Lincoln (SNR) – The Cathedral of the Risen Christ has begun a new young adult choir for musicians across the Diocese of Lincoln.
The choir meets for rehearsals on Thursdays from 6 to 7:15 p.m. in Benedictine Hall, located in the basement of the Cathedral, 3500 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln. Food and fellowship immediately follows.
The choir sings the Sunday 6 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral each week, with vocal warm-ups and rehearsal before Mass in the choir loft at 5 p.m. every Sunday.
The choir, named “Sursum Corda,” takes its name from the opening preface to the Eucharistic Prayer, “Lift up your hearts.” The choir is directed by Daniel St. Hilaire and Katie Kruger.
Sursum Corda sang its first Mass May 23, Pentecost Sunday. Father Caleb Hile celebrated the Mass and Nik Barger provided organ accompaniment. Vicki Wenzl, Elise Friesen and Teresa Lee have also accompanied the choir on the organ.
Sursum Corda provided the music for the Legion of Mary centenary Mass Sept. 7 at the John XXIII Diocesan Center Chapel, celebrated by Bishop James D. Conley; the choir also offered music for the holy hour with Bishop Athanasius Schneider Oct. 19 at the St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center in Lincoln.
Father Hile, assistant pastor at the Cathedral, thought of creating the choir after reading various documents promulgated by the Vatican to encourage active participation by the faithful in the divine liturgy.
“Sacred music is not an extra to the Holy Mass,” he said. “Sacred music resides in and flows from the heart of the Church’s adoration of God. The Church must ardently take up the challenge of numerous popes and the Second Vatican Council to strive for greatness and holiness in sacred music at Her Sacred Liturgies.”
Several recent popes have taught about the impact of sacred music.
Pope St. Pius X writes in Tra le Sollecitudini that sacred music contributes to “the glory of God and the sanctification and edification of the faithful” and its purpose is “to clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for the understanding of the faithful” so that they may be “more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the reception of the fruits of grace.”
In Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII encourages sacred music to aspire toward “the ascent of the mind and heart”; and he writes in Musicae Sacrae, “The power of sacred music increases the honor given to God by the Church in union with Christ, its Head. Sacred music likewise helps to increase the fruits which the faithful, moved by the sacred harmonies, derive from the holy liturgy.”
Pope St. Paul VI’s Sacrosanctum Concilium elevates sacred music as a “treasure of inestimable value” preeminent above all other art forms which ought to be “preserved and fostered with great care.” And, Paul VI’s Jubilate Deo encourages congregational singing of both the vernacular and the Gregorian chant from the tradition of the Church.
At its first Mass, the choir offered the Panis Angelicus (Lambillote), the Pentecost sequence, and the Heritage ordinaries. For Corpus Christi Sunday the choir offered the four-part a cappella O Sacrum Convivium (text by St. Thomas Aquinas, setting by Rambione). Other pieces in their repertoire include the Missa de Angelis ordinary, Mozart’s Ave Verum, Palestrina’s Adoramus Te and Sicut Cervus, Kodaly’s Stabat Mater, Polleri’s Ecce Panis Angelorum, and Remondi’s O Sacrum Convivium.
For more information about participating, contact Daniel St. Hilaire (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Katie Kruger (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
