St.
Patrick’s Church Choir, a Historical Perspective
Once,
Catholic churches across the United States boasted full choirs singing
Gregorian chant, sacred polyphony, and great masterworks. Today, only a few
besides cathedrals and the largest parishes can make such a claim. St.
Patrick’s Church is lucky in that its choral program is growing, even if
performances are somewhat seldom.
The
choir at St. Patrick’s was founded around the turn of the last century by Fr.
Libert de Waegenaere. Fr. De Waegenaere
was born in Alost, Belgium, and educated at the University of Louvein. Upon
coming to America, he was ordained a priest in 1895. He took charge of St.
Patrick’s in 1900 and remained there until 1905. He organized what was then a
renowned church choir and was himself blessed with outstanding musical talent.
Many of the pieces that the choir performed in those days were actually
composed by Fr. De Weagenaere. A local newspaper of the time, the Mount
Sterling Sentinel Democrat, during his assignment at St. Patrick’s noted,
“Father De Waegenaere is a deep student, a scholar and a hard worker among his
people, and under his direction, the church is still growing.” Father De
Waegenaere remained for a period of six years and it was a source of universal
regret when he was transferred to West Covington, Kentucky. He resigned from
St. Paul Pastorate in Lexington in 1933 and returned to Alost where he devoted
himself for several years to historical investigation of the life of Gregor
Mendel, the Austrian scientist and “Father of Modern Genetics.” He died in 1952
at the age of 82.
Fr.
De Waegenaere’s musical tradition at St. Patrick’s was upheld for more than
half a century, however, as happened with so many other parishes of the time,
St. Patrick’s lost her choir in the middle of the 20th century,
around the time of the Second Vatican Council. This was not unusual of the
time. The Sacrosanctum Concilium, the
Council’s document on the Liturgy signed in the mid 60s which allowed the Mass
to be said in the regional vernacular, also made changes to liturgical music.
Unfortunately for choirs across the country, some of the wording has often been
misinterpreted. In chapter VI of Sacrosanctum
Concilium, we are asked that all music of the Mass be actively
participatory for the congregation. Unfortunately, this active participation is
often misinterpreted as the Latin term participation
actuoso, rather than participation
activo. Actual participation. Churches took this to mean that the choir was
to be abolished and replaced completely by the singing of the congregation when
it was only to mean that the congregation was to be actively engaged. One can
participate when one listens to the choir, just as one participates in the
homily by listening quietly. Nevertheless, the choral tradition at St.
Patrick’s, like so many others of the time, fell into obscurity.
However,
in recent years, St. Patrick’s has made strides in reviving its choir, even
amidst trying times and controversy. Former director of the choir, Mrs. Susan
Howard, kept this choir going even when our parish lost two priests, almost ten
years ago, who engaged in vow breaking behavior. The people of St. Patrick’s
were hurting and the church community felt betrayed, but we endured
nevertheless. Then, when we in the middle of negotiations two years ago to hire
a part time choir director to help build the program after Mrs. Howard retired,
trying times struck again and brought our negotiations to a halt for six months
after our then priest fell to controversy and was sent home by the Diocese of
Lexington to India.
In
such trying situations, lesser choirs would have folded. However, the people of
St. Patrick’s stayed strong and the members of her choir kept their musical
dream alive. This season, as I finish my second year as St. Patrick’s choir
director, I look back on what we’ve done with extreme pride and look forward to
the new things that even now we have planned for the future with great
enthusiasm. I was born into the St. Patrick’s community and I feel nothing but
adoration towards it and the greater community of Mt. Sterling. It always has
been and always will be my home and, especially during this Christmas season, I
feel eternally blessed to be able to take an active role within it.
Fr. Libert de Waegenaere, a Brief Biography
Father De Waegenaere was born in Alost, Belgium, and educated at the University of Louvein in Belgium. Upon coming to America, he was ordained a priest in 1895. His first charge was St. Mary’s Cathedral, Covington, Kentucky, where he remained until 1898. He took charge of St. Patrick’s in Mt. Sterling in 1900 and remained there for five years from 1900-1905. He organized a renowned church choir and was blessed with outstanding musical talent.
Father De Waegenaere resigned from St. Paul Parish, Lexington, in 1933. He went to Kneipp Sanatorium in Rome City, Indiana, in November 1933, and sailed for Belgium on December 13, 1933. While in Europe, Father De Waegenaere devoted himself for several years to historical investigation of the life of Gregor Mendel, the Austrian scientist, and visited Austria for this purpose. Father De Waegenaere died in Alost, Belgium on September 8, 1952, at the age of 82. His funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph Church, Alost, Belgium, on September 10, 1952.
*****
Father Libert De Waegenaere took charge of Mt. Sterling in 1900. He was a native of Alost, Belgium. A young man of zeal and energy quickly won the affections of the people.
Being a talented musician, he soon organized a most efficient church choir, whose reputation spread far and wide…A local newspaper [The Sentinel Democrat], during his assignment here noted, “Father De Waegenaere is a deep student, a scholar and a hard worker among his people, and under his direction, the church is still growing.” Father De Waegenaere remained for a period of six years and it was a source of universal regret when he was transferred to West Covington, Kentucky. He resigned from St. Paul Pastorate, Lexington, Kentucky, in 1933, returning to Alost, Belgium, where he died on September 8, 1952.
(Both excerpts taken from History of St. Patrick Parish, 1982)
___________________________________________
The choir will perform its Christmas concert on December 24 @ 9:30 PM. Please see https://sites.google.com/site/nickbreiner/home/christmaseve2012 for program. Thanks for reading!
