Singing the Praises of God

By Sister Marie Bernadette, O.P.

Soaring melodies filled Siena Hall July 15-19 as Sister Rosemary Esseff, O.P. led the chant workshop, “Singing the Hours: The Divine Office as Prayer, Tradition, and Song.” Participants learned to sing the new translation of the Liturgy of the Hours psalmody using Dominican-Gregorian psalm tones.

“The Divine Office engages the whole person in the prayer of Christ and His Church . . .” Sister Rosemary reflected. “Each singer becomes a member of a praying body.”

Participants received direct instruction on chanting together and attended conferences on liturgy, chant, and polyphonic music based on the chant modes. One participant said the conferences “helped me to reflect on how to better enter into the meaning of the psalm and to proclaim it when singing.”

Attendees sang the Hours as well as the polyphony of Palestrina and Bartolucci in some of Nashville’s most beautiful sacred spaces, including the Cathedral of the Incarnation. The workshop culminated at St. Cecilia Motherhouse Chapel where participants chanted Lauds with the Dominican Sisters and sang Domenico Bartolucci’s motet “Domine exaudi” during the offertory of the Mass.

Sister Rosemary holds a Ph.D. in composition from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the Vatican’s music conservatory. She is director of sacred music for St. Cecilia Congregation.