"The Requiem" Gregorian chant album tops
charts
Billboard charts for classical music for four weeks. “The
Requiem,” by members of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP),
focuses on the traditional Gregorian chants sung at funerals
in the Roman Rite.
The Fraternity is a society of apostolic life dedicated to
the formation and sanctification of priests in the extraordinary form of
the Roman Rite, and to the pastoral development of the priests in the service
of the Church.
It may seem strange an album of Latin chant music,
sung by priests dedicated to the ancient form of the liturgy, should achieve
such wide renown. To find out more about the popularity of “The Requiem,”
Vatican Radio spoke with Father Zachary Akers, a young priest of
the Fraternity.
“I think people are drawn to beauty, whether it be in the
Catholic Church, or even the secular world,” Fr Akers told us. “People are
drawn to the transcendence of this ancient form of singing, which is the
heritage of our Church, so I’m very happy to see that it’s been well received,
not only in the Catholic world, but even in the secular classical music world
as well.”
Father Akers also spoke about the attraction of Gregorian
chant for young people. “I think young people like to be part of something
that's older and bigger than themselves. You see in the college and university
life that people want to be part of a fraternity or sorority that their father
or grandfather was part of. And I think we see this in the liturgy as well,
there’s a great hunger and desire to return to something that was held so
sacred and important to our forefathers.”
He also noted the contrast with other popular forms of
music. “What we’re doing,” Father Akers said, is “re-presenting this beautiful
music, which is not just musical composition, but it's a prayer. And so I think
it's a wonderful way to light a candle in the darkness of this world, by
showing the beauty that the Church has to offer.”
Young people, he continued, “are thirsting for the truth --
and so it’s no surprise to me that we are in a culture where people are
searching for more depth, and so they are drawn to give their life to God.”
“And so we pray that this album, maybe, might have some part
in restoring the sense of the sacred, especially in liturgical music.”
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