Marco Carvalho
Starting from February, a new liturgical choir will animate and support English and Tagalog language Masses at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady. The Padre Pio Choir was formally introduced on Sunday, February 2nd. On the very same day, the Couples for Christ Choir, Macau’s oldest English language ensemble, commemorates its 18th anniversary.
Macau’s English and Tagalog speaking Catholics have a double reason to celebrate this coming Sunday. Founded in 2007 by Danilo Perez Ngo and Father Dennis Rocheford – a former teacher at the University of Saint Joseph – the Couples for Christ Choir will commemorate its 18th birthday, by offering choral eucharistic services during the half past noon Mass.
Affiliated with the Couples for Christ lay family movement, the ensemble consists of nearly 30 members, but rarely gets to perform in full force. The circumstance convinced
the English language pastoral ministry at the Macau Cathedral to ponder an alternative solution, so that there is always a group of people available to sing at church masses: “Currently, the Couples for Christ Choir consists of 25 to 30 members, but not all of them are active. Among the group’s constituents there are many female members who work as domestic workers. Some of them are called to work even on Sunday. On the other hand, if there are any Couples for Christ events taking place simultaneously, the number of people available to sing at the Eucharist will be, more than likely, smaller”, Danilo Perez Ngo told “O Clarim”. “We are trying to attract more choir members willing to join the group, but, at the same time, we are also recruiting people to join two other groups in the process of formation. Last year, I proposed the constitution of three different choral groups, so that we could have not only a chorale for the Couples for Christ members, but also other faithful who are not involved and active members of Couples for Christ. It’s a way of ensuring that there is always someone available to sing at Mass”, the choirmaster explained.
A civil engineer by training, Danilo Perez Ngo took on the responsibility of establishing and consolidating the new Padre Pio Choir, but also to lay the groundwork for the creation of a novel youth choir, under the auspices of the Couples for Christ movement. The three groups will take turns animating the Eucharistic celebrations in Tagalog at the Macau Cathedral. The Padre Pio Choir should be the first to be introduced, this coming Sunday: “We will have three different choirs. The first is the preexistent Couples for Christ Choir, which will exclusively include members of the movement. We will have a choir for children and youth, also affiliated with the Couples for Christ movement. Finally, we will also have a new, unrestricted choir, open to anyone. Father Leonard Dollentas suggested that the new choir should be named Padre Pio Choir. As you know, Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is one of the saints venerated in the Cathedral,” Danilo Perez Ngo explains.
In addition to the Couples for Christ Choir, the Cathedral’s English-language Eucharistic celebrations are also animated by the Nativity Choir and the Shepherds Choir.
Follow
