies. The limited yet balanced number of melodies allows the repertoire to be easily learned and used, while still offering a rich variety that avoids monotony. The hymns contained in the Hymnarium belong to the musical patrimony of the Order, having been authored or compiled by friars over the course of centuries.
