TRAVERSE CITY — There’s a group that recently formed here in northern Michigan dedicated to singing Catholic hymns dating back centuries.
The musical history of the Catholic Church includes hymns that are hundreds of years and in some cases, thousands of years old. And this group that’s now formed in the Diocese of Gaylord is dedicated to making sure these ancient hymns are sung for centuries to come. It’s one of those things you just have to hear it to understand.
On the day we visited St. Francis Catholic Church in Traverse City, we found ourselves treated to a sound that can only be described as heavenly.
Schola video
We heard the voices of Rita McIntyre and Kirsten Trudeau two members of the Gregorian Schola in the Diocese of Gaylord.
“I missed singing high end music. And so, with Kirsten finishing school, coming home, it was an opportunity to use her enthusiasm and education in conjunction with me and to create something beautiful for our mutual interest, which is sacred music,” said McIntyre.
The group is now sharing their love of Latin chant across northern Michigan, but they’re quick to tell you, for them, it’s about much more than performing.
“It’s not just a performance, but it truly is a prayer. And those melodies that have such a power in our hearts to move hearts to open hearts, that modern music just doesn’t have,” said McIntyre. “I want other people to be brought into the beauty of the prayer.”
“I think that it has a certain mystery to it. There’s a certain mystery of pulling out a manuscript from 920 A.D. and making it come alive again, and you just don’t have that in this modern world. I think there’s something really profound of pulling out music, whether it be from, you know, 850 or, you know, some earlier event in manuscript or Saint Hildegard, you pull out some music that’s over a thousand years old, and you reconnect with that and you reconnect with who wrote it,” said Trudeau
Proving that sometimes the greatest beauty is found in the simplest of songs and traditions.
“It’s not anything to be afraid of. It’s so beautiful. And my experience with, incorporating chant and what’s, what’s called the proper into a regular mass, it has been I think it enhances the mass. Holy Mother Church is profoundly wise in how she lays everything out for us. And when we follow her instructions, we end up with something that’s even more beautiful than we could imagine,” said McIntyre.
Auditions to join the Gregorian Schola run through December 20th.