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Throughout the course of Boston College’s religious and spiritual life, it is often the Liturgy Arts Group that provides the soundtrack.
Under the direction of Campus Minister Meyer Chambers, LAG — comprised primarily of undergraduates — provides music at Sunday liturgies and other special events on campus, such as the Mass of the Holy Spirit, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults Mass, the annual “send-off Mass” for the Appalachian Volunteers program and, most recently, the BC Arts Festival.
LAG’s roster of both seasoned and less experienced singers and musicians offers a repertoire of classic hymns and spirituals, as well as more contemporary works — some by BC-affiliated composers like Associate Campus Minister JoJo David, an occasional LAG accompanist. A LAG performance might feature the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts,” “They Who Do Justice” by eminent liturgical composer David Haas, and a South African spiritual, “Siyahamba,” that includes lyrics in Zulu.
But LAG is about more than singing songs: Its members believe in the tradition of music-making as an expression of faith, and share it not only with one another and with the University community, but with congregations and communities outside Boston College — among other places, they have sung at local schools, the Italian Home for Children and the MCI-Framingham women's prison.
“It is a service, first of all — a service to the University,” says Chambers, “and in particular to their peers in the student body.”
And like most any student organization, LAG members say, the group is a means for building relationships through common interests and goals.
“LAG combines BC ideals about service for others, as well as making friends and having a safe place to talk to each other about our daily lives, and about God,” says senior Mark Zappi. “For me, it’s been a life-changing experience.”
The group was started in the late 1980s by Musician-in-Residence and Music Ministries Director Laetitia Blain as an outgrowth of the University Chorale, then under the direction of Alexander Peloquin, according to Chambers. When Blain retired in 2000, her former student Kate Leavey ’91, MA ’93 served as LAG director, and was succeeded in 2003 by Chambers.
“It’s a wonderful legacy to work in,” says Chambers. “I’m truly honored to follow in the wake of such great people.”
On one unseasonably warm late-winter afternoon, LAG gathered for its weekly rehearsal in St. Joseph’s Chapel on Upper Campus. Students settled into chairs, exercised their voices, arranged sheet music, chatted about their spring break activities — and other subjects college students are wont to discuss — and joked with the ever-amiable Chambers.
Finally, it was time for an important LAG ritual, one that does not involve singing scales or other vocal warm-ups: The members, along with Chambers, gathered into a circle, held hands and invited one another to pray.
“We pray for each other, we pray for the strength of the group — anything that anyone sees fit, whatever is going on in our lives,” explains Michael Sabounjian, who as a non-Catholic finds it meaningful “to be able to pray with students of different faith traditions, in a safe environment. I think it’s quite powerful.”
The faith-and-fellowship component is equally important for Sarah Otterson ’13, as is the opportunity to continue her involvement in church music, which dates back to third grade. Being part of LAG, she says, also allows her to relish sublime moments, such as during the Christmas Mass at St. Ignatius Church.
“Everyone is given candles, and at one point the lights are dimmed and the candles all are lit,” she says. “To see that wave of light spreading all the way back into the congregation is just a wonderful spiritual experience, one I would never have been able to appreciate if I wasn’t in LAG.”
The enthusiasm for, and dedication to, liturgical music shown by students like Otterson, Chambers says, represents a valuable future resource for the Catholic Church, one that LAG seeks to encourage.
“We want [the students] to go into parishes and be active participants — not only in the choir but in helping support the music ministry of the parish, and its other ministries as well. Hopefully, some people might go into professed as well as ordained ministries. It’s part of our baptismal call to help in the Church’s furthering.”
The prayer concluded, the students settled back into their chairs and searched through the sheet music until they found the first piece to be practiced. Silence hung in the chapel for a few seconds, Chambers holding his right hand steady and looking into the students’ eyes, and then, with gentle piano chords, LAG brought forth its collective voice as the late afternoon sun began to decline.
The Liturgy Arts Group website is http://www.bc.edu/offices/ministry/liturgy/lag.html.