As Christmastide comes to a close and the celebrations cease, now is a marvelous time to enter into Ordinary Time with hearts prepared for true growth in holiness. What better aid to turn to in this feat than Our Lady, whose maternity we just celebrated on the first day of the year!
This month in our 3rd and 4th grade music classes we are honoring Our Lady in a special way by composing melodies and poems in her honor. Inspired by prayers of old like the Salve Regina and Immaculate Mary, our young composers are carefully crafting their best musical compositions to share with their classmates at the end of the month!
The tradition of honoring Our Lady through song harkens back to the very beginnings of the Catholic Church, and here at St. Benedict’s we take honoring this tradition to heart. In each grade the students are taught to honor Our Lady in a myriad of ways. Our 1st and 2nd graders resound her praise each week when they sing “Our Lady, Queen of the Apostolate” by Rev. Abelard in his “Story of the Redemption for Children”. This excellent music book covers Gregorian chant, while teaching stories of Jesus, Mary, and the Saints, all with beautiful illustrations for the children to enjoy. In addition to the classroom, we continue to honor Our Lady daily with the Angelus and weekly with chants like the Ave Maria and Salve Regina at our Tuesday Masses.
So with our compositions and constant prayers we will exult the Blessed Mother and implore her intercession as we work hard to grow towards holiness this year! As we journey on this season, let us take to heart these sweet words that our 1st and 2nd graders sing weekly: “’For Jesus, through Mary’ our motto sublime, make work missionary and pleasure divine!”
Author: Cassandra Borges, Music Teacher