FRIENDS OF LITURGICAL MUSIC

A hundred years have passed since the parish of Corpus Christi opened for worship in a storefront on the corner of Broadway and 121^st Street. The church subsequently built for the new parish was razed in 1935 to make way for the present building incorporating a church, an auditorium, a school, and a convent. This was the work of the then-new pastor, Father Geo0rge Barry Ford, who also instituted the tradition we cherish today of marrying the best possible music to our liturgies. As he later wrote in his memoirs,

There is no other Christian heritage so rich in appropriate and inspiring music

as that possessed by the Catholic Church. In spite of this fact, most parishes

spent little or no money on gaining the most effective rendition of this priceless

heritage. Instead, there had crept into it many sentimental texts and tunes,

lacking virility and power, and appealing not to the mind or a depth of religious

feeling, but to the superficial emotions.

What he set in motion so confidently then is still in place today at Corpus Christi, thanks to the combined efforts of our pastor, Father Raymond Rafferty, celebrating the 40^th year of his priesthood; our music director, Louise Basbas, celebrating her 30^th year with us; our choir of such tuneful, loyal service (and about ready to record their third CD); our congregation, who love to sing from the heart in hymn and chant; and, central to all of it, you, the Friends of Liturgical Music, who have become the financial backbone to the special character of our liturgical-music tradition.

So I write to announce our eighteenth campaign, which opens on the date of this letter and continues through the next parish fiscal year ending in September 2007. It is a year which will see, next October 22, a visit from the cardinal Archbishop of New York, the first since the 1930s, who will celebrate a Mass inaugurating the many events to come during the parish centennial year.

Amid all of this we must ask that you keep and indeed strengthen your loyalty to the Friends. We will need to raise some $50,000 during this campaign, including $15,000-20,000 in addition to what we normally receive from your regular donations. To do this, we are already planning a benefit organ recital to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the installation of our Holtkamp organ. [For details of our last, and a forecast of our next, campaign, see the enclosed Treasurer's Report from Hervé Varenne.]

We need you to do your best to increase your contribution this year, and if possible to do it by return mail. The cost of living goes up for our choir just as it does for all of us. The sooner we have funds in, the sooner we can plan our activities for the remainder of the year--and I assure you it will be a memorable one.

Finally, please plan to join us on Sunday, June 18, at the 11:15 choral Mass (a program for the music that day is also enclosed) and procession on our titular feast day of Corpus Christi, always a highlight of our liturgical year. Come to the special coffee hour afterward, and bring your friends so we can invite them, too, to officially become Friends.

Thank you and God bless you.

Sincerely,

John F. Thornton

Chairman

Click here for past messages from the chairman.

Click here for a report from the treasurer.

Click here for past music.

The Holtkamp organ

Music commissioned for Corpus Christi

Click here for our new CD, Exsulta! Music for the Feasts of the Church Year.

Click here for our first CD, Pange Lingua: Music for the Feast of Corpus Christi.

To help support the Friends of Liturgical Music at Corpus Christi,

make your check payable to "Friends of Liturgical Music" and mail it to

Friends of Liturgical Music

Corpus Christi Church

529 West 121st Street

New York, New York 10027