Sheil Catholic Center

No history of an institution can ever adequately record "the spirit of the place," which is a product of the people who compose it. Calendars, building specifications, financial accounts, even correspondence never do justice to the people behind them. Individual memory is usually a very personal thing involving the impact and interplay of other persons; the historian's chronicle, restricted to data, misses most of that. A place may bear its own address, present its own configuration of space, publish its own calendar, but the reality of what goes on there will vary according to the special qualities of those who shape the experience within it. A recorded name from the past can be linked to an office, a committee or an event, but it remains only a name: The persona is missing. The only authentic history of Sheil would be one that gathers together the personal testimonials of all those who have played a part in its life -- an impossible task. Our modest hopes must be that recalling some of the names and events will trigger the more significant memories of persons present to one another, sharing both common goals and special gifts, needs and dreams.

Music Through the Years

During the 1950s and early '60s, in the days of the Latin Mass before the liturgical reforms of the second Vatican council, music at Sheil meant chiefly a student choir singing the High Mass in the upstairs chapel each Sunday to the accompaniment of the small organ that is still in the Galvin chapel. Sheil's first choir was organized by organist Joe Michele, who served as choir director through his years as graduate student and for some time afterward as an alumnus.

With the liturgical renewal of the later '60s came new songs and strains. In 1964, Sheil's 25th anniversary, an announcement read: "this year the choir will have a new and important function in leading the transition in the changes of the liturgy, particularly the singing of hymns by the congregation at Low Masses on Sunday." By 1967 the idiom of folk music took hold with the formation of a student folk group, led by Ed Pacana, Paul pastor and Joe Wolinkski. This folk group was the ancestor of later Sheil choirs; its instruments included not only guitars but also tambourines, bongo drums and a string bass. One of the freshmen who introduced that bass to Sheil in 1967 was Dave Schuler, who has one of the longest and closest relationships to Sheil; he later served as choir director.

The musical repertoire of the transition period was that of Ray Repp and the Hymnal for Young Christians; the "Mass for young Americans" and the "Missa Bossa Nova" go back to that period. The trend toward a musical idiom "relevant" to a young congregation also included the use of secular musical forms, which dominated selections for the next half-dozen years. By 1969 Sheil had a regular Saturday midnight Mass, with folk "choir" Tom Stewart and Sue Krueger; that was also the year that Mike Abbene became the first official folk choir director. In the summer of 1971 music doctoral student Tom Brannigan introduced Sheil choirs to four-part choral music.

During the summer of 1972, a young Jesuit named Dan Schutte joined the Sheil community while attending a summer workshop. He brought with him a guitar case full of manuscript music. When he returned to St. Louis at summer's end, the music of the "St. Louis Jesuits" had become a permanent part of Sheil's liturgical repertoire. In the same summer, choir member and guitarist Linda Yoder wrote the first Ordinary produced by the Sheil community, thus starting what has become on of the finest traditions in Sheil musicmaking. Today at Mass, you can still see the names of former students whose music invigorates the familiar phrases of Mass songs: Telscher, Kaduk, Ritchey, Bozzuti, Rashid, Colofranson.

The 1974-78 period was a flourishing one for original music at Sheil, due in large part to the leadership of student and choir director Mike Ritchey and the encouragement of Father John Krump. When Mike arrived as a freshman in '74, Sheil music was a melange of "St. Louis Jesuits'' material, Genileau psalms, Paul Quinlan and a considerable proportion of secular matter ( mostly via Peter, Paul and Mary). By 1978 Mike and Jim Kaduk (Sheil's first choir librarian) had composed four Ordinaries; guitarist, choir director and soprano Mary Bozzuti had composed another-and Sheil no longer used secular material.

During the golden jubilee year, the Sheil congregation heard two newly composed Ordinaries. Steve Rashid, a Sheil associate since 1981, composed the Ordinary that was sung and played at the golden jubilee alumni Mass on May 21, 1989. Then came "A Mass for All Seasons," Sheil's most ambitious Ordinary to date -- for piano, guitar, bass, flutes, trumpets, violin, euphonium, synthesizer and four-part choir-composed by alumnus Jim Colofranson; it was performed at Parents Weekend in November 1989.

Besides the music at Mass, Sheil choirs have been responsible for a number of other musical events, chief among them an annual December celebration of lessons and carols. The prototype, "A Celebration of Advent," was organized as a Christmas concert in 1976 by Jim Kaduk and Dave Schuler; and the first formal "lessons and carols" program was arranged in 1980 by Mike Ritchey and Ardis Collins, the director of lectors.

About Us l Student Groups and Programs l Worship, Sacraments and Spiritual Life l Education l Upcoming Events l Service Programs and Opportunities l News l Other Religious and Spiritual Resources l About You l Site Map l Sheil Home