We SIng THIS Saturday at 5:30!!! (Sept. 5th)

So, our first Mass of the season, and it seems like it was both forever in coming and way too soon for our skills to develop enough to do the music justice, but here it is, time for Mass. With the prospect of being down three critical members (one due to serious illness, the other two are playing hookie in Alabama---- *Ms. C FROWNS at those two*), it may become a much simpler music offering than we originally planned. But, in the interests of getting the texts up so that people will know the translation of the Communion Anthem, here are the texts:

Offertory

Open My Eyes
by Benedetto Marcello, 1686-1839
arr. by Dale Grotenhuis
available through World Library Publications # 008761

Open my eyes,
and I shall see;
incline my heart,
and I shall desire;
order my footsteps,
and I shall walk,
walk in the ways
of Your commandments,
Your commandments.

O God, my Lord,
let there be no one,
no one beside you.
Teach me to worship you,
teach me to serve you,
in all I do,
with truth of spirit,
with heart and soul,
with truth of spirit,
with heart and soul,
with heart and soul.

When all the night of woe is past,
when all the night of woe is past,
and welcome morning dawns at length,
and wecome morning dawns,
I will praise you, loving God,
I will praise you, loving God,
my refuge and my strength,
then I will praise you,
then I will praise you,
my refuge and my strength.

Communion

O Sacrum Convivium

by R. Remondi
arr. by N.A.M.
available in the St. Gregory Hymnal, St. Gregory Guild, Philadelphia, PA

Latin text:

O Sacrum convivium! in quo Christus sumitur;
recolitur memoria passionis ejus, passionis ejus:
Mens impletur gratia, mens impletur gratia:
et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Translation:

O banquet of all delight
wherein Christ himself is food
in which the blessed memory of
His Holy Passion is renewed before us.
Souls are filled with living grace,
Souls are filled with living grace,
and a pledge is given to us of our future glory
Alleluia.

So, Mass Saturday will have music that reflects the shift in choir think we are undergoing. We offer a motet at communion, one which has stood the test of time and will be familiar to many parishioners. We will offer an anthem which reflects the texts of the readings. Someone will sing the psalm. Our psalmist, though, is quite seriously ill, so whoever volunteers will be forced to learn the psalm on Wednesday night. Prayers are requested for our personnel, and for our families. God Bless y'all, and come to MASS and pray with us as we serve God with our voices and hearts.

Chant, Polyphony, Motets and a Certain Amount of Insanity

The retreat was a wonderful experience with the choir. We began with pizza and rules and ended with a beautiful blessing at Mass by Fr. Mike. Along the way, we learned a great deal about our faith and the great music of the Catholic Church. We have begun learning the chants of the Ordinary for Rome.

This means we spent a great deal of our time and effort learning to read neumes, the tiny square note notation of Gregorian Chant. We learned words like podatus, ictus, and bistrophe, and learned to find them in chants like the Kyrie Eleison, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.

We learned about art, architecture, and why churches were designed the way they were...and we had some fun with the idea of navis, the vessel, the church and the sacraments symbolized in the nave. We became the pirates of God.

Storming the bridge

stopped at the vestibule

into the water

pirates no more

sacraments

save us...

Deus

Exitus

Creatio

Reditus

Deus

And after hours of rehearsals, and cooking and cleaning and playing sword fights and pirates and Wii and table tennis... we went to Mass and really listened. We were not the choir this time, we are in preparation mode still.

When this group of guys & trebles hit the wall, they don't just get slap happy, they get downright silly. So for your viewing *experience* I give you....When Choir Retreats Go Wrong: Alligators Suffer. I promise we sound really lofty and lovely when we're not crazy tired. Seriously.

And all the alligator activists out there...don't send me emails, no actual alligators were harmed in the making of this video.

Retreat is this Weekend

To my amazing choir & parents:
Here we go!

Please lookover and print the retreat schedule: CLICK HERE

Additional information:

• please bring the $10 per child/$20 family maximum fee to the retreat
• please DO bring clothes, sleeping bags, pillows, blankets
• please DO allow them to have their phones, games, laptops, etc., if they want them
• send outside play equipment if you have it---balls, bats, raquets, goals, anything fun
• send pirate gear, if you have some
• snacks, food provided

Welcome Back Choir!

Here we go.

Another year of the SRYC is ahead of us. Hard work, fun times, and singing before the altar of God with all of you is something I am truly looking forward to. I hope the congregation of St. Richard's is as excited as I am that we are beginning another choir season.

This year we will sing some jewels from our very first year, including The Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester. We will learn new modes in our chant work, and start a limited study of both English language and Latin propers for the church year. As it is appropriate, we will share the fruit of this study at Mass as the year progresses.

Fundraising will again be a huge undertaking, as we have three payments for the Rome trip to make somehow this year...individually, each payment will be about $550, but by the end of this year, all that will remain is learning the music, finalizing our passports and travel details and praying for everyone who will be at home and with us as we travel.

We will also be saying goodbye to our seniors. Bittersweet, to say the least, but we will treasure our last year together. Sadly, we will also be saying goodbye to our beloved LB's, who will be moving to Tulsa soon.

There will be another attempt at State Honor Choir, knowing what we know now. Hopefully, more members will have this wonderful opportunity.

So, we look forward to serving God at Mass again this year at St. R's. Cantate Domino!