A Mass Effort

It was a typical after-school rehearsal with 34 members of Our Lady of Lourdes choir polishing their Christmas program. Even though the performance was that night, some of the kids were antsy and couldn’t sit still.

One boy insisted on wearing his sporty sunglasses to try to distract three soloists. Another really felt the beat of “Calypso Noel”; his body moves drew a stern glare from a parent.

But a year from now, when these children perform at a once-in-a-lifetime concert, they will probably be too awe-struck to goof off.

Their audience, after all, will be the pope.

“I’m going to be nervous,” admitted 14-year-old Arline Cana. “Because so many people around the world will be there.”

Arline and her fellow choir members will join 10,000 children from across the globe singing at the first Mass of the year 2000 at the Vatican. As of Thursday, 14 American groups will be performing at the millennium jubilee. Half are California choirs--including four from the San Fernando Valley and one each from the San Gabriel Valley, Claremont and the Bay Area.

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“This is something that’s not going to happen again in our children’s lifetimes or our children’s grandchildren’s lifetimes,” said Kevin King, director of Our Lady of Lourdes choir in Tujunga.

Area choirs at the jubilee include: St. John Baptist de LaSalle, Granada Hills; a boys choir from St. Mel Parish and a coed choir from St. Mel School, both in Woodland Hills; Our Lady Queen of Angels, Azusa, and the Choir of Mary’s Children, Claremont.

Every continent will be represented at the Jan. 2, 2000, Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, said Patrick Flahive, president of the American Federation of Pueri Cantores.

Pueri Cantores--Latin for Little Singers--is an international organization of children’s choirs that was invited to sing at the millennium jubilee.

Pope John Paul II issued the invitation after hearing 10,000 members sing at the group’s International Congress in 1993 in Rome. “Upon seeing you, I think of the eternal youth of the church,” he said in a published statement. “You are the future of the church.”

Although Pueri Cantores is traditionally a Catholic organization, non-Catholic choirs will also perform at the jubilee because the pope has encouraged Christian choirs of other denominations to join Pueri Cantores.

Pueri Cantores has not yet chosen the music the children will sing. There will definitely be songs in English and Latin, and possibly a holiday song with each lyric in a different language.

Although they don’t know which songs to rehearse, choirs are busy planning for the big trip, from making airline and hotel reservations to organizing intensive summer rehearsals.

Next summer, at Our Lady of Lourdes, King said his choir of second- through eighth-graders will attend a two-week camp at church. “The kids will spend time learning music in different languages--definitely Latin and probably some Italian,” he said.

Over in Granada Hills, the St. John Baptist de LaSalle choir has already learned parts of the Latin Mass, said director Kim Park.

This summer, Park is also hosting the Golden Gate Boys Choir from Hayward because it will also perform before the pope. She plans to gather several choirs for practices and performances before the big Rome visit.

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Although preparing to sing for the pope will take hours of practice, raising money for the two-week trip is also a time-consuming task. Fund-raising efforts include the traditional raffles and rummage sales, as well as some other moneymaking ideas.

In Azusa, the Choir of Our Lady Queen of Angels received a $3,000 grant from the Rio Hondo Foundation to record a holiday CD this summer, which will go on sale in the fall, said Flahive, who is also the choir director.

At Our Lady of Lourdes, in addition to traditional candy sales, the choir is selling long-distance phone cards and has created an Internet Web site for donations--www.rome2000.org. The choir members are expected to work up to 200 hours to raise enough money, about $2,000 each, said parent Nancy Garcia, a fund-raising co-chair.

Park has not received church permission to raise funds. Less than half of her group is going to Rome.

“I know all the children cannot afford to go. We’re organizing a regional event concurrent to the same time the children are singing in Rome,” she said. “They will be with us [in spirit] and celebrating the liturgy here.”

Marilyn Avengoza of Sunland, is going with her daughter, Lara, 11, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes choir. She’s also taking along her 72-year-old mother, Mary. “It’s my dream for her,” she said.

Like many of her fellow choir members, Lara Avengoza has never traveled outside the United States.

“I think it will be really nice because I’ll get to meet more people,” she said. “And singing in front of the pope--it will be very exciting.”

And probably a little nerve-racking.

Added 13-year-old Joseph Fuentes, “We better do this right. This is going to be a new experience for us.”