BRIDGEPORT—Sacred Music Composer and musician Anna Bendiksen, a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Trumbull, has written a new hymn, “Hail Jesus Truly Present” about the Real Presence of the Eucharist.
The hymn begins with the words, “Hail Jesus, truly present, spotless Lamb in glory…. Singing with Saints and angels, we acclaim you wholly.”
“I’ve been hard at work composing over the past months. It is intended for use at Benediction in Advent, though it could also work for Christ the King,” she said.
Bendiksen said “Hail Jesus, Truly Present” also honors Blessed Carlo Acutis in its tune name. Blessed Carlo was an English-born Italian Catholic youth and amateur computer programmer, who is best known for documenting Eucharistic miracles around the world and cataloguing them onto a website, miracolieucaristici.org, which he created before his death from leukemia.
Bendiksen, a convert to Catholicism, said the text is largely of her creation though it incorporates part of the Laudes Regiæ, (Royal Acclamations) in its final refrain, “Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat! (Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands).
She said the composition is a direct result of reading the USCCB document “Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church.”
Anna Bendiksen, who grew up singing and playing the piano, is a writer, poet and author of hymn texts. A convert to Catholicism from Anglicanism, she is a member of the Parish of St. Catherine of Siena in Trumbull. Since she was received into full communion with the Catholic Church at the 2019 Easter Vigil, she has written several dozen hymns set to traditional melodies. One of her most recent is titled “We Stand With Christ,” in recognition of the Diocese of Bridgeport’s capital campaign.
In a June 23 blog entry on the diocesan website, Anna wrote: (www.bridgeportdiocese.org/golden-ground-a-converts-perspective-on-confession) “When others ask why I converted to Catholicism, my mind goes at once to a cherished hobby of mine: weaving. Catholic communal life reminds me above all of priceless handwoven fabric, two thousand years’ worth of fantastically colorful silk still on the loom, the pattern alive with dancing saints and trees in flower.”
(For more information about Anna Bendiksen’s sacred music compositions, visit: www.annabendiksen.com)
HailJesusTrulyPresent