Back after Dumb Week

The Choirs are back in rehearsal after a well-deserved break known around campus as dumb week. The choristers will return to service on Sunday morning at the 1100 AM Mass singing music of Rheinberger and Faure.

Update on Robotics Club

Congratulations to our Choir School Robotics Club which competed on this Saturday past in a regional tournament. This a grueling tale of limited internet access, lost programming - representing four months of work - on the robot, mad dashes back to the choir school, fevered assistance from parents and staff in multiple locations, and more. Despite the adversity, the Choir School team received the special Judge's Award for the tournament and took Second Place in the overall competition. They will now advance to the state competition at the University of Utah scheduled for Saturday 25 January. Congratulations Bananabots!

The Solemnity of the Epiphany - The Twelfth Day of Christmas

"This is the day that David prophesied in the psalms, when he said: All the nations that you have brought into being will come and fall down in adoration in your presence, Lord, and glorify your name. Again, the Lord has made known his salvation; in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.

"This came to be fulfilled, as we know, from the time when the star beckoned the three wise men out of their distant country and led them to recognize and adore the King of heaven and earth. The obedience of the star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace that invites all men to find Christ.

"Dear friends, you must have the same zeal to be of help to one another; then, in the kingdom of God, to which faith and good works are the way, you will shine as children of light: through out Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen."

St. Leo the Great
Sermon on the Epiphany

Breaking News-Robotics Club Going to State Competition!

Yesterday we received news that the Choir School's Robotics Club took second place in their local competition and will advance to the state level at the end of this month. Mrs. Baillie described their effort at Saturday's event as full of grit! More information to follow - congratulations to Mr. Ashdown and all of the students and parents.

A Wonderful Christmas Gift

The great Solemnity of the Nativity concludes each year at the Cathedral of the Madeleine with the Office of Vespers. Coming exactly twenty-five hours after the celebration began with the 400 PM Christmas Carol Service on Christmas Eve, Vespers sung by the choir is a quiet, more reflective service of worship without the huge crowds. The sung Psalms and Canticles consider the coming of the Savior in the midst of darkness: Before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you and My soul is longing for the Lord more than watchmen for daybreak.

This year marked twenty years of Christmas Vespers – it was inaugurated after the reopening of the cathedral in 1993 – and I noticed something remarkable: 17 of the 21 members of the Choir are alumni of the Cathedral’s Choir School, many of whom were returned from University studies to assist with the Choir on this night. Additionally, the priest who served as celebrant at Vespers – Fr. Christopher Gray – is also an alumnus!

At Vespers, the choir offered the Cristobal de Morales setting of the venerable Christmas text, O magnum mysterium. The Spanish Renaissance composer Morales was born in Seville around 1500 and served for a time in Rome as a musician with the papal choir. The text celebrates the odd manner in which the Lord comes among us – taking flesh of a humble young woman of no account in a setting where lowly animals recognize the greatness of this event.

Here is a link to a live recording of the Morales O magnum mysterium from Christmas Vespers 2013 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
O Lord, I heard your voice and I was afraid.
I observed your work and trembled, in the midst of two animals.

Thanks to our seventeen incredible alumni who returned to assist with the singing of Christmas Day Vespers:

Camille Barker - West High School
Nicolas Chuaqui - Dartmouth College
Lucy Colosimo - College of Saint Benedict/St. John's University
Gillian Eshleman - San Francisco Conservatory
Emily Graham - West High School
Andrew Maughan - Indiana University
Cadie Payne - University of Utah
CaiLi Pleshe - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Emerson Pratt - University of Utah
Olivia Pratt - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Brielle Richardson - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Cynthia Sandoval - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Joseph Savastano - University of Utah
Jaclyn Tani - West High School
Kendall Thorsen - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Antona Yost - University of Southern California
Matthew Yost - The Catholic University of America

Peace Requires the Force of Meekness

Yesterday our Holy Father Pope Francis celebrated the Church's annual World Day of Peace. In his message for this annual day of prayer, Pope Francis emphasized the need for all of us to grow in our sense of fraternity with each other as the essential foundation and pathway to peace. Noting the challenges of globalization and the easier means of communication, the Pope rightly pointed out that globalization makes us neighbors but it does not make us brothers. He noted with concern the new ideologies characterized by rampant individualism, egocentrism and materialistic consumerism, and calls us to consider how we might grow in fraternal compassion for our fellow humanity. You can read the entire message for the World Day of Peace here.

“On this, the first day of the year”, said the Holy Father, “may the Lord help us to set out more decisively on the path of justice and peace; may the Holy Spirit act in our hearts, loosening bonds and warming hardened hearts so that they open up to the tenderness and weakness of the Child Jesus. Peace requires the force of meekness, the non-violent strength of the truth and of love."

Resonating with Choir School Lore: The Demise of the Duck

In the category of "what desperate acts we will do to reduce the deficit" the Rubber Duck event looms large on my list of desperate acts from the past. I have been warned that there is video evidence floating out there in the ether…

But no worries! As we begin the new year 2014 at the Choir School there is no concern about deflation as is reported here. With deep gratitude to our parents, benefactors and hard-working faculty and staff, I pray that the year ahead is one of profound growth and strengthened bonds for our community of learners. As we continue our work to build a culture of encounter, may our local community serve to extend justice, mercy and increased solidarity with our sisters and brothers abroad.

A Blessed New Year to All.