December 11, 2016
Choir and Chanter Appreciation Sunday
“I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being” Psalm 104:33
Beloved in Christ:
Greetings to you and your families as we prepare to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ according to the flesh.
As is the custom in our Archdiocese, the second Sunday of December is dedicated to our choirs and chanters who work so hard to make our divine services beautiful throughout the year. Our choirs in the Archdiocese resemble our families and parishes. Some are large and strong; some are small and need help. Some have many polished and professional singers; others depend on the goodwill of volunteers with little or no musical training. Some have weekly practices and others less often. The common thread is that they all do what they do out of a love for the divine services and a desire to praise the All-Holy Trinity.
Under the direction of our full-time chairman of the Department of Sacred Music, Mr. Paul Jabara of Montreal, Quebec, the Archdiocese continues to expand and upgrade the music our choirs use and make it more accessible. The latest manifestation of their work is a joint effort with the Department of Liturgics to add links to the music each week to the Online Liturgical Guide so that when choir directors look ahead to plan, they will have instant access to the music by clicking on the link. The faithful should start seeing these links in the very near future.
The Department also continues to train and teach our choir directors and chanters through the annual Sacred Music Institutes held each year at the Antiochian Village and elsewhere. In order that each parish, including small parishes and missions, might be able to send a representative to this important Institute, I have asked all of our parishes to take a special collection on this day to help give scholarships to those parishes that cannot afford to pay for their choir directors to attend this important learning experience. Please give generously so that all of our parishes, from large to small, might be able to have a good choir.
Wishing you all a blessed remainder of the Nativity Fast and, in advance, a joyous feast of our Lord’s Nativity, I remain,
Your Father in Christ,
+JOSEPH
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| 2016 Choir and Chanter Appreciation Sunday Letter (PDF) | 157.6 KB |