You may have noticed that the Newman Choir sings a lot of different styles of music – everything from chant to hymns to praise and worship. This is intentional – the goal of the choir is to bring all the beautiful traditions of Catholic liturgical music to students at the Centre during mass. It is such a blessing that we are able to put this beautiful music where it belongs – in the context of the liturgy. So over the next few weeks, we will go through some of the different styles of music you will hear at the Newman Centre at Sunday mass so you can understand better what we are singing.

Gregorian Chant

You may notice that during Advent and Lent our mass parts change. We go from a choral four-part mass setting to a more austere (though equally beautiful) chant setting in Latin. We sing a very simple Gregorian Chant mass setting. Gregorian chant, or plainchant, is one of the earliest forms of liturgical music, dating back to the 9th or 10th centuries (though it’s earliest forms date back further!). The ‘Gregorian’ part of its name is (perhaps incorrectly) often attributed to Pope Gregory the Great.

Did you know that Gregorian Chant was written on a very different musical staff than we know today? It usually had four lines (rather than five) and a different system of notation (with square notes and different markings). The music we sing at the Newman Centre has taken this notation and written it into notation that we can read easier. You may also notice that chant is written without many bar lines. As such, rather than singing with a specific beat, we take care to have the music reflect the words we are singing and the phrasing of it. This is one of the greatest challenges when singing chant in a group! Most often the Newman Centre choir will sing with multiple harmony parts. But in chant, we sing together, taking care to sound like we are one voice!

This idea of singing as one voice is amplified by the fact that the Chant setting is use is not unique to us at the Newman Centre, or even here in Canada. It is sung around the world. For example, when I was in Norway one summer, I went to mass, obviously in Norwegian, so I didn’t really understand the specific words being used. However, I was delighted when the priest began the Kyrie – in Latin chant! Using the same setting we use at Newman! I was able to sing along in unison with my Norwegian friends.

Some of the popular chants that we use at Newman (besides the mass setting) is the Pange Lingua (text written by none other than St. Thomas Aquinas), the Veni Creator, or the Crux Fedelis (sung on Good Friday).

Take a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnrOwiYqTcc

By: Holly Ann Garnett, Director, Newman Centre Choir

November 4, 2013

Dear Newmanites,

Hello all!  I hope this letter finds you all well and happy with your studies and lives in Montréal.  My name is Joshua Abrego and I graduated from my Masters in Voice performance in 2012 from McGill University at the Schulich School of Music.  Now I have the immense pleasure of starting my career as an Opera singer.   I am writing to you from Calgary, Alberta where I have stted my first contract with an opera company (Calgary Opera).  I have now been here for a little over a month and am in my 4^th week of work here.  Unfortunately, Calgary is not as nice a city as Montréal.  It’s much colder (believe it or not) and it feels very bland as a city.  There are plenty of buildings to go buy things and work, but there isn’t much in the way of culture, museums, parks, or landmarks.  The landscape is very flat and everything is very spread out (so if you don’t have a car you basically have to commute for a LONG bus/train ride or you need to live in the heart of downtown).  I am fortunately living downtown in the busiest areas of the city so  I don’t have to worry about travelling much.  I do miss hearing the familiar Québecois accents and seeing the french signs and stores.

I’ve had a few performances already with the company and we’re being trained on a daily basis (which I’m very thankful for).  We get private lessons every day as well as yoga, movement and acting classes.  It’s kind of like an internship program where everything is catered to our development and personal needs.  I’m very blessed to be in a program where I have the flexibility and time to focus on my own progress rather than delivering something for the company.

In terms of my relationship with God and the church, I have been going to mass at a couple of churches here; one of them is called St-Pius X and the other is called Sacred Heart.  They are both nice churches with active ministers which is nice, but I haven’t had the chance to really get to know anyone yet.  I’ve been told that Calgary has a very lively Catholic youth community so I’ll  have to find out how I can become involved.

I do miss the Newman center very much.  For those of you who are there for the first time, please take advantage of it!  I was blessed to live at the Newman center for 3 years and to be involved with the community for nearly 7.  There is no other place that I’ve seen like it!  The sincerity, friendship, love and humour that you find at this center is so unique and wonderful that once you are no longer able to partake in it anymore, you feel it very deeply in your heart.  The friends that you’ll make there are true friends that you’ll want to keep in touch with for as long as you can.

I don’t plan on staying long in Calgary (such is the nature of Opera singers).  My contract ends in May 2014 and I want to go to another big city where I can further develop my skills and meet new artists so I can train and learn more!  Who knows, maybe I’ll be in Montreal again one day.

Those of you who are on the fence about getting involved with the Newman center somehow, DO IT!  Join the Newman choir!  Do something in the Coffee house!  Cook meals for Saturday Night Supper!  Become a part of the student council!  The more you give and participate in the Newman society, the more it gives back to you!  It will enrich your lives and bless you with such joy and love that you will not experience otherwise in your university lives.  This place is an oasis amidst the difficult university life and the metropolis that is Montréal!

I wish you all the best and pray for all of you

Joshua Abrego

Hi Newmanites!

Greetings from Hong Kong! How are you guys doing? For those who don’t know me, I graduated a year ago from ‘Bronfman High’ and have been blessed to be part of the Newman community for 3 years in Montreal. I’m a huge fan of the choir, soup and bagel, daily mass, faith studies, coffeehouse, SNS…basically everything in Newman!

Life after university has been craaazy – re-adjusting to the busy Hong Kong culture, catching up with high school friends, and transitioning from a student to a young professional (although I’m still studying for certification exams at this very moment…I should be studying right now but how can I resist writing an e-postcard to you?)

I’m currently working at Citi in Hong Kong as a Management Associate in a rotational program for fresh grads. I’m really enjoying my job – I have awesome coworkers who I spent a lot of time with, both in and outside work. I wear my cross necklace to work everyday and quite a few coworkers have expressed interest in discovering Christianity so please pray for them! There are 3 Christians including myself in my program (out of 9 people) and we’re planning to organize a Christianity 101 session after work some time next month. I really hope it works out! I’m sure that if this is God’s will, He will make a way. I’m also still looking for a community like Newman in Hong Kong so please pray for me J Newman has an important place in my heart and I will always be praying for the community.

I’ll be back in May for Convocation. CAN’T WAIT to see (or meet) you then!

In Christ,
Christy

As we enter the month of November, we are reminded of the ultimate end of every Christian, indeed the ultimate end of every human being: sainthood. Each and every one of us, created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by His Son, is destined for this purpose. How fitting it is that this month of remembrance should begin with the Solemnity of All Saints. We look back at the lives of those exemplary men and women who have gone before us in order to look forward at what awaits us and live in the here and now so as to reach that place beyond all time and space.

What is a saint? Most fundamentally it is someone who has lived with God in this life so as to live with Him forever in the next. A saint can be thought of in so many different ways: as a friend of God, a pilgrim who has reached his destination, a mustard seed that has reached its full stature, one who has climbed the mountain of life and finally stands at its summit. The truth is, there are as many definitions of sainthood as there are people. Each of us in our ordinariness are called to the extraordinariness of eternal life.

How wonderful! But how do we apply this concretely, how are we called to live saintly lives in the context of our day-to-day? To me, the answer lies in LOVE. Because God is love, and Scripture tells us that he who loves is born of God and knows God. God lives His life in us when we love. What better example of this than the life of the Blessed Mother, the first of all the saints!

We see in the Incarnation Mary giving herself so trustingly, so obediently, and with such humility to the will of God. She does not know what will happen, how she will be treated or how any of this is possible. But she says “yes” to God, to His plan for her life, and by her “yes” God’s love enters into the world: the love of God takes on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.

Let this be our model as we enter the month of November and celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. In our daily lives, in ways big and small, may we say “yes” to God, and allow His love to enter the world through us. May it take flesh in our actions, incarnate in how we treat one another and give of ourselves in humble service. For Mary, this meant giving birth to the Savior. For us it means smiling at a stranger, praying for a friend in need, taking time to talk to a homeless person, listening attentively long after we’ve lost interest, and sharing our study notes when we’d rather refuse. In short, finding ways each day to love one another as Christ has loved us.

In this our world is transformed, in this our lives are renewed; in this we live in God, and God in us, and we become His saints.

 Julian Paparella, Newmanite in absentia

This past summer, I had the most amazing experience of going to Rio de Janeiro to celebrate World Youth Day with the Catholic youth of the world. I traveled with not only friends from McGill, but with students from across Ontario (and a Newfie!). It was an exhilarating two weeks, and the people I met on that journey were most definitely life-changers. They amazed me, they inspired me, they challenged me to become more than I was, and I’m honoured to be able to call them my friends. And not only these friends, but the many people who were a part of that journey – among them the wonderful guides and translators, the people we stood next to in those crowds, the Australian that traded me for a much sought-after koala – showed me the ever-present love of Christ. More than anything, it reminded me of that community of brothers and sisters that exists outside of the parish, outside of the Centre, outside of Montreal.

We are members in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. That Church is so much larger than ourselves… so much larger than we can imagine.

Let’s think about that first phrase, the one we profess in the Creed at Mass. I’d like to draw your attention to a particular adjective in it: ‘one’. When we pray, we unite with the rest of the Church in reaching towards God. There is a unity in how we can pray the Divine Office, knowing that religious around the world are doing the same, keeping the world alive in constant prayer. There is a unity in how we can walk into any church in the world on a given day and join in the Mass, knowing that it would be the same that day at home. But on a practical level, we’re all on different walks of life. The Church is made of students, teachers, janitors, scientists, married, singles, priests, parents, children, 9-to-5ers… within that unity there is an amazing variety. And in that variety, we find our own ways to bring ourselves closer to Christ.

But what about everyone else? What about our brothers and sisters in Christ, especially those who are not always physically present in our lives? What about those friends of ours who live far away, and are in contact with through the likes of social networking? What about the other Catholic groups in campuses across the country? How can we bring these people into our lives?

Prayer.

Through prayer, we can lift each other higher towards God. We can unite ourselves to the lives of those far away by offering our prayers. On a local level, that’s a lot simpler to achieve than we think. Asking the community to offer up a daily Mass for the intentions of another group, or group prayer (perhaps guided by Scripture or the Rosary) – these are wonderful ways to join in lifting the universal Church towards heaven. And even if it’s at a time that you can’t make it to join your group, just offering up your work at the time and lifting that up for the glory of God is a way of praying for them. We’re in the era of Facebook and Twitter, where information on our friends reaches us so quickly. Doesn’t that mean that it’s so much easier to offer up what we’re doing at that moment for them?

So I encourage you to reach out to friends and churches from afar and pray for them! Make prayer indicator exchanges with other universities. Find those community initiatives that need your support and get involved. Organize prayer nights where you and another group pray for each other at the same time, even if you’re not physically together. Ask others to pray for you, too! Us members are connected in the same Church, even if it doesn’t always feel like it, and this oneness is so integral to what the Church is. It is in reaching out to our brethren that we will all – as the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church – grow closer to God, together.

In Christ,
Vanessa

The first McGill Interfaith Student Council (MISC) met for the first time today. This is super exciting! 13 representatives from different religious groups on campus (from Muslim Students’ Association, Ghetto Shul, Sikh Students’ Association, Newman, and many more) came together to discuss what our role as a council on campus would be. Everyone seemed to agree that the focus of the council is going to be to create and environment for interdenominational discussion as well as to try to eliminate the stereotypes and misconceptions about each religion and about religion as a whole. It’s really exciting and promising to see students from different religions all striving for a common goal! Stay tuned for upcoming events organized by MISC.

God bless!

Thibault (Newman Representative to MISC)

Last night we had our annual Thanksgiving meal SNS (Saturday Night Supper) at Newman. While eating the most amazing food (Thank you Ana, Jenny and friends for the turkey, green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie!), we had a chance to reflect on what we are thankful for… We usually take time to do this at Thanksgiving, but it’s a good habit to get into any time of the year. One suggestion is to take some time at the end of the day and reflect on how God was present during the day: What are you thankful for? What were some of the highs and lows of the day? How was God present in your day?

This is also sometimes called the Examen prayer. You can read more about it here: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/

October 2, 2013

Greetings Newmanites!

How art thou? I am now living in Houston, Texas, serving for a year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC), living out JVC’s four core values of spirituality, community, simple living, and social justice. During this year, I am residing in an impoverished neighborhood with five other Jesuit volunteers. My five housemates are amazing people doing equally amazing things throughout the city, including working in refugee services, a food pantry, advocacy against human trafficking, and at a legal firm that tries to get people on death row a life sentence instead.

My own full-time volunteer position here in Houston is at the Open Door Mission as the social services coordinator, where I work with a team of social workers to provide services to homeless men in our addiction recovery program and convalescent care center. Basically, I do intake and conduct psychosocial and social services needs assessments. I help the guys get ID cards, social security cards, birth certificates, refer them to medical, psychological, and dental appointments, and help them get health insurance. On Fridays, I teach a gardening class for men in the convalescent care center. I helped finish making raised garden beds that are wheelchair accessible. This past week, we just planted a variety of plants- strawberries, pineapple, marigolds, cabbage, tomatoes, and others. The guys had so much fun!

Although the transition from Quebec to Texas is a huge culture shock and I miss Montreal, Texas is really growing on me. My neighborhood is full of great Salvadorian and Mexican restaurants, where I have discovered the beauty of pupusas and horchata. I have seen an armadillo in the wild, as well as tarantulas. The music scene here is really interesting; I’ve seen country and rock shows so far. And in two weeks, I am getting ready to run in my first 5k ever!

If y’all could please pray for the men at the Open Door Mission, and for my community here, I would really appreciate it! And please email me at emily.erkkinen@mail.mcgill.ca, especially if you’re interested in doing JVC!

Paz,

Emily