Dear Parishioners,

The faith of the Church from its beginnings has held that the offering of the Mass is the greatest prayer we can offer to honour the heavenly Father. For this reason the Church shows the greatest possible care and attention to every aspect of the Divine Liturgy, to ensure that it helps express and clearly communicate what we believe: that Christ’s work of redemption is made present in the perfect sacrificial offering of the Eucharist. One vital component of liturgical prayer is the role of sacred music.

The beauty of the music and the articulation of the truths of  faith that it expresses helps to raise the mind and heart to the contemplation of God and the sacred mysteries we celebrate. As the Second Vatican Council teaches: “Liturgical worship is given a more noble form when it is celebrated in song, with the ministers of each degree fulfilling their ministry and the people participating in it. Indeed, through this form, prayer is expressed in a more attractive way, the mystery of the liturgy, with its hierarchical and community nature, is more openly shown, the unity of hearts is more profoundly achieved by the union of voices, minds are more easily raised to heavenly things by the beauty of the sacred rites, and the whole celebration more clearly prefigures that heavenly liturgy.” (Musicam Sacram, 1967).

Interestingly, the first document of the Second Vatican Council, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1963), specifically mentions the preeminent place of the organ in liturgical music:

“The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, since it is its traditional instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendour to the church’s ceremonies and powerfully lift up men’s minds to God and higher things.”  (Sacrosanctum Concilium, par.120). This is a recognition of the fact that for centuries the organ has had pride of place among all the instruments of the Church’s music, occupying a (literally!) immovable place within the church’s own architecture. Virtually all the great cathedrals of the world and, indeed, even most small country churches, have an organ to enrich the liturgical life of the people of God. The broad palette of the organ with its innumerable stops creates the opportunity for an almost endless array of sounds to correspond to the changing moods and seasons of the Church’s celebrations.

Although St Francis of Assisi Church is blessed with an abundance of incredibly talented musicians and singers, thus far we have not had the blessing of a proper organ. After much consultation with experienced organists we are currently trialing a new Content Electric Organ (Celeste 236R) which we have on loan for two weeks. This will provide us with an opportunity to test whether this instrument is suitable for our church. This is a very impressive instrument augmented with the latest innovative technology that not only creates a vast array of beautiful sounds, but is also designed to help make playing the instrument easier, especially for musicians more familiar with the keyboard. Already our pianists have shown great excitement exploring the potential of this instrument.

Such a highly specialized instrument is not cheap, but it is important to invest in an organ that will be able to accommodate the specific acoustic demands of our church, with its ‘auditorium’ configuration. The dispersion of sound from this instrument is quite remarkable: it is able to fill the church with an evenly distributed sound, without overpowering any one section of the congregation.

The price-tag for this instrument is approximately $40,000 and will therefore require some significant fund-raising. Anticipate a few organ concerts in the coming months!

If you would like to be a major donor for this new organ, please contact the parish office. Platinum sponsors (for contributions over $1000) will have their names recognised on a commemorative plaque.

My hope would be to have a blessing of the organ for the feast of Christ the King (22nd November) which also happens to be the Feast of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music. 

I take the opportunity to thank our many musicians and singers for their invaluable contribution to our parish in this important ministry. We hope they will share in the excitement of this project as we strive to give glory to God.  

St Cecilia, pray for us!

- Fr Francis Denton P.P