December 2024 - Mother of Mercy Catholic Hymns

In many of my HYMN OF THE MONTH write-up’s, I have mentioned with much affection St. Mary’s Choir, of Akron, Ohio. I have included bits and pieces about the organist and choir members from time to time. As I grow older, and Christmas or Easter comes around, I remember them even more and so I thought I would take the time to share a little history and a few anecdotes with you while I am still able. (Click on any image to enlarge)

Our organist was Ralph Jordan and among the many organists that I have had the pleasure to work with over the years, he was the best. The Howe family sat a couple of pews behind the organ which was near the Sanctuary. This organ console was used primarily for School Masses and Sunday Masses when the choir wasn’t singing, and there was also a duplicate organ console in the choir loft.

We generally, attended the 12 o’clock Mass on Sunday’s and we were Catholic’s who liked to sing, and we weren’t shy about it. During the summer of 1977, my junior year of high school, I remember Mr. Jordan turned to me after Mass one day and asked if I would be interested in singing in the choir. I said, yes but that I would have to ask Mom and Dad and see if they were okay with me joining the choir. Please do that he replied, I would really like for you to sing with us. Well, I asked Mom and Dad, and they didn’t object and so began my musical journey with St. Mary’s Choir.

Mr. Jordan apart from being a great organist was also a great singing coach. I remember practicing with him on many occasions to learn to sing solo’s. There were several solo pieces that I learned and one in particular that I have fond memories of is the Christmas song The Christ Child which I sang on many occasions as part of our Christmas program. It’s easy to get caught up in reminiscing about him and what he taught me; I have much to be grateful for.

The newspaper article below from the Akron Beacon Journal sums up Mr. Jordan’s own musical journey. He began playing the Austin Organ when he was a young man in 1929, he was only 13 years old. He last touched the keys of the organ on Christmas Eve of 1995. Shortly after Christmas, he fell ill, was hospitalized and eventually was sent to the hospice center where he lingered until August of 1996. He served St. Mary’s Parish for 67 years.

Mentioned in the article above was the assistant organist, Mary Leary. She became the organist after Mr. Jordan died and continued the musical traditions that had become a signature of St. Mary’s. Mary was also Organist and Choir Director for Visitation of Mary (formerly Annunciation Parish) in Akron, Ohio. Her musical career spans 50 years. Mary was also a gifted artist excelling in Watercolor, Japanese Sumi Painting, and Russian Folk Art.

Mary continued as the organist until 2005, she then became ill and it was necessary for her to step down. Mary and I had many conversations regarding the musical traditions of St. Mary’s. She was so proud to be following in the footsteps of a great organist and choir director. She once told me, enjoy the music while it lasts because when it is gone, it will be gone. In many ways she was right, the musical traditions of St. Mary’s are gone now and the wonderful Christmas and Easter music that we used to sing are only memory.

Being a member of St. Mary’s Choir was like being part of an extended family and one of the fondest memories I have are of the choir picnics and Christmas parties. These wonderful gatherings were hosted at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jordan who lived in Randolph, Ohio. It was their way of showing appreciation for all our hard work. The Christmas parties were extra special because before the night was over, and with a cup of cheer in hand, we would gather around the organ in the Jordan’s home and sing Christmas carols.

I became good friends with all of the choir members, but two individuals stand out among the rest. The first is Tom McNeill and then Bill Ferreri. Tom and I sang together for the longest time, and I did a special tribute to Tom last year. You can read more about this tribute by clicking on this link: The New Born King.

Bill and I became good friends over the years. He was a connoisseur of music, particularly the opera. He was a member of the Legion of Mary, the Holy Name Society, and a US Navy Veteran. I remember one rehearsal he was helping me to reach a high tenor note. He said, just think of it as climbing a ladder. I am still trying to reach those high notes Bill! We would often sing duets together and our voices blended so nicely that none of the parishioners knew that two voices were singing unless they turned around and looked up into the choir loft.

I credit Bill for starting me off on my Catholic Hymnal collection. He gave me a copy of the 1920 St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book – Complete edition, which he inscribed to me, Given to my very good friend Don Howe this 1st day of May 1984. May God Bless You Always. May you sing his praises forever.

Bill died suddenly in January 1996.

Below are some photos taken of St. Mary’s Choir.

In the photo from 1995, in the top row from left to right is Bill Ferreri, Don Howe, Tom McNeill, and Tel Wartko. In the second row left to right is Kathy Lushbaugh, Charline Cathell, Pat Bettle, and Mary Sargent. In the bottom row is Barb Rotunda, Mary Leary, Ralph Jordan, Dorothy Brouse, and Jeannette McCormick.

In the photo from 2000, in the top row from left to right is Tom McNeill, Don Howe, Bob Howe, Tel Wartko, and Leonard (our trumpet player). The second row is Anna Bennett, Mary Leary, Mary Jo Maximovich, Barb Rotunda, and Jeannett McCormick.

If you live in the Akron area, I invite you to come to St. Mary’s Mass on Sunday’s at 9am, and if you are interested in singing in the choir come and find me. I continue to sing at St. Mary’s, and I share the cantor role with the organist. Most of the St. Mary Choir members pictured above are gone now and I am the last of that wonderful and special group of singers.

In Memoriam

Deceased St. Mary Choir Members

Al Jordan (1911-1995) deceased
Bill Ferreri (1929-1996) deceased
Catherine Wolf (1917-2006) deceased
Dorothy Brouse ( d. 2003) deceased
Eleonore Kuhne (1922-2018) deceased
Harry Considine Jr., (1913-1996) deceased
Jeannette McCormick (1923-2012) deceased
John Petros (1895-1991) deceased
Martin Wolf (1912-1993) deceased
Mary Tsakeres (1923-1994) deceased
Ted Kellers Sr., (1915-2004) deceased
Tel Wartko (1928-2010) deceased
Tom McNeill (1933-2019) deceased

Mr. Jordan was faithful to make recordings of our Christmases, Easter’s and special celebrations like May Crownings. He would place his boom box down on the organ bench near the Sanctuary and instructed his wife Beatrice on how to start, stop, flip the cassette tape, and press record. Needless to say, I have played mine repeatedly and so several years back I digitized the best of these recordings which are featured below. They are not professional recordings and you can hear a wide spectrum of background sounds including banging kneelers, people shuffling by each other, individual choir voices, etc.

The first group of recordings are from a special devotion we did in Honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in June 1982. One of the hymns O Sacred Heart, O Love Divine was featured in my HYMN OF THE MONTH, please click on the link to learn more about the author and composer.

The second group of recordings are from the Midnight Mass on December 24, 1985 with special attribution given to the soloist.

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In summer of 2023, I was approached by Peter Meggison, producer of The Devotional Hymns Project to engrave five original manuscripts by a religious Sister of Mercy. He recounted a wonderful anecdote about meeting her in 1987, when she was quite elderly but was still able to communicate.

This hymn write-up is about Sister Mary Ignatia Giblin (1910-1990) and her composition for the sacred Christmas song The City of David is Sleeping.

Elizabeth Joan Giblin was born to her parents Thomas and Flora Giblin (neé Lecraw) on November 16, 1910 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She entered the Sisters of Mercy at Mt. St. Rita on July 2, 1927 and made her perpetual vows at St. Xaviers in Providence, Rhode Island on March 12, 1933.

While a novitiate, Sister Mary Giblin was a student of Mother Mary Alexis Donnely, R.S.M., a well-known Catholic composer who published three hymnals and various pieces for different occasions. Many of her compositions were published in a series of hymn pamphlets by McLaughlin and Rielly.

Sister Mary Giblin had various assignment throughout the Catholic Schools of the Providence Diocese teaching 1^st and 2^nd grades. She began teaching music at St. Xavier’s Academy in 1935. She earned a Bachelor of Education degree in music in 1937 and a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Rose’s College in 1942. Then in 1945, she was assigned to St. Mary School in Pawtucket where she taught music.

During the summer months of June and July 1945 she underwent a major operation at St. Joseph’s Hospital and recuperated at St. Francis Xavier Convent. By September of the same year she was back teaching music at St. Mary School, a position she held for several years.

In September 1952, she was assigned to St. Michael School in Providence teaching music at the school and convent. In 1953, almost a year later to the date, she was assigned to Sacred Heart Convent where she taught the fourth grade until 1964.

In the spring of 1964, she underwent an operation for a malignancy at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and spent the better part of the year receiving treatments and recuperating. She retired in 1972 tutoring part time at the Mt. St. Rita Health Center. In the same year, ill health confined her to the Mercy infirmary. She remained there until her death on November 23, 1990.

At her funeral, one of her pupils reflected on her life. All of us who were associated with Sister Mary Ignatia can look back on her and on her special gift of music and fondly recall how she shared that gift with so many people. Her greatest joy was to create music: to play the organ for Mass or Benediction, to direct operettas,… to rewrite or reword songs for sing-a-longs that added so much joy to a sister’s jubilee celebration, to bring smiles to the faces of little children, to encourage young musicians who were struggling as they began to learn how to play the piano, or those taking voice lessons who tried so hard – according to the instructions – to breathe from the diaphragm and always to use head tones.

Throughout most of her active years in ministry, she was known for her love of music and her ability to pull music talent from even the most unlikely sources. For one whose life was so filled with song, we may also say that her songs became prayers. For she fingered her rosary constantly and always appreciated and responded when someone spent a few moments with her in prayer.

The music which follows was transcribed from original manuscripts provided by Peter Meggison, producer of The Devotional Hymns Project.

The following musical arrangements were made by David E. Sylvester, a long-time organist and friend of Peter Meggison. David started playing the organ at St. Mary’s Church in Pawtucket at a young age when Sister Mary Ignatia was a teacher, although he didn’t have her in school when he was a student there. David and I exchanged emails shortly after I transcribed his arrangements, and he was quite impressed stating Outstanding job on the music! He conveyed to me that all of his choir’s loved to sing this sacred Christmas song.

The City of David is Sleeping, edited, and arranged by Gilbert Prentiss (1927-2008), was published by McLaughlin and Reilly Co., in 1968. It also appeared in piano songbooks of the 1960s and 1970s.

The photo below is courtesy of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Archives in North Carolina.

A comment on the photograph. The date of the photo is not known but is probably around 1929 when Sister Ignatia was a Novice. Few photographs exist of the Sisters but clearly there were times when groups were photographed. Sisters were not usually allowed to have photographs taken until the late 1960s, which makes this photograph incredibly special.

While researching this sacred Christmas song, I came upon a newspaper article found in The Thompsonville Press, a Connecticut newspaper. This particular edition was published on December 31, 1914 in the social column In Neighboring Places. The article describes the Christmas morning services at St. Mary’s Church in Longmeadow where a Miss Gertrude Hughes sang a solo The City of David is Sleeping.

This confirms anecdotal evidence conveyed to me that the City of David appeared in some old hymnals and that the composition by Sister Mary Giblin is original.

Sister Mary Ignatia also composed music for the following hymns. Look for these and other fine hymns in future write-ups.

Ave Maria (May 1944, Ascension Day)
God of Love (a Thanksgiving hymn)
Jesus When in Cruel Anguish
My God, My Life, My Love (August 1944, while on retreat)

Reflection

Having the opportunity to transcribe Sister Mary Ignatia’s original manuscripts allowed me to be the first to hear her music in a long time. I was immediately captivated by The City of David Sleeping. It is absolutely beautiful, it is simple and easy to learn, and most of all, it tells the wonderful story of Christmas. It brought back memories of the of kind of music that I would sing with St. Mary’s Choir in Akron, Ohio. Take a moment to read the verses and reflect on them, and I’m sure you’ll agree.

The music of Sister Mary Ignatia Giblin, R.S.M., like those who came before her, Sister Mary Xavier, S.N.D; Sister Mary of St. Philip, S.N.D.; Sister M. B., R.S.M; and Sister Mary Alexis Donnelly, R.S.M, have been forgotten by all but a few vintage organists and hymn researchers.

I think it’s important to remember their contributions and to sing their hymns and sacred songs once more.

A special thank you to Peter Meggison, producer of The Devotional Hymns Project who made available to me a new recording of Sister M. Ignatia’s The City of David is Sleeping.

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If you liked this write-up on Sister Mary Giblin’s sacred Christmas song, please take a moment to read about these other fine hymns and sacred songs that are very appropriate for the Christmas season.

Month: December 2024