ONE OF AMERICA’s landmark pipe organs, the E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings Organ, Opus 801 in Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross has been silent for over two years. Affectionately known as “801,” this organ with over 5,300 pipes and 101 ranks was protected from construction dust during a nearly two-year renovation of…
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Broken Rosaries and a Triptych of Wisdom
BROKEN ROSARY beads can be highly frustrating! It happens all too frequently. Such frustration certainly works against prayer and contemplation! First grain of wisdom: simple words of consolation from a friend, now a priest said, “That means they’re being used.” Well, no kidding! That’s pretty obvious. And perhaps profound. What has this to do with…
Chant Based Resources from World Library Publications
From World Library Publications: Introit Hymns ~ Christoph Tietze Hymn Tune Introits: Singing the Sundays of the Liturgical Year – Kathleen Pluth – WLP Communion Antiphons by Richard J. Clark ~ World Library Publications Antiphon texts from the Roman Missal, Third Edition (Keyboard, Optional SATB, Assembly) Communion Antiphons for Advent • LISTEN Communion Antiphons for the Christmas…
“Woman of No Distinction” World Premiere
CHRIS KINSELY wrote a landmark poem in 2006 about the Samaritan woman at the well and her encounter with Jesus. What makes this poem unique is its perspective: written entirely from the point of view of the woman. This poem has much to teach us today. (See the poem below.) Jennifer Lester, Director of The…
Donald J. Clark • 1931-2019 • Words of Remembrance
THANK YOU all for coming today. Your prayers and support mean the world to me, my mother, my sisters, Laura and Joanne, and all of Donald and Anna’s grandchildren. I want to thank this beautiful faith community at St. William the Abbott. My parents have been parishioners here for half a century as they moved…
Hope • A Side of the Boston Cathedral No One Sees
RECENTLY BEGAN a new life—an extension of the old, but a new life, unmistakably. I struggle some days missing dear friends, but they have clearly not left me, nor I them. Then I experience several unexpected joys of my new life (challenges and all) and there is hope. Hope because I’m called to serve differently…
Musicians in Collaborative Parishes • Sharing Best Practices
HERE IS NO shortage of challenge in pastoral ministry. This is an understatement of a lifetime! Then why do we do it? Perhaps because parish work, despite its potential obstacles, is among the most rewarding. Among such challenges faced in the Archdiocese of Boston (and well beyond) are a shortage of priests, shifting demographics, decline…
Mark Dwyer • Concert to Benefit the E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings (1875) Organ at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross
ARK DWYER, Organist and Choirmaster of the Church of the Advent and one of the finest church musicians in the country, will have the distinction of shining the light on two glorious Hook organs in Boston all at the same time — and in one concert. With the Cathedral of the Holy Cross currently under…
Farewell to Saint Cecilia Parish • September 9, 2018
I HAVE BEEN ABSOLUTELY dreading this day and this moment—but for all the best of reasons. Apparently, I’ve been here a while. I began playing the organ at St. Cecilia on the Third Sunday of Advent—Gaudete Sunday—in 1989. My first week on the job I played for Msgr. Mackey’s funeral who retired as Pastor in…
New Professional Developments
GREAT BLESSING of late is having an abundance of music to compose. Recent developments include a new publication for organ, commissions for The Groton School and The Seraphim Singers, contributions to the St. Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal , a new four movement work for trumpet player Richard Kelley, and a collaboration on a Pentecost anthem…