THINK ABOUT THIS…… After each mass we gather in a circle and hold on to each other and pray…. But during the early days of Psalmody we used to pray twice, before and after each performance….. yes, the mass was our performance, and we treat it as if we are to sing on a major concert….. singing for someone special who we know will be listening every note we sing…. Before each mass we gather around in the traditional circle and with our hands one over the other we hold on to the member next to us…… we use to ask God to touch us before each mass, that He touch our tongues so that we may sing each note perfectly, we ask Him to touch our minds so that we may stay focused on songs and remember each lyric, we ask Him to touch our souls so that we may add beauty and life to ever song we sing, and then we ask Him to touch our hearts for no matter what happens any song sung with the heart stays beautiful and the congregation can feel us…… thus every time the songs starts weather its in unison or in four voices, the conductor signals us by putting his right hand to on his heart to remind us again to put our heart in to it, sometimes he does it in the middle of the song as a constant reminder….. its sounds bad but do it anyway with you hearts. Then at the end of our before concert prayer we invite God to come and listen to us…. That we saved the best seat in the house for Him, then we invite Him to come and seat in our hearts for the sounds is at most beautiful in there…….. Then again after each mass we gather around again in thanksgiving….NO BODY WAS EXCUSED THEN, IT ONLY TOOK US A FEW MINUITES…. It does not matter weather we sung the songs beautifully or badly ( which was most of the time) me make it a point to give Him thanks for the opportunity to serve and for the courage and strength to improve our voices for the next upcoming concert ( in our case next Sunday's mass)… We stand in a circle which symbolizes the group's equality…. It does not matter if you have a good voice or not, we were equals, then with one arm over the other hold on to our group-mates…. well that is to tell each other that we our united and one and to show that if one ever needs help, even though our hands our full we will go out of our way to help each other out….. after giving thanks we ask for His blessing, we asked Him to bless and guide those members who in one way or the other could not make it that day even those who already had gone away (once a Psalminan always a Psalmnian….. no matter how short your stay with us…. You can only enter but never get out)……) Then we ask Him to keep us safe and away from danger as part ways till the day we can meet next week. So next time you pray with the group think about this tradition we have been doing ever since day one of Psalmody, think of its meaning, think about and feel the presence of those who have been in that same circle before you, think about the countless frustrations, the tiring practices, all the sore throats, even the heartaches, the misunderstandings, the unexpected guest singers from outside the Parish that over throws us on a well prepared mass….. think about them and offer it as a sacrifice to Him for giving us our voices and the opportunity to serve Him again…..

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