HIS CHRISTMAS was the first time that my choir, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Choir, sang at the Christmas Day Mass at St Joseph’s Church (Victoria Street) Singapore and we had such a blessed time at Mass, singing of the wonderment of God’s Love in the Incarnation. Quite a number of our choir members were moved to tearful contemplation as we sang Morten Lauridsen’s ‘O Magnum Mysterium.’ This beautiful composition was requested by one of my choir members, and here’s a live recording of us singing it:
Apostolic Nuncios • The celebrant at the Christmas Day Mass was His Excellency Archbishop Marek Zalewski, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic of Singapore and co-celebrating with him was Monsignor Marinko Antolovic, Charge d’Affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in Singapore. The choir was delighted when our rector Fr. Joe Lopez asked us to take a photo with the Nuncio after Mass and we happily thronged down the stairs from the choir loft to do so. I must say I’ve grown to really love our little community of choir members. Each one has a story of how they joined the choir and each person is such a gift in my life:
Memorable Gift • We’ve grown quite a bit from our initial 7 or so members when we first started singing back in July 2022 for St Joseph’s Church at the 5 pm Sunday Mass. Prior to Mass, I was delighted to receive a papal rosary from the Nuncio as a gift. The lovely box bore the Motto of the Holy Father Pope Francis: miserando atque eligendo, taken from a homily by Saint Bede which roughly translates as: “Because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him.”
