# "One who sings, prays twice" -- true origin?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-who-sings-prays-twice-true-origin/169787>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 20, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-who-sings-prays-twice-true-origin/169787 "2003-04-20T04:48:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-who-sings-prays-twice-true-origin/169787/1 "2003-04-20T04:48:00Z")

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That famous saying is attributed most commonly to St. Augustine, but according to [this site,](http://www.saint-mike.org/apologetics/qa/Answers/Church_History/h020303Parise.html) Augustine didn’t actually say that in so many words.

In fact, I can’t even imagine how the saying could even evolve out of what Augustine originally said. I don’t count the footnote in the Catechism of the Catholic Church to be a rigorous reference.

I’ve also found sites attributing the saying (in Latin, “qui cantat bis orat”) to St. Aquinas and to Martin Luther.

So, can anyone out there track down who really said it in what work? Thanks.

## Peace.

The one who researches, learns twice.

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-who-sings-prays-twice-true-origin/169787/2 "2003-04-20T05:43:46Z")

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WAG: Someone in the Middle Ages rephrased St Augustine’s quote, which is actually a longer version of the one you refer to, **moriah** , and then used the shorter version. I’ve even seen it attributed to John Wesley – and I _know_ that’s way too late.

St Thomas Aquinas looks like a good bet.

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**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-who-sings-prays-twice-true-origin/169787/3 "2003-05-02T05:32:48Z")

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New data point:

In the newly revised sacramentary of the Roman Catholic Church (the book the priest uses to ‘say Mass’), we have this:

> [@](#):
>
> The Importance of Singing
> 
> 1. The Christian faithful who gather together as one to await the Lord’s coming are instructed by the Apostle Paul to sing together psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (cf. Col 3:16). Singing is the sign of the heart’s joy (cf. Acts 2:46). Thus Saint Augustine says rightly, "Singing is for one who loves."48 There is also the ancient proverb: “One who sings well prays twice.”

So, unlike the scholars who put together the Catholic Catechism, the scholars who put together this document realized that Augustine is not the source of the famous saying, but instead, just simply say that it’s an “ancient proverb.”

So firstly, is it ‘sings’ or ‘sings well’? And secondly, any antiquities scholars out there who can track down the earliest written source of the proverb? How about the world’s greates librarian?

## Peace.

“The one who rings well, knocks twice.”