Virsikirja
Virsikirja (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈʋirsiˌkirjɑ], "hymn book") is the official hymnal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland consisting of 632 hymns.
| Virsikirja | |||
 Hymnals of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church in the pew. | |||
| Commissioned by | Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Approved for | Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | ||
| Released | 1987 | ||
| Publisher | Various publishers. | ||
| Number of Hymns | 632 | ||
| Service music | Liturgical supplement with order of liturgy and prayers, liturgical texts and songs. | ||
| |||
History
First hymnal in Finnish was compiled and edited in 1583 by Jacobus Finno. The second was published by Hemminki of Masku c. 1605. In 1701 bishop Johannes Gezelius the younger published a hymnal that had been edited by Erik Cajanus. It was later commonly called the Old Hymnal (Vanha virsikirja) and was based on a Swedish hymnal from 1695. The Old Hymnal was used for a long time in Finland, until a new one was approved by the synod in 1886. This time a hymnal was published in both Finnish and Swedish language for use in the church of Finland.
A modernized and enlarged hymnal was then approved by the synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in 1938 with a Swedish language version coming thereafter in 1943. To the original 633 hymns some 40 new ones were added in the supplement published in 1963. This increased the total number of hymns to 679.
The current hymnals
The hymnal currently in use was approved in the synod in both Finnish and Swedish version in 1986 and taken into use on Advent 1987. After 2000, a liturgical supplement was added. In 1993 also a version of the hymnal in Sami language (Suoma samii salbmakirji) was published.
Most important Finnish authors of hymn texts are Hemminki of Masku, Jaakko Haavio, Julius Krohn, Elias Lönnrot, Wilhelmi Malmivaara, J. L. Runeberg, Anna-Maija Raittila and Niilo Rauhala. Raittila and Rauhala also participated in the reform of the hymnal in the 1980s and rewrote many texts of earlier authors.
Church of Finland has been active in making resource available online in the Internet.
See also
Literature
- Lempiäinen, Pentti: Virsikirja sanasta sanaan: Virsikirjan raamattuviitteet, virsikirjan sanahakemisto 2. edition. Kirjapaja, Helsinki 2007. ISBN 978-951-607-520-7.
- Väinölä, Tauno: Virsikirjamme virret Kirjapaja, Helsinki 2008. ISBN 978-951-607-611-2.
