Sunday, July 21, 2013

A Successful Sacred Music Conference!

More than 70 from across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Lower Peninsula, and Wisconsin gathered at St. Joseph & St. Patrick Catholic Parish in Escanaba for the 2nd Annual Sacred Music Conference.  Gregorian  Chant was the focus of this year's Diocesan event, with study of the pipe organ and how to start a "schola" or choir school devoted to learning chant and Sacred choral music.

The Conference was very well received, amidst the difficult repertoire!  The Church holds Gregorian chant as "pride of place" in the Sacred Liturgy and so continued study and appreciation for the heritage of Sacred music is called for to this day.

Many have gone decades without hearing chant, whether in English, Latin, or their vernacular language, and so for most people, it is a time of intense renewal!  Obedience alone would be an adequate response to the "Treasure of Inestimable Value" of Catholic Sacred Music.

Let us pray for a continued renewal in our Diocese and beyond!

Many thanks to Fr. Francis Dobrzenski, Fr. Ryan Ford, John Ignatowski, and Lisa Knutson for their excellent presentations!