All of us have heard the expression: "Nothing lasts forever", and how true that is.
Presently, our church organ is in need of major repairs. You may have noticed some "sour notes" and, at times, it cannot be turned "on" and "off" when needed. This organ is about 27 years old and showing its age. Unfortunately, the company that installed it is no longer in business here in the United States and there is no one available to make repairs which are needed. Therefore, we will be in need of purchasing a new organ.
This is certainly an unexpected expense. Our choir has agreed to begin some fundraising for a new instrument which will cost about $60,000.
The Second Vatican Council maintained that the “organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up our minds and hearts to God and to higher things!”
For all in our parish community who would like to contribute to make our new organ a reality, your donations would be greatly appreciated.
Envelopes for donations are at the entrances of the church and chapel. "Buy a Key" or "Buy a Pedal" with a suggested donation of $200 per key/pedal. Thus far, we have collected approximately $43,000.
Thank you for your generosity!
Music is the pre-eminent sacred art of the Catholic Christian faith, ordered for the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 112). The Church Fathers of the Second Vatican Council affirmed that the Church’s musical tradition is “a treasure of inestimable value.” This treasure exists only when music sounds forth in time and when human beings are able to make music with a body, mind, spirit, and voice, because “worship is given a more noble form…when celebrated solemnly in song.” Handing on faith, worship, and tradition from one generation to another depends on a sustained practice spanning generations – a gift of praise from one generation to the next.
For more than a thousand years, the organ has been the foundation of this musical tradition. Its richly varied tone “colors” and sustained tone make it uniquely capable of supporting congregational singing and filling a large sacred space with glorious music.
Its rich sound allows the mind to bypass more temporal tunes and distractions and instead, be lifted untethered to the praise of God. The organ embodies Beauty, Truth, and Goodness in both its architecture and its sound.
Music has meaning.
The majestic music of an organ in church which accompanies the sacred liturgy can help convey a message that changes us, makes us better, lifts and inspires us. Music can be a means in the hand of God to bless our lives, gladden our hearts, comfort the weary, and in some small way, help give meaning to life.
A musician sitting alone (or so he thought) in a dimly lit chapel, was once playing hymns on the piano. A silent observer finally rose, came forward, and paid him one of the highest compliments he ever received as a musician. She said, “When you play the hymns, I hear the meaning of those words so strong, like you are singing to my heart.”
Music can do this.
“Whether it is Bach or Mozart
that we hear in church,
we have a sense in either case
of what gloria Dei,
the glory of God, means.
The mystery of infinite beauty
is there
and enables us to experience
the presence of God
more truly and vividly
than in many sermons."
– His Holiness Benedict XVI,
Pope Emeritus.
from "The Spirit of the Liturgy"
The son of a Jewish mother and a Greek Gentile father, Saint Timothy came from Lystra in present-day Turkey. His mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, are known to have joined the Church, and Timothy himself is described as a student of Sacred Scripture from his youth.
After St. Paul's visit to Timothy's home region of Lycaonia, around the year 51, the young Timothy joined the apostle St. Paul and accompanied him in his travels. After religious strife forced Paul to leave the city of Berea, Timothy remained to help the local church. Paul later sent him to Thessalonica to help the Church during a period of persecution.
The two met up again in Corinth, and Timothy eventually journeyed to Macedonia on Paul's behalf. Problems in the Corinthian Church brought Timothy back for a time, after which he joined Paul and accompanied the apostle in subsequent travels.
Like Paul, Timothy endured a period of imprisonment in the course of his missionary work. His release is mentioned in the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews.
Around the year 64, Timothy became the first bishop of the Church of Ephesus. During that same year, he received the first of two surviving letters from St. Paul. The second, written the next year, urges Timothy to visit St. Paul in Rome, where Paul was imprisoned before his martyrdom.
Ancient sources state that St. Timothy followed his mentor in dying as a martyr for the faith. In the year 93, during his leadership of the Church in Ephesus, he took a stand against the worship of idols and was consequently killed by a mob. The pagan festival he was protesting was held January 22, and this date was preserved as St. Timothy's memorial in the Christian East. The General Roman Calendar venerates Saint Timothy together with Saint Titus on their feast day of January 26, the day after the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul.