In theory, at least, most people believe that art and music have power to touch hearts. But if that is still a vague concept for you, perhaps an experience of the Lord’s Prayer chanted in Aramaic will convince you of the transformative power of sublime art. In the comment section of the YouTube video [...]
[This article follows from the email newsletter of June 13, 2021, “An Astonishing Eucharistic Scene in a Secular Movie”.] The 1984 movie, Places in the Heart is one of the most moving tales of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity in modern film. Sally Field fittingly won the Academy Award for Best [...]
If you page through a traditional Catholic hymnbook you will eventually come across the name of Frederick William Faber (1814-1863) in the composer credits at the bottom of a given hymn. That would be Father Frederick Faber, English Catholic priest, convert to Catholicism, and composer of hymns extraordinaires. Fr. Faber made some of the [...]
Eight weeks after Easter every year the Church commemorates its own birth – the Day of Pentecost, as witnessed so powerfully in Acts, Chapter 2. Ten days prior to the Holy Spirit’s arrival, the Lord Jesus told the disciples to “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke [...]
A few years ago I had the privilege of standing in the sacristy of a Ukrainian church watching a priest friend of mine prepare for Mass. The wonderful liturgies of the Church’s eastern rites (the Byzantine, Maronite, Ukrainian and others) express a richness and complexity of worship that contrasts with the simplicity of the [...]
The Sheep English choirmaster, John Rutter, established the Cambridge Singers in the early 1980s for the purpose of producing musical recordings. They have been amazingly prolific with nearly forty albums in their vast repertoire. In The Lord is My Shepherd we hear a mixed choir of men’s and women’s voices intertwining effortlessly with the [...]
The Shepherd English composer, choirmaster and conductor, John Rutter, sets the most famous of all psalms (Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd”) to music in an exquisite piece of art that incorporates voice, orchestra and vivid musical imagery. This commentary is the first of two on Rutter's piece. Part 1 focuses on the [...]
Great victories in battle throughout history have always generated great victory songs to celebrate them. The Old Testament features one of those songs from an event that should be familiar to us even if the song isn’t. When God drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea, Moses stood on the banks looking down on [...]
“I think Mother Nature was trying to create one tiny perfect jewel, and she got it perfectly right.” ~The Hummingbird Whisperer The video below will be the most delightful two minutes you will spend today. It features a charming French lady who is sometimes called, “that crazy hummingbird lady” or, more commonly, “the hummingbird [...]
The unique American musical tradition of Negro spirituals is nowhere better exemplified than in this heartfelt meditation on Christ’s Crucifixion, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord, by Jessye Norman. Ms. Norman died in 2009 at the age of 74 after a long and distinguished career as an operatic soprano with four Grammy [...]