¿Por qué somos?

The hymn ¿Por qué somos? (also "Why Are We" or "Eternal Life") by Edmund W. Richardson is Mormon hymn that was initially published in the 1912 edition of Himnos de Sion, the Spanish-language hymnbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is one of the three hymns that were written originally in Spanish that are included in the 1992 Spanish hymnal. The hymn has also been included in the Portuguese hymnal as “De que rumo vêm os homens”, though it is not included in the current hymnbook in that language. The original publication indicated that it should be sung to the tune of hymn 50 in Songs of Zion, which was ELIZA by Joseph J. Daynes (the tune for “Lord, Accept Our True Devotion” in the English LDS Hymnal).[1]

Mexican Mission hymns

Except for one privately published hymnal, the earliest Spanish hymnals used in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were all produced by the Mexico Mission. The three major editions published between 1907 and 1927 were collections of texts, primarily translations from the English hymnals or Protestant hymnbooks. There were several texts unique to these hymnals, however, that were written in Spanish by missionaries, Anglo-American colonists in Mexico, and native Mexican Latter-day Saints. The hymnbook with the highest percentage of original Spanish texts was the 1912 edition, which included 23 hymns written in Spanish by Latter-day Saints.[2][3]

The 1992 Spanish translation of the current English hymnbook retained only three out of the twenty-three original Spanish texts published in the 1912 Spanish hymnal: “¿Por qué somos?” by Edmund W. Richardson, “Despedida” or “Placentero nos es trabajar” by Andrés C. González, and “La voz, ya, del eterno” or “¡La Proclamación!” by José V. Estrada G. As a side note, there are also a few hymns included in the 1992 Himnos that carried over from previous English hymnals, but those hymns were all originally written in English.[3]

Writing the hymn

The author, Edmund Wilford Richardson (1884 – 1974), was the most prolific author of original Spanish hymns in the Mexican Mission hymnals, authoring 10 out of the 23 original hymns in the 1912 edition. He was born to Sarah Louisa Adams and Charles E. Richardson in Wilford, Arizona in 1844. The family moved to Colonia Diaz in northern Mexico in 1888. His father was a blacksmith, carpenter, and teacher in the community and went on to study medicine and Mexican law.[4] Edmund W. went on to serve in the Mexican Mission from September 14, 1910, to May 7, 1913.[5]

Given that Richardson was serving as a missionary in the Mexican Mission when the 1912 edition of the hymnal was printed, he likely wrote this hymn during his time as a missionary.

Lyrics

See also

References
  1. John-Charles Duffy and Hugo Olaiz, “Correlated Praise: The Development of the Spanish Hymnal,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 35, 2:89-113.
  2. John-Charles Duffy and Hugo Olaiz, “Correlated Praise: The Development of the Spanish Hymnal,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 35, 2:89-113.
  3. Nielsen, Chad (5 April 2019). "Spanish Hymns and the Future Hymnbook". www.timesandseasons.org. Times & Seasons. Retrieved 6 June 2023.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license.
  4. “Charles Edmund Richardson”, Las Colonias – The Mormon Colonies in Mexico, http://www.lascolonias.org/2015/11/15/charles-edmund-richardson/
  5. “Edmund Wilford Richardson,” Church History Biographical Database, https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/chd/individual/edmund-wilford-richardson-1884?timelineTabs=all-events.
  6. Nielsen, Chad (17 October 2022). "¿Por qué somos?: Mexican Mission Hymns, Part 5". www.timesandseasons.org. Times & Seasons. Retrieved 6 June 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license.
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