During the last weekend the Schola Cantorum Jubilate choristers and the direction of the choir, had the opportunity of spending some time together to enhance our team spirit through prayer, rehearsing and recreation.
After an introductory meeting on Friday evening we prayed the Via Crucis now that we are just a week away from Holy Week which is the most important week within the Catholic liturgical calendar.
On Saturday Fr. Aurelio Mule Stagno gave us an important talk in two sessions about the liturgical significance of the choir and the place of choristers during Catholic liturgy. Fr. Aurelio is a Maltese Salesian with a long experience in choir singing. We had the opportunity to learn from his academic studies and his experience, especially during his thirteen year long stay in the Holy Lands. In his talk he emphasized the importance of the word during the liturgy. He referred us to Christian Eastern Rites and highlighted the fact that all the liturgical celebrations are sung, including all readings from the Bible. In the Latin Church, singing was much more reduced. This does not mean however that the Church does not value singing during its liturgy. The Church, he explained, always encourages singing during the mass and the liturgy which consists of Adoration to God and the sanctification of those participating.
The Director, Manager, and Treasurer of the choir gave each of us members an account of what has been going on during the last months. It is thanks to their great dedication that Schola Cantorum Jubilate exists and continues to be one of the main cultural protagonists in the islands. It is appropriate therefore to thank Marouska Attard, Stefan Attard and Silvana Sultana for their hard work all year round.
We also had the opportunity to discuss the future of our choir and each one of us could share his or her own views on the choir. This independent choir is composed of young people, some of them working and with family, others still studying at university. The different background of each member gives this choir its particular characteristic of a young and dynamic choir.
On Sunday morning we sang during the Sunday mass in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq. Our participation during the mass was much appreciated by the priest who celebrated mass and the whole congregation in the Church.
The internationally acclaimed choir director, Wayne Marshall joined us on Sunday to oversee the work done by the choir under the direction of Marouska Attard in preparation of an important concert he will be directing in the coming months.
At the end of it all the choir left the Porziuncula Retreat House where we were staying more tightly knit than ever. We are not siblings by nature, though some of the members are, yet our love for music brought us together in one big family.
