Students from the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (TMC) choir started what they hope will become a tradition when they sang recently for Sunday Mass at a local parish.
St. Patrick's in Nashua, New Hampshire, welcomed the group from TMC to the parish for Mass in the Extraordinary Form on the First Sunday of Advent. The choir sang a polyphonic piece from the 16th century and, by TMC artist-in-residence David Clayton's account, it was a great experience for the students.
My observation is that it was great for the college to be doing something in cooperation with a local church - there is a tendency for students sometimes to lead a life as though marooned within a self-enclosed social bubble. This is also why we visit the local veterans' hospital, in Manchester, NH, and sing Vespers there on a regular basis. Having this opportunity to sing the Mass really seemed to motivate the students to work hard and pull together. The response of the parishioners was positive We weren't perfect by any means, but this was a great start I think and we hope to keep improving as we go on. Nevertheless, it was good enough to inspire one kind person to hand me a generous donation for the college choir so that it might encourage us to keep coming!
Read more about the choir and hear recordings of their singing over at
New Liturgical Movement.
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