Choir Shop-Talk
OK, back to our visit to Hartford, Connecticut, where we attended mass at St. Patrick/St. Anthony parish.
We had picked up a visitor’s guide to Greater Hartford and Connecticut’s River Valley, and the guide listed, among many others “attractions,” two Catholic churches in or near downtown Hartford. We decided to see if we could find them and – since it was Saturday – see if we could attend mass at one of them.
We parked just a block from the capitol building, and while Dan was finishing a blog entry we would post later that day, I walked Jake on the capitol lawn. We also had a brief rain shower pass over while we were preparing to leave the truck, so we grabbed our umbrellas.
We first found St. Patrick/St. Anthony, just a few blocks from where we had parked. The sign in front of the church indicated that the parish was run by Franciscans. According to the guide we picked up, St. Patrick/St. Anthony is “home of Connecticut’s first Roman Catholic parish,” and the church building itself is a 19th century Portland brownstone edifice, which has more recently undergone interior restoration. The outside of the building was beautiful, with its below-street-level courtyards/gardens on either side. But, we couldn’t go inside at that time because a funeral service was being held. So, we took note of the Saturday mass time (4 pm) and continued on.
After looking for and finding a Wi-Fi hotspot, checking email and posting Dan’s blog entry, we drove over to Hartford’s Westend neighborhood. There, we saw Mark Twain’s house and visited the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center on our way to the Cathedral of St. Joseph. The visitor’s guide describes the Cathedral as follows: “Contemporary design and noted for its stained glass windows and artwork. World’s largest ceramic mural depicting Christ in Glory.” Wow!! I would say that “…noted for its stained glass windows…” is an understatement. Most of the sides, front and back of this huge Cathedral ARE stained glass windows, and they are magnificent! The pipe organ in the balcony looked monstrous; it would have been fun to hear it being played. We walked around the Cathedral a bit and took a few photos. But, it was getting time to head back to St. Patrick/St. Anthony for 4 pm mass.
The interior restoration was apparent as we walked in. The altar/lectern had been moved from its traditional cove in the front to an area in the main body of the church where one would normally find the first 15 or so rows of seating. The church had pillars down the sides, and I’m guessing that the original layout of the seating had been very similar to that of St. Mark’s in Shakopee, with two sections of pews in the center and two more sections on the outside of the rows of pillars. However, now, the outer sections of pews were slanted in toward the relocated altar/lectern, and two more sections of seating were located on either side of the altar/lectern, facing each other. This gave the church more of a “circle-‘round-the-altar” feel.
OK, the music… The pipe organ, which was located in the balcony (both the console and the pipes), was used for all songs except for the communion hymn. A male cantor with a beautiful tenor voice led the songs and sang the Responsorial Psalm verses. Here’s the “menu.”
Entrance Hymn: Marty Haugen’s “All Are Welcome”
The organ took this at pretty much the same tempo we do it, and ended it just as we do: “…place.” 2-3-and-4-1. It was a fitting song to welcome us to a very welcoming community.
The Gloria and most other mass parts were from Haugen’s “Mass of Creation.”
However, the Alleluia was taken from Richard Proulx’ “A Festival Eucharist.”
Preparation Hymn: “Rejoice, O Mary, Heavenly Queen”
This was a nice, old hymn tune from the 16th century.
Communion Hymn: “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light”
This one was done on piano, and when we finished all three verses (? – Are there more?), the pianist briefly – and beautifully — improvised on the tune while they finished cleaning up after communion. Dan hadn’t heard us do this song before, and really liked it. He said if had a “funeral” list, this song would be on it.
Then, before the closing prayer, the priest started – and all joined in praying — the Prayer of St. Francis, which was printed in the worship aid. I assume that they pray this prayer at every mass because of how the congregation joined in with little prompting and the fact that the parish is run by Franciscans. It was a nice touch.
Closing Hymn: “All Creatures of Our God and King”
Another old, hymn tune, which ends with “Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluuu-ia!”
Then, this past Sunday, I attended mass at St. Francis of Assisi in Belfast, ME. They had a pianist, who also led the songs and canted the Responsorial Psalm verses. She had a soprano voice, so there were many high notes for me to try to hit. 🙂 And, we sang “You Are Mine” for one of the songs, and the version didn’t hold a candle to the St. Mary’s Saturday Choir’s version. 🙂 Also, at this mass, the pianist was playing another verse of the communion song to “cover” the priest, and one woman in the back of the congregation decided to sing a “solo” to the instrumental. When the pianist finished the song, she – and many in the congregation — just smiled as she kept from laughing. Apparently, this isn’t the first time they’ve received an impromptu solo from the congregation. 🙂
Tags: U.S. Segment 1
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