“I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard
I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word”
(Lyrics from the song “I Believe” author unknown)
CD “Resurrexit” and The Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund
The Sacred Heart Church Traditional Choir has decided to make a donation to the Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund from the net proceeds of sales of its debut CD Album “Resurrexit.” (“He Rose Again”) The CD/Album was released in December 2003 for posterity and charity.
The CD has a repertoire of Latin Gregorian chants and motets that was part of the language of Church music of an earlier, kinder and gentler time, relatively speaking. It includes the “Kyrie Eleison” (“Lord Have Mercy”) from the Mass of Our Lady of Loreto. With hurricanes of the type that have so savagely devastated our neighbouring islands of Grenada, Haiti, The Dominican Republic, The Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, parts of Puerto Rico and some landmasses in the United States of America, we have to pray for God’s mercy. This is what the CD offers, quite apart from the many other prayers in honour of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus the risen Christ, Comforter of the Afflicted, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mother of Mercy and Our Mother also. In other words, the CD sings prayers for all i.e. both victims and those of us who were so mercifully spared.
The Choir invites all those who have not as yet done so to buy the CD/Album “Resurrexit,” enjoy the ancient yet timeless music, lift up their minds and hearts and at the same time contribute to the Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund for the victims. The Choir believes that indeed “above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard” and that “someone in the great somewhere hears every word.” Your purchase of a CD is your prayer for the victims and it will be heard. The Choir believes that like the risen Christ, every devastated country and its people will rise again.
Since the release of the CD/album “Resurrexit,” His Holiness Pope John Paul II has conferred his blessing on it, the choir members and their families. It is therefore with great pride that it is offered to the “People of God” as a means of contributing to the Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund and consequently its victims. So, buy a “Resurrexit” CD/album now as a gift for yourselves, family and/or friends and help us to help the hurricane victims as you and/ or they receive the blessings of the CD/album’s sacred music and prayers.
Sacred Heart’s Resurrexit
No one could have predicted the extraordinary successes in recent years of CDs of Gregorian chant sung by cloistered Benedictine monks in several European monasteries. The recordings have climbed the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, and the revival of interest in chant shows no sign of slowing down.
Resurrexit, a fifteen-track CD released by the Sacred Heart Traditional Choir in December 2003 brings the revival in Gregorian chant to Trinidad and the Caribbean. The Choir, under the direction of Molly Guy kept the Gregorian tradition alive in Trinidad for several decades. Today’s revival in effect only serves to endorse a persevering love of the tradition, which the Choir has always known.
The CD has not only beloved Catholic favorites like Regina Coeli and Panis Angelicus, but also the Kyrie and the Agnus Dei from the Mass of our Lady of Loreto, the Gloria, Sanctus, and Benedicuts from the Mass of St. Cecilia, and the Credo from the Missa de Angelis.
Among the Choir’s other beautifully rendered pieces is Mozart’s famous Ave Verum. Mozart composed the motet in 1791, towards the end of his life, and at a critical time in European and world history. He felt that the only response to the crisis was the ennoblement of the individual human being. He concentrated in his Ave Verum all his desire to suggest that life can be lived, like that of the Master, in a way that cheats death by its qualities of nobility and love.
In the three centuries following the death of St. Benedict, Gregorian chant arose in the Western Church as a marvelous tradition of liturgical music, which combined text, lyrics, and melody in an indissoluble harmony of worship, beauty, and understanding. It is this harmony which devotees today sense and turn to, whether they are Catholics or not. Gregorian chant is helping people to get back religiously on their feet.
The Sacred Heart Choir hopes and wishes that a similar blessing will accrue to our Church and our entire country from the dissemination of this CD. It anticipates and thanks the public for its support and generosity. The price of the CD is one hundred dollars TT, and it is available from Choir members, some bookshops and outlets, as advertised in the media. All proceeds will go to charity.
Sacred Heart Traditional Choir
It is the fulfillment of a dream of all persons past and present who were and/or are associated with the Choir at different times ever since it began in the late 1940’s early 1950’s. Names like Alleyne, Agard, Ambard, Bain, Bart, Bart-LeGendre, Boland-Cumberbatch, Borelli, Bovell, Burnett, Charles, Corbie, David, Desiles, De Labastide, Dupres, Flores, Hand (Fr.), Hezekiah (Fr.), Henry, Hobson-Garcia, Johnson, Johnston, La Salle, Lambert, Long, La Borde, Luces, Monteil, Mottley, Oscar, Ortiz, Pantin (our late great Archbishop of happy memory who permitted the continuation of the Latin Mass in the face of localization of the Church music), Pasea, Perreira (Fr.), Procrope, Rajah, Roach, Roberts, Rochard (Fr.) Rochard (lay), Sealey, Soverall, St. Lewis and others come to mind. Some of the aforementioned have since passed on to the great beyond; the most recent being Mr. Richardson Henry, who was the choir’s unofficial photographer. One of his photos of the choir in performance can be seen in this booklet.
The Choir has undertaken these works of love in honor of first and foremost the Sacred Heart of Jesus and secondly all those abovementioned to whom it owes a debt of gratitude. These persons pursued and supported with conscientious dedication and love a music ministry of a kind very different from that with which we are familiar today. They rejoiced in listening to, singing and playing all genres of Latin language church music from centuries ago. These comprised of both simple and intricate musical compositions of polyphonic masses, oratorios, motets, cantatas, Gregorian chants, solos, duets, trios and quartets. Many a composition of the great classical composers of times past were written for the Church. The beauty of such music can best be explained or appreciated from what is heard in this recording. In other words, it speaks for itself.
HISTORY OF THE CHOIR
The Sacred Heart Church Traditional Choir has been in existence for over 50 years and continues to function through the untiring devotion, love and dedication to The Sacred Heart of Jesus by the ever-faithful members of the present Choir.
This Choir leads the worship at The Sacred Heart Church, Port of Spain, on the first Sunday of the month, 11:00 a.m. Mass and at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on the second Saturday 6:00 p.m. and third Sunday 9:00 a.m. Mass. Rehearsals are held at The Sacred Heart Church, Richmond Street, on Thursdays at 5:00 p.m. and new members are welcome. The Musical Director is Miss Molly Guy and organist, Mr. Diamanda Garnes.
This is one of the few Church Choirs that maintain the older tradition of the Church through the singing of the Latin Mass and other Latin polyphonic hymns, in addition to the hymns from the Caribbean Hymn Book.
This is what was said inter alia by the Catholic News, of the Choir’s singing at the 25th Anniversary Mass of Fr. Kenneth Spence in May 2001: “the elderly male voices, mellow with age, like choice wine, complemented the ladies’ sopranos to provide music fit for angels”.
One of the unforgettable highlights of the Choir was its trip to Rome in 1984, meeting with His Holiness Pope John Paul and performing in his presence in Saint Peter’s Square, Saint Peter’s Basilica to a congregation of thousands of pilgrims. A direct consequence of this was the Pope’s visit to Trinidad and Tobago the following year in 1985.
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