Sunday morning was devoted to church services. While many singers attended Mass with the Monks at Saint Meinrad, a few singers went to the Presbyterian Church in Dale, IN. The monks at Saint Meinrad love their incense, but this made it more difficult for us to sing our anthem, Bless, O Lord, Us Thy Servants, conducted by Erin Donegan. At the Presbyterian Church, our singers identified themselves from Notre Dame and were instant celebrities. During the passing of the peace, every member of the congregation came and introduced themselves and each shared a musical story about themselves.

After services, we had a filling lunch, and then returned to the courtyard where we found a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. We nestled it in the shade, without touching it, until it recovered its breath to try and fly again.

Because of the singers’ incredible work ethic on Saturday we only had two songs left to record on Sunday afternoon, but they were the most difficult. Soprano and former NDCC Cantabile Choir Director Samantha Dotterweich joined us from Indianapolis to record Suo Gan and In the Bleak Midwinter. Samantha sang with grace and beauty and inspired our choir to reach new musical heights. We worked hard and finished a little after 3pm central time. We raced against to clock to load up the bus with our belongings to get to the Saint Meinrad Gift Shop before it closed at 4pm.

The Gift Shop was full of handmade items by the monks and sisters including breads and cookies that used Hildegard von Bingen’s (12th century Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic) original recipes. The cookies were a little hard(like hardtack), but tasty! The singers scoured the store for small gifts and trinkets to bring home as momentos of their trip.

Afterward, we boarded the bus once more and began our journey homeward. We stopped for pizza and glowsticks and held one final evening prayer. Zach, our youngest singer, summed up the experience for many when he said, “It is an honor to be in this choir and it is an honor to sing with all of you.” To which everyone else heartily agreed!

Each singer shared their favorite song we recorded as well as their favorite moment from the weekend, which ranged from silly bus games to the vespers services with the Monks.

We could not be more proud of our choristers, the beautiful music they continue to make, and the spiritual and social depths they reach when they are together. We are grateful to our families and friends who support us in our music and travels and most especially to our chaperones who traveled with us and kept us happy, safe, and healthy.

While there were many tearful goodbyes as we arrived in South Bend, everyone is excited for what lies in store next year, including our 2017 summer tour!