Upcoming Concert: A Choral Collage - Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 4:00pm

Can't view poster? Click here.

Hymn Festival at St. Louis

The new hymnals are here! As a preview we will have a Hymn Festival this Sunday, November 18 at 4:00pm. Members of the St. Louis Choir, Folk Group, Youth Band, and Children's Choir will be present to sing a variety of music - both familiar and new. If you have an hour free on Sunday, stop by to sing, stop by to listen, or simply

Some recent history: Now that the new English translation of the Roman Missal has begun, we are able to address our books by replacing our current annual Missalettes and Music Issues with permanent hymnals. The new hymnals include a set of two books – Worship, Fourth Edition from GIA Publications and the Saint Augustine Hymnal from International Liturgy Publications. The two books combine to provide hundreds of hymns – well-known hymns from our current Music Issue, well-known hymns currently unavailable to us, a whole variety of new music for use in the future, and all of the revised texts for Mass. In addition, Worship 4 includes all of the readings for each Sunday as well as an easy to follow Order of Mass.

Purchasing the hymnals is a significant capital expense, so we have started a sponsorship program. Over 300 parishioners have already sponsored hymnals. Have you sponsored yet? Please consider doing so. We are asking you to consider sponsoring a set of the two hymnals for $50.00. As you will see at the Hymn Festival the sponsored hymnals have a bookplate on the inside cover inscribed with the sponsor’s name, family name, or the name of a loved one. The sponsorship form is available on the St. Louis website: here. By making this purchase now through the support of this special sponsorship, we will be able to save substantially in the long term by not having to purchase the Missalettes and Music Issues each year.

Action-Packed Weekend Recap

Today I write after an action-packed weekend at St. Louis. It began with a wonderful showing from the ever-growing and ever-advancing St. Louis Children's Choir under the direction of Theresa Suhar. The Children's Choir sings a variety of music - both old and new from chant to modern music.

**The St. Louis Children's Choir is comprised of students in grades 2-8 from throughout the parish. The choir usually sings at the 4:00pm Mass on the first Saturday of the month. New members are always welcome. Please contact me for more information.**

Yesterday afternoon, the latest concert of the St. Louis Church Concert Series was entitled A Little Afternoon Music. It featured musicians from near and far. First, Italian organist Ennio Cominetti traveled to St. Louis from Varenna, Italy as he began his US tour. In addition, the Lenore Trio represents local musicians, Larissa Sanders, the Associate Organist at St. Louis, with Eddie Sanders, a Washington based bassoonist, and Denis Karp, a Baltimore based flutist. A great thank you goes out to everyone who took the time to help in the preparation such a great afternoon for a good-sized and very appreciative audience.

And the Children Sing

Yesterday at the 4pm Mass, the St. Louis Children's Choir sang at the monthly Children's Mass. The group was created this fall and is under the direction of Mary Theresa Suhar. Yesterday amid O Come, O Come Emmanuel and On Jordan's Bank, the children sang Ave Maria by Dan Kantor which incorporates a modern (1993) melody with an Ave Maria chant. To do so, the children were assisted by members of the high school Youth Band - both singers and flute.

Both groups are always interested to welcome new members. The Children's Choir (for students in grades 2-5) typically rehearse on two weeks prior to the Children's Mass with the option of Tuesday evening rehearsals (6:30pm-7:30pm) or Thursday evening rehearsals (5:00pm-6:00pm). The Youth Band (for students in grades 9-12) meets on Thursday evenings (6:30pm-7:30pm) and normaly sings for the 9:30am Mass on the 4th Sunday of the month. Please contact me for more information.