Hymn of the Week: ‘The Cry of the Poor’

Here’s a lovely rendition of a mournful hymn, adapted from Psalm 34, performed by John Michael Talbot.

It was composed by one of the “St. Louis Jesuits,” John Foley: 

John Foley, S. J. (born 1939) is an American composer of Catholic liturgical music and a professor of liturgy at St. Louis University. Among his better known compositions are “One Bread, One Body” (1978), “Earthen Vessels” (1975), “Come to the Water” (1978), “The Cry of the Poor” (1978), “For You Are My God” (1970), and the album “As a River of Light” (1989). Much of his early work on liturgical music was as a member of a group called the St. Louis Jesuits, with whom he released several albums. Other members of the St. Louis Jesuits were Dan Schutte, Bob Dufford, Roc O’Connor, and Tim Manion. He has also released several solo collections of liturgical music. Both the solo and the group efforts were released through publishers OCP (formerly Oregon Catholic Press), National Association of Liturgical Resources and GIA Publications. Since 1993, he is the director of the Center for Liturgy at St. Louis University.

We’re singing this at my parish this weekend as one of our Communion hymns.