Read what one participant has to say about the conference that took place this past weekend.

Here are some excerpts from an article that appeared on December 19, 2007, in The Southern Cross, San Diego’s Diocesan paper:

Gregorian Chant may have “pride of place” among all forms of liturgical music, according to Vatican II, but few contemporary Catholics are able to sing it.

That is something that Mary Ann Carr-Wilson [and primary instructor at the workshop, Kathy Reinheimer of Reno, Nevada], who led a recent Groegorian Chant Workshop in San Diego, would like to change.

The workshop, titled “An Introduction to Sung Prayer,” was held Dec. 1 at Mission San Diego de Alcala. Some 40 people attended the workshop, which included two separate presentations, several opportunities for singing, a Mass celebrated by San Diego Auxiliary Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, and a Q & A session…

…”I think a workshop like this is way overdue, decades overdue,” said Bishop Cordileone, who describes Gregorian Chant as a “treasure of the Church” that “shouldn’t be hidden, kept under a bushel basket.”

“I see the purpose of this workshop as trying to finally get around to doing what the Church has been asking us to do for over 100 years,” the Bishop added, referring to the calls of both the Second Vatican Council and popes since Pope Pius X…

…Wilson hopes that such workshop can continue in San Diego. She said she also hopes the future will bring workshops specifically tailored for priests and seminarians, choir directors, singers, and others with a connection to liturgical music.