Sunday Music at OSP

Sunday Music – Now Playing

Mark Scozzafave, Director of Music Ministries

As St. Augustine says, “Singing is for the one who loves.” Music is therefore a sign of God’s love for us and of our love for God. In this sense, it is very personal … By its very nature song has both an individual and a communal dimension. Thus, it is no wonder that singing together in church expresses so well the sacramental presence of God to his people. (Sing To The Lord, 3).

To the members, guests, and visitors of Old St. Pat’s, and to all those who find themselves at mass here — I not only invite, but implore you to join in our beautiful tradition of assembly singing as you participate in our liturgies, whether via Livestream, or in person. You can visit here to see the worship aid for this coming week for a preview! During this time of socially-distant liturgy, the music ministry has been busy producing and harnessing material from our virtual choir performances, prayer services, and other recordings to offer as a prayer resource to all who call Old St. Pat's "home".

Virtual Choir Performances

Family Music Ministry

More Than A Baby (feat. OSP Youth Choir)
Away In A Manger (feat. OSP Youth Choir)
Mary's Little Boy Child (feat. OSP Youth Choir)
Send Down The Fire (feat. Aimee Scozzafave, Megan Buckley, and Dominic Trumfio -- with Michael Neary, Director of Children's Choir)
With Great Love (feat. Children's Choir with director Michael Neary)

Piano Recordings

Broken For All - Mark Scozzafave playing Lenten music of Old St. Pat's (Spotify)
Broken For All - Mark Scozzafave playing Lenten music of Old St. Pat's (Apple Music)

Livestream Prelude Solos During Pandemic (Vimeo)

Reflections and Evening Prayer

Family Ministry Liturgical Offerings

Podcasts

Podcast with Music Commentary for Mother's Day - May 10th

In light of the coronavirus precautions and our reduced mass schedule, I recorded 14 tracks of piano music based on the sounds of Lent at Old St. Pat's. They are meditative, extemporaneous, contemporary solo piano arrangements that I hope we can all use and share both in and around our community. In the absence of music live at our liturgies, please consider these tracks, along with other playlists from GIA on Spotify to add music to these days of decreased interactions. These recordings are also available at the Spotify and Apple Music links above.

I hope these pieces––presented in fragmented, constituent themes––the arc of the music, and the subtle calling-to-mind of lyrics will add a sense of prayer and contemplation to your season.

In addition to this, a new piece by Marty Haugen titled We Sing God’s Truth will again be part of our liturgies this spring, reminding us of the truths of God’s love and hope a time when “truth isn’t truth” and political showdowns tangle the notions of fact and favor, sacred sign and cynicism.

Another piece that I am bringing back is Liam Lawton’s Sail The Soul, a lilting song of comfort, guidance, journey, and healing that is textually based on the writings of St. Columcille .

We sing psalms during the Liturgy of the Word, including two newer psalms to us:  27 – The Lord Is My Light (Bolduc) and Gary Daigle’s The Lord Is My Shepherd

The Liturgy of the Word concludes during the General Intercessions (or Prayers of the Faithful — our prayer), to which we lift up petitions with Peter Kolar's "Te Rogamus Oyenos"

We acclaim in song with the return of Rory Cooney’s Mass of St. Aidan

Holy, Holy |  Memorial Acclamation  | Amen  |  Lamb of God

And again prayer together in song The Lord’s Prayer by Steve Warner.  I have received very affirmative feedback on using this version to mark our seasons of Lent and Advent–it is heart-warming to hear this assembly pray together in this way.  Please do not fret about the pitches or the notes; rather, allow the rise and fall of the text to come forth in song, matching what you hear around you.

Emboldening our steps with a new piece featuring a familiar tune…  The Church of Christ Cannot Be Bound is based on the McKEE tune (known to many as “In Christ There Is No East Or West”) was originally an Irish tune taken to the United States and adapted by African American slaves. The response to this have been great so far, thank you!

We’ll be sent forth as mission-driven people with a new closing song from the repertoire of great commissioning pieces: Chris de Silva’s Go Out To The World.  I’m excited to hear our assembly sing this out in resounding unison!

OUR NEW PIANO

All of this prayerful and engaging music will be led and centered around our new Steinway Model B Grand Piano. Many of you know that we have opened our new space at 625 W Adams for the sacredness of liturgy, discussion, debate, learning, and celebration. I wanted to honor that new space with its unique attributes with our Steinway Model D that has anchored our church ministry for 10 years. This afforded myself and Dominic the opportunity to perform exhaustive research and seek out the best new instrument for the church. Our search led all across the Chicagoland area and finally to the Steinway factory in New York. The Model B allows us more flexibility in our configurations, stronger acoustic sound, and the vitality of a new Steinway instrument.

Now Playing

Sunday Music – Now Playing

OUR NEW PIANO

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