THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS a weekly bulletin & newsletter September 23, 2018 • 25 th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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usic making at St. Louis Parish is a full-time passion. Every week multiple choirs meet to rehearse for the coming weekend, guided by St. Paul, who wrote in Ephesians: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” Paul goes on in I Corinthians 14:26 to say: “When you come together, each of you has a hymn.” While it is more likely to be a Gregorian chant, Renaissance motet by William Byrd, polyphonic masterpiece by John Rutter or Mac Wilberg, a Central American Santo, or even the tintinnabulation of sound by the hand bell choir, singing (or ringing) hymns is an important part of what each group does.
Cardinal Francis Arinze said, “…Music should nourish faith, burst from our faith and should lead back to the faith.” This is the calling of the music program; to lead the congregation in music that praises God. Arinze goes on to say; “They [the congregation] come to Mass to adore God, to thank Him, to ask pardon for sins, and to ask for other things that they need.” This is a lot to ask our musicians, but they seem ready and able to meet the challenge. St. Louis Church offers many different ways to meet these goals. It might be as a cantor at the Saturday Vigil or 7:30 am Masses, where guiding the congregation through the liturgical music and hymns is a one-person job, accompanied by organ. It might be at the 9:30 am Mass with Rick Gabrillo, with a skilled choir used to quick-
ly sight-reading the weekly propers and tackling a complicated Requiem. It could be with the 11:30 am family choir and Scott McNulty, the Cecilia Singers, learning the latest praise song or three-part contemporary anthem. It could be at the 1:30 pm Mass with Eduardo Cassapia leading with the oboe and sung in Spanish, or the 5 pm Mass with Maria Elena and Pedro Murillo, another talented Spanish language choir with jubilant guitars and folk instruments. Or it could also be with the Ambrose Ringers handbell choir, preparing for their October 22 concert with the Knights of Columbus ladies auxiliary group or the December 4th concert in the chapel, or the Vespers choir, with singers from the local community who sing every week on Sunday at 7 pm. In the Third Century, St. Cyprian of Carthage said: “Let the sober banquet resound with Psalms. And if your memory be good and your voice pleasant, approach this work according to custom. You give more nourishment to those dearest to you if we hear spiritual things and if religious sweetness delights the ears.” Please contact Rick Gabrillo (rick.gabrillo@st-louis.org) for more information.
“Music should nourish faith... Another way to be fed by music is to attend any of the many concerts at the church. The Austin Baroque Orcontinued on page 2 >>