I noticed years ago that people often did not have anything helpful to read or help them pray at the hospital. After leaving about a dozen hymnals with people, I thought it would be helpful to have a “mini-hymnal” that I could use and leave behind. You can find the original Mini-Hymnal here. That was in 2005.
It’s time for a re-boot. The Mini-Hymnal 2.0 is the same idea. This is something to use in visitation, and leave with people in the hospital. It includes the entire Gospel of John, 19 Psalms, 21 hymns, a few canticles and prayers, along with the daily prayers from the catechism. The melody for each hymn is included.
Everything in the Mini-Hymnal 2.0 is in the public domain, so it can be printed, copied, and distributed freely. (See the acknowledgments on page 4.) The Mini-Hymnal 2.0 will be free to download and print.
I also plan to make the Mini-Hymnal 2.0 available through print-on-demand, so you can have a professionally bound copy of the book. Keep an eye out for this in the next few days.
There are still a few tweaks needed (including the melody for “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee”), but I thought I would submit this draft to the internet for editing.
So, download, print, use, and have at it (UPDATED August 21, 2016)
Let me know what you think, if you notice any typos or needed corrections, etc. And subscribe to the blog and you’ll get the notification when the final is ready, and when it is available to order through print on demand.
Thanks, PrBW
Here’s the table of contents (if you’re not sure it’s worth downloading):
A BRIEF ORDER OF DEVOTION 7
PSALMS 8
PSALM 1, Blessing of God’s Word 8
PSALM 2, The Lord Laughs 8
PSALM 8, The Lord’s Excellent Name 9
PSALM 16, In Thy Presence is Fullness of Joy 9
PSALM 20, God Will Save Us 10
PSALM 23, The Lord is My Shepherd 10
PSALM 27, The Lord is My Light and My Salvation 10
PSALM 32, Blessed are the Forgiven 11
PSALM 38, Make Haste to Help Me 12
PSALM 46, A Mighty Fortress is Our God 13
PSALM 51, Create in Me a Clean Heart 13
PSALM 55, Protect Us from Our Enemies 14
PSALM 56, Thou Hast Delivered Us 15
PSALM 62, God is a Refuge for Us 16
PSALM 95, We are the People of His Pasture 95
PSALM 102, A Prayer of the Afflicted 17
PSALM 118, O Give Thanks Unto the Lord 18
PSALM 130, Out of the Depths 19
PSALM 143, My Soul Thirsts for God 20
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 21
CANTICLES 59
NUNC DIMITTIS 59
BENEDICTUS 59
MAGNIFICAT 60
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS 60
TE DEUM LAUDAMUS 61
HYMNS 63
GOD THE FATHER BE OUR STAY 63
A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD 64
WHY SHOULD CROSS AND TRIAL GRIEVE ME? 65
HE THAT BELIEVES AND IS BAPTIZED 66
CHRIST, THE LIFE OF ALL THE LIVING 67
O LITTLE FLOCK, FEAR NOT THE FOE 68
LORD, KEEP US STEADFAST IN THY WORD 69
PRAISE GOD, FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW
BEHOLD A HOST, ARRAYED IN WHITE 70
LORD JESUS CHRIST, MY LIFE, MY LIGHT 71
BE STILL MY SOUL 72
I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES 73
ON MY HEART IMPRINT THINE IMAGE 74
PRAISE TO THEE AND ADORATION
IF THOU BUT SUFFER GOD TO GUIDE THEE 75
THE KING OF LOVE MY SHEPHERD IS 76
ABIDE WITH ME, FAST FALLS THE EVENTIDE 77
ONCE HE CAME IN BLESSING 78
REJOICE, MY HEART, BE GLAD AND SING 79
JESUS, THY BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS 80
LORD, THEE I LOVE WITH ALL MY HEART 81
PRAYERS 83
I believe it clubbers all that is need for all aspects of prayer, worship, praise, rejoice and receiving grace, love, strength for bearing our walk.
Being chronically ill and daily battling my body (and mind and spirit), the single Lutheran hymn that brings me solace is “Lord Jesus, Think on Me.” I crave having this sung to me, for me, on a daily basis. I love it because it is so … representative … of my struggles. It also calls to mind the encouragement Luther gives in the introduction to the Lord’s Prayer in Part III of the Large Catechism:
For by this commandment, God lets us plainly understand that He will not cast us away from Him or chase us away. This is true even though we are sinners. But instead He draws us to Himself, so that we might humble ourselves before Him, bewail this misery and plight of ours, and pray for grace and help. (11)
And here are my 5 Go-To Psalms:
Psalm 27: You’re being assaulted on all fronts and want relief and all that desire is boiled down to just one thing: to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Focus. Focus on what you need in the midst of the maelstrom swirling about you. But, hey, it’s okay to also ask that God doesn’t forget about rescuing you and defeating your enemies.
Psalm 42: Why is my soul in despair? You long for the Word of God, but your soul in is despair. You know these good things of God to be true, but your soul is still in despair. Well, hey, that’s okay. God gave you a prayer that lets you know that He knows that even knowing Him and all that He has done for you you can still find yourself in despair. That’s life in a fallen world. God understands.
Psalm 51: You’re forgiven. God doesn’t need you to go out and make yourself better. He knows you’ve messed up and forgives you. Knowing, actually, that you are going to mess up, God gives you the words to pray to be renewed, to be cleansed … to be forgiven. To be forgiven and to know that you will be forgiven. The promise received and the promise to come all in one.
Psalm 77: It can happen. You can start thinking that God has left you and that nothing is going to be okay, that He’s changed. Then, you realize that it is your upsettedness that is making you think God changed, not that He actually changed. So, remind yourself of who He is and what He’s done. It’s okay to find yourself having a wrong thought, a bad thought, just follow the plan of the prayer and replace the wrong thought with what is true.
Psalm 104: Man! God is powerful and mighty and cares about every facet of this world. He cares about it and cares for it. And so sing about it. Sing about of all those wonderful things until the wonder dispels the darkness within and leaves you with the glorious and comprehensive reminder of just how connected God is to this world … and likewise to you.
Thanks for sharing! This is a neat resource.
I found a typo on page 4, unless you meant to say that you use your prayers for fertilizer. That would be a different take on prayers for the growth of crops.
“The prayers are composted by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller”
Wonderful resource. Thanks for taking the time to do this!
Since I am a person who likes to use my technology in God-honoring ways, I would put this on my tablet and smartphone. I interact with many non-Lutherans via visits and mentoring and would certainly find this a useful tool.
What about putting an mp3 file with the hymns? Yes, I read music and know most of the hymns, but this is a resource that could be given to others for their tablets and smartphones and they may or may not be able to read the music or know the hymns.
I have used your previous mini-hymnal before and find it incredibly useful. However, one concern that I have is the size of print. Many of those I visit are visually-impaired due to age and the smaller print makes it difficult for them to use on their own in their devotions. Any chance of increasing the font size to fit better on an 8 1/2 x 14 sheet?