I've said it before, and I'll say it again: every church could use a little Tupac Shakur. (Really, the way the guy is eulogized in pop culture, one finds it surprising churches don't feature the rapper on stained glass.) But one religious place of worship added Shakur's music to their holiday caroling service — by accident. As Entertainment Weekly reports, a Sri Lankan church printed the lyrics to Shakur's "Hail Mary" instead of the traditional Catholic version in a pamphlet for its holiday carol service. The service, titled Joy to the World 2016: A Festival of Music for Peace & Harmony, included the peace and harmony of Mr. Shakur's lyrics in the pamphlet. But, er, the song isn't so peaceful.
Twitter user Ravindu Thimantha G. posted an image of said pamphlet, lyrics and all. He writes, "A Christmas Carol service in Sri Lanka has accidentally printed the lyrics of Tupac’s Hail Mary, instead of the prayer."
For reference, the traditional Hail Mary goes something like this:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Nice, right? The rap version is a tad more explicit. Among other things, Tupac's lyrics reference gun violence, bitches, women's genitals, and a few other unmentionables. Thimantha told CNN that churchgoers were confused at first. Was this a joke? An effort on the part of the church to edify the members of the parish on the history of hip hop? "A lot of people were in shock as whether it was a joke or someone would actually rap the song," he said. "A few of the older ladies in front of us could not stop looking at the printed booklet." A member of the Archdiocese told the same outlet that the church quickly recalled the pamphlets when they realized their mistake. Below, find Thimantha's original tweet, picture of the pamphlet included.
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen. Nice, right? The rap version is a tad more explicit. Among other things, Tupac's lyrics reference gun violence, bitches, women's genitals, and a few other unmentionables. Thimantha told CNN that churchgoers were confused at first. Was this a joke? An effort on the part of the church to edify the members of the parish on the history of hip hop? "A lot of people were in shock as whether it was a joke or someone would actually rap the song," he said. "A few of the older ladies in front of us could not stop looking at the printed booklet." A member of the Archdiocese told the same outlet that the church quickly recalled the pamphlets when they realized their mistake. Below, find Thimantha's original tweet, picture of the pamphlet included.
A Christmas Carol service in Sri Lanka has accidentally printed the lyrics of Tupac’s Hail Mary, instead of the prayer.#SriLanka #lka pic.twitter.com/djhJPAWhcj
— Ravindu Thimantha G. (@IamRavindu) December 25, 2016