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Songs from the Marist Fathers’ General Chapter, Rome, 2009

Songs from the Marist Fathers’ General Chapter, Rome, 2009

I’m a Catholic priest and a member of the Marist Fathers, a Religious congregation founded in France in the 1820’s partly in response to state of the Church following the French Revolution.  We are a group of priests and brothers spread throughout the world and our mission is quite diverse.  

Every eight years there is a meeting in Rome of elected delegates.  This serves as our main vision-setting and legislative body.  The meeting is call the General Chapter.

At the Chapter, the new leadership team is elected which include a new “Superior General” who will be our leader for the following eight years.

In August-September 2009 I was invited to attend the Chapter in Rome as the musician-in-residence, which turned into the role of a minstrel of sorts.  I played the music for all the Masses, and provided background music, whether light-hearted or reflective when required, and wrote songs which drew their content from the discussions the men were having during the Chapter sessions.

Delegates come from Senegal/Cameroon, South and Central America, Mexico, the USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Holland, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and across Oceania.

The term Marist comes from the name of Jesus’ Mum – Mary.  We look at her as a fellow-believer who gave birth to God’s Word, and our mission involves in part, doing what she did – giving birth to something worthwhile and noble in our world now, without making a big fuss about ourselves, but rather pointing always to Jesus and the gift he can be for people.  Because this was a special Marist gathering, Mary gets many more mentions in the songs than I’ve ever given her previously!

I hope you enjoy these reflections as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Kevin Bates sm

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