December 24, 2010
Personal Reflection
Choral Caleidoscope — An incredible concert tour of Italy
Members of the Diocesan Choir gather at the Altar of the Chair at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City during their 10-day trip to Italy. The group includes, front row, Shirley Trnka, Pat Burggrabe, Rosanna Evans, Betty Dunivan, Mary Barron, Olivia Kissel, JoAnne Reinhardt, Peggy Liberti, Andrea Theriac, Mary Payne, Colton Colbert, Angela Folz, second row, Jeremy Korba, choir director, Pat Flake, Mary Winiger, Pat Kerstiens, Chris Kohmescher, Susan Payne, Marti Aldenderfer, Alicia Brandle, Jennifer Korba, Patricia Colbert, Jeff Weber, Barb Peterson, Mark Hatfield, third row, Kirk Peterson, John Wolber, David Evans, Bob Reinhardt, John Trnka, Frank Liberti, Amy Miller, Jamie Sills, Ken Colbert, Remington Colbert, Kelley Coppens, Mary Kay Weber and Andrew Miller. Click for a larger version.
By PATRICIA J. BURGGRABE (St. Benedict Cathedral, Evansville)
Editor’s note: The following article has been edited to meet space requirements.
As a member of the Diocesan Choir, it was my privilege to travel with my fellow choristers on a singing pilgrimage to Italy, a trip that exceeded every expectation.
From the very beginning, our choral conductor, Jeremy Korba, told us to be flexible, that we weren’t going to the seat of Christendom to sing “fluff.” He said that the difficult new choral arrangements we spent the summer learning were go-ing to be done “right” or not at all.
Indeed, we were well practiced but not prepared for the receptivity and warmth that overwhelmed us during our 10-day concert tour in Italy.
From the first Mass at the contemporary church of St. Maria Goretti in Mestre, where we began, to the Cathedrals and Basilicas in Venice, Padua, Florence, Siena, Assisi, Rome, Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel, our voices soared to the heavens in praise of God.
When we arrived in Rome, we were caught completely off guard to see our Diocesan Choir featured on billboards, handbills and postcards as a “Choral Caleidoscope.” Our Italian Tour Agency, Incantato, along with Faith in Travel here in the States, outdid themselves in their promotions.
At the Papal Audience in St. Peter’s Square, we were seated only yards away from the white canopy under which the Holy Father presided. Across the aisle from us were 200 seminarians and some doctors from Chile. When we were introduced and stood to sing for the Pope, a marked hush fell over the huge outdoor crowd which erupted into immense applause led by our Chilean friends.
Our final concert in Rome was to a standing room only audience spilling out into the streets! One of the favorite crowd-pleasers was our rendition of the song, “We Praise You God For You Are Wonderful” led by the angelic high soprano voice of 12-year-old Colton Colbert of Holy Rosary Church in Evansville.
Of course, the brilliance of our organist, Mark X. Hatfield, tied all of the music together, and the diva-like voice of Jennifer Korba brought many gasps of awe and crescendos of applause.
Highlights
There were so many highlights of this trip, but three stand out for me most strikingly. The first was singing the High Mass at the Altar of the Chair at St. Peter’s. Bishop Gerald A. Get-telfinger celebrated the Mass and our choir was augmented by the Vatican cantors, a group of men with superbly beautiful voices; in fact, they applauded us at the conclusion of the Mass.
The second memorable highlight for me was finding an Adoration Chapel behind hea-vy gold velvet drapes near the high altar at St. Peter’s. I discovered this oasis of grace by accident and was overcome to see Our Lord in a magnificent gold monstrance surrounded by fresh white roses and lilies. Two nuns in grey habits and black veils were kneeling as a guard of honor on either side of the Monstrance. The pews were filled with many people quietly kneeling and praying.
I was holding a little white rosebud which a waiter from one of the sidewalk cafes had given to me, so I tapped one of the nuns on her shoulder and indicated that I would like to place my little white rose in the floor vase of flowers in front of the Monstrance. She smilingly nodded “yes.” With that, I proceeded to place my rose with the others when a big burly arm reached out and stopped me. The arm belonged to a man in a navy blue suit. I recognized him as one of the Papal Guards who run alongside the Popemobile. He took my rose, gave it to the Sister and shook his finger at her. She simply smiled and then tucked my little rose into the vase of flowers nearest to the Monstrance! Needless to say, I was embarrassed and “slinked” out of the Adoration Chapel.
The third highlight was an experience just short of being a miracle, which occurred in Florence. We had completed a guided tour of the Accademia Museum where we viewed the great works of Michelangelo including his famous David and other sculptures. Following the tour, we had three hours of “free” time on our own.
I knew exactly what I wanted to do. For many years I have been a member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, OCDS, formerly known as the Third Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (the brown scapular) which meets monthly at Carmel Home in Owensboro. At Carmel Home is a beautiful mural of all of the saints of Carmel including St. Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi, a great mystic who bore the invisible stigmata in her body which was said to be incorrupt and enshrined in a Carmelite Con-vent somewhere in Florence. No one seemed to know, however, just which place it was since her body had been moved at least three times.
Our Italian tour guide lady gave me a map of Florence and circled where she thought I might find my saint. [It was not the place, but a priest there gave her the address. A cab driver took her to the location.]
I pressed the buzzer and an Italian voice answered “Si?” Fortunately, I was wearing my brown ceremonial scapular and my OCDS pin. I’m sure I was on camera because the wooden doors opened and I was inside! Only then did I pay the cab driver who said he was going off duty but he gave me his card “Radio Taxi” and drove off.
. . . I couldn’t believe that I had found my saint. . . . When I entered the Church, there was a large guest book similar to what monks used on which to enscribe scripture. All the pages were full but I found a blank page on which I wrote my name and that of our choral conductor Jeremy Korba, whose name will be preserved from now on in the Carmelite Clois-ture Church of St. Mary Mag-dalene de’Pazzi. Behind the main altar in a glass coffin was the petite and beautiful body of my saint.
Her dainty feet, hands and face were exposed. She was wearing a navy-blue gown embroidered with gold roses with scrolls of brocade, and over this was a gold cope like a priest wears for Benediction. A gold crown of precious jewels was on her head. In her hands was a sparkling rosary glistening like ruby beads. I was en-raptured at the sight before me. Each of the four corners of the glass coffin was held up by golden gilded angels. There was not a blemish or mark of imperfection. Fresh flowers graced the coffin. By the tabernacle at the main altar was a real flowering plant with blue buds. I pinched off three which I brought back with me. Off to the side were three wooden stools that I suppose altar boys used when serving Mass. For almost an hour I sat there with St. Mary Magadelene de’ Pazzi just talking to her. Each time I tried to leave, it was as if I heard this faint whispering voice saying to me, “Stay a little while longer . . . When I got back to the square of the Duomo, it was as if St. Mary Magadelene de’ Pazza had put the exclamation point to my visit with her. No sooner had I disembarked from the taxi, than one of the choir members came up to me and asked if I had found my saint. When I told her everything that had happened, she said to me, “When I was growing up in Rochester, New York, I always wanted to be a Carmelite.” I told her that I was a member of OCDS, as was Pope John Paul II, among others, and she asked if she could go to the next monthly meeting at the Carmel Home with me in Owensboro! St. Mary Magadelene didn’t waste any time after my hour with her!
These were the special highlights which stand out for me. The Diocesan Choir brought back many extraordinary memories and several significant mementoes of appreciation — a medallion of St. Anthony at Padua, and a hand-embossed scroll as a “thank you” at As-sisi. In addition, Jeremy Korba gave each of us a medal with dirt from the crypt of St. Cecelia in the catacombs. Choral Caleidoscope? It was all that and much more, an incredible dioc-esan concert tour of Italy.