There has been a long tradition at the Holy Name of great liturgical music. St Philip would often take groups of young men into the fields around Rome, there to learn to love God and his Mother, to share in the joys and humour of Christian life, all accompanied by music and song made by his friends the musicians and singers of the Roman churches. He knew that fellowship with God and with each other should be fun.

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At the Holy Name on each Sunday and Solemnity the best of the Church’s music is used in the worship of Almighty God. There is a varied range from the Church’s own chant and polyphony, to orchestral settings on great feasts. Rehearsals are on Mondays at 6.30pm.
Sacred music, like the solemn rites of the liturgy, is not an extra but a vital part of our worship of Almighty God. With liturgical movement and gesture, music has the ability to take up the emotions and aspirations of human creatures and lift them and present them to God. It is a way in which we in turn understand more about the meaning of the mysteries of our faith. We use all our senses to penetrate the mysteries in order to assent to them.
The Holy Spirit guides us towards God in ways which are attractive. When we come across beautiful things in this world, if we would be attentive to them, they can teach us of their Creator. Music in the drama of the sacred liturgy, fulfills this role; of leading human beings to God through beauty. This beauty has brought us to kneel before Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, who is Truth. He teaches us the truth concerning God, man and the world, and so enlightened and fed on his Body and Blood, we return to the world to act in ways which are good and virtuous, according to what we have been taught. Here is the world of ethics, founded upon the Word of God made flesh.
Beauty brings us from the shadows of the world to the one who is Truth, and thus enlightened we return to do what is Good. Thus music and the solemn rites of the sacred liturgy are the essence of evangelisation. It is not our work, but with work of the Blessed Trinity into which we are immersed.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit, in which we cooperate, bringing us to the work of the Word of God, in which we colaborate. All this is the work of the Blessed Trinity in which we are co-creators of the world in which we live, refashioning it according to the life of the living God. All this comes from the music we use at Mass and in the solemn rites of the Church.
If you would like more information, or would like to sing in the choir at the Holy Name, please contact Br Richard at the Holy Name, or Rosemarie Darby on the Church Links button or at info@stphilipnerisingers.org.uk