Once in a Lifetime : Local Children Eagerly Prepare for Vatican Visit to Sing for the Pope

This morning, after the presents are unwrapped and the stockings emptied, some 500 young singers and their chaperons will finish packing for a once-in-a-lifetime performance before Pope John Paul II in Rome.

The choristers from the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere in Los Angeles, as well as Azusa and Claremont, will leave Sunday to join some 5,000 other children from around the globe to celebrate a special children’s jubilee Mass on Jan. 2, one of the first of the new millennium in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Together, the children make up the International Congress of Pueri Cantores, which will convene its 30th meeting in Rome in conjunction with the Roman Catholic Church’s worldwide celebration of the Great Jubilee Year 2000.

“Our mission, as pueri cantores, is that children around the world will sing of the peace of God,” said Patrick Flahive, president of the American Federation of Pueri Cantores--the Latin term for young singers.

“There is no better image of that 1/8peace 3/8 than a beautiful child singing in a beautiful church,” he said.

Some 109 children’s choirs from a dozen countries are expected to sing at the Mass and other events at various venues in Rome from Wednesday through Jan. 2, Flahive said.

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Local participating choirs include: St. Mel Catholic Church and St. Mel School in Woodland Hills; St. John Baptist De La Salle Church in Granada Hills; St. John Eudes Catholic Church in Chatsworth; Our Lady of Lourdes in Tujunga; the Choir of Mary’s Children in Claremont; and the Choirs of Our Lady Queen of Angels in Azusa, an independent, nonprofit children’s choir.

The highlight of the overseas tour will be the performance before the pope--either at a dress rehearsal on New Year’s Eve or at the Mass, Flahive said. The pope’s health will determine his schedule.

Either way, Flahive said the children are excited about the prospect of singing before the head of the Roman Catholic Church at the turn of the millennium.

“The Holy Father is really fond of children,” Flahive said. “If he comes to the dress rehearsal, at the end he will shake hands with the children and talk to them about the importance of what they are doing . . . 1/8by 3/8 lifting up others through their music.”

Excitement over the trip has been building for weeks, said Richard Medrano, children’s choir director at St. John Eudes.

“They are so excited,” he said. “They had no problem sacrificing some of their vacation so they could sing with other Christians from around the world.”

As the performance has drawn closer, Kathy King, music director at St. Mel School, said it has been a challenge to keep the young singers focused on the Gregorian chants and other sacred music they will perform.

Between vocal exercises, breathing techniques and Latin studies, King said she gives the kids lots of encouragement.

“I tell them that this is the first music ever sung in the history of the Roman Catholic Church,” she said, “and that we are going to a historical place where this music was meant to be sung.”

King’s words apparently have gotten through to choir member Elyssa Parven, 10, who said she practices all the time at home to be at her best when she sings before the pope.

“I feel like this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing to see the pope,” she said, adding that she willingly gave up weekends with friends to attend practices. “I’d rather sacrifice a Saturday than not go to Rome.”

Choir member Mark Abcede, 13, said he can’t wait to get back home to tell everyone that “I saw the pope up close and we sang for him.”

Marisa Hernandez-Stern of Pasadena said meeting Pope John Paul II on New Year’s Eve in 1993 was the most significant event of her life.

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LAt the time, Marisa was a member of the Choirs of Our Lady Queen of Angels, whose members were among thousands of pueri cantores choristers rehearsing in St. Peter’s Basilica for a papal Mass marking the new year.

“A tremendous cheer went up from the 9,000 children as His Holiness the Pope came around the corner, into our view and walked right up to us,” Marisa wrote in an essay. “I have to be honest when I describe the excitement of shaking the Pope’s soft hand. It was like squeezing Gummi Bears, but a most thrilling moment for me.”

By inviting youth choirs to participate in the Mass, Pope John Paul II is emphasizing the importance of sacred music in the spiritual and intellectual lives of children, said Flahive, who also doubles as director of the Choirs of Our Lady Queen of Angels.

“Through singing, the children get in touch with their faith,” he said. “Singing becomes a lifelong expression of joy in their lives.”