Multicultural Sunday
St Ann's has the most bodacious choir.
Mass on Sunday was presided over by a Vietnamese priest, lectored by a Phillipino, cantored by two Samoan women and choired (is it a verb?) by the sound of the islands coming from Samoan male and female voices. Donuts were provided by the German (Thom) and the Italian (me) who got them from the Cambodian at Le Donut.
The intrepid duo (Thom and me) was at St Ann due to the Pre-Kindergarten blessing post-mass. The snow had been coming down thickly all week which prevented some mega dignitary from showing up. If we didn't brave the ice to get across town Thom would have walked. He's that stubborn. We drove.
There is nothing like tramping across a parking lot of ice and snow to sit down and listen to big scary bushy men sing in sweet lilting voices. The choir is quite large at St Ann both in body count and in bodies. The only instrumentation other than their vocals is an organ with pre-recorded rhythm tracks. At first when the tracks started I cringed. Then the choir took over and I was moved... I've never heard "Onward Christian Soldiers" sung like you can feel the breeze of the ocean touching your cheek. I've never liked the song in the first place. It was sung in Samoan. I was breathless.
Not long ago we were at the installation of Father Tuan (the priest in charge of four churches including St Ann). He was Sunday's presider. I had forgotten how animated he is at the altar. When he blesses the host his whole body moves up and down on his toes. He sways from side to side as if about to give a laugh from his belly. Yet, his face is so sincere that it shines. His eyes close but his face is open. It's difficult to listen to him read and speak as his accent is so thick. I think, though, that this makes you listen harder. What he has to say is worth it.
Mass on Sunday was presided over by a Vietnamese priest, lectored by a Phillipino, cantored by two Samoan women and choired (is it a verb?) by the sound of the islands coming from Samoan male and female voices. Donuts were provided by the German (Thom) and the Italian (me) who got them from the Cambodian at Le Donut.
The intrepid duo (Thom and me) was at St Ann due to the Pre-Kindergarten blessing post-mass. The snow had been coming down thickly all week which prevented some mega dignitary from showing up. If we didn't brave the ice to get across town Thom would have walked. He's that stubborn. We drove.
There is nothing like tramping across a parking lot of ice and snow to sit down and listen to big scary bushy men sing in sweet lilting voices. The choir is quite large at St Ann both in body count and in bodies. The only instrumentation other than their vocals is an organ with pre-recorded rhythm tracks. At first when the tracks started I cringed. Then the choir took over and I was moved... I've never heard "Onward Christian Soldiers" sung like you can feel the breeze of the ocean touching your cheek. I've never liked the song in the first place. It was sung in Samoan. I was breathless.
Not long ago we were at the installation of Father Tuan (the priest in charge of four churches including St Ann). He was Sunday's presider. I had forgotten how animated he is at the altar. When he blesses the host his whole body moves up and down on his toes. He sways from side to side as if about to give a laugh from his belly. Yet, his face is so sincere that it shines. His eyes close but his face is open. It's difficult to listen to him read and speak as his accent is so thick. I think, though, that this makes you listen harder. What he has to say is worth it.