A 1,000-member Papal choir from different parishes and choir groups across the country
will render never-before-heard Church hymns especially created for a Holy Mass to be presided by Pope Francis at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on January 18, 2015.
Forming part of the Papal Choir is the multi-awarded Bukas Palad Music Ministry, a contemporary musical group whose songs have played a significant part in the local Church and the liturgy.
Since its inception in 1986, the group has recorded 19 albums with the Jesuit Music Ministry of the Jesuit Communications Foundation, a ministry of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus (SJ) based at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.
Many of the most popular and well-loved praise songs in the country were first sung and recorded by the group such as “Hindi Kita Malilimutan,” “Tanging Yaman,” “Sa’Yo Lamang,” “Anima Christi,” and “I Will Sing Forever.”
ONE WITH THE CONGREGATION
According to Bukas Palad founding member Norman Agatep, who works as managing director and chief creative officer of Havas Worldwide Manila, the choir members do not really see their participation in the Papal mass as a performance.
“We are part of the 1,000-voice choir that will contribute to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. We shall be engaging the congregation through song during the mass,” he said.
Last Saturday, November 29, twenty-five Bukas Palad pioneer members out of an estimated 170 members, had their first general rehearsal with all the other members of the Papal Choir.
“We have just received the scores of all the songs and have been practicing on our own,” he added.
Agatep shared that all the hymns for the entire mass are new songs composed by his Bukas-Palad co-founder Fr. Manuel ‘Manoling’ Francisco, S.J.
ALL ORIGINAL SONGS
All the songs for the much-anticipated papal mass were written by Fr. Manoling except for two – Jamie Rivera’s “We Are All God’s Children” (the official theme song for the papal visit) which will be sung after the Holy Communion and Trina Bellamide’s “Tell the World of His
Love” (the official theme song for the papal visit of Pope John Paul II in 1995) which will be the final song.
The Entrance Hymn; Lord Have Mercy; Glory to God; Alleluia; Preparation of Gifts; Holy, Holy; Memorial Acclamation; Great Amen; Our Father; Lamb of God; and a hymn for the Holy Communion are all Fr. Manoling’s original pieces.
A musical genius who composed the iconic “Hindi Kita Malilimutan,” as a first year high school student at the Ateneo, he wrote the songs after being commissioned to do the important task by Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas last July. 