CLIFTON Imagine singing “Angels We Have Heard on High,” while standing in the fields where angels announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds tending their flock. Or singing “Standing on the Peak of Glory” — a contemporary hymn about the Transfiguration of Christ — at the place where it happened: atop Mount Tabor.
Last month, 24 members of the Paterson diocesan choir took advantage of blessed opportunities like these to visit, pray and sing hymns of praise at many of the holiest sites in Scripture related to both the joyful and glorious moments in Jesus’ life while on a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the Holy Land. From Feb. 15-24, the singers joined 30 other Catholics from the Diocese, including many of their spouses, for the trip, titled “Following in the Footsteps of Jesus,” which featured tours of key sites in Nazareth, Jerusalem, Cana, the Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem and Emmaus. Pilgrims also were able to deepen their faith by attending Mass at some of the most important places where Jesus lived and taught.
“I got to see how all of these [the events in Jesus’ life] happened. The trip made the Bible stories more vivid,” said Richard Westerman, a tenor in the diocesan choir for more than 10 years, who also sings in the choirs of his home parish, St. Catherine of Siena in Mountain Lakes, and St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Parsippany. He traveled with his wife, Marie, who does not sing in the Diocesan Choir, but has been a lector at Masses. “Many of the churches that we sang in were old and ornate and had open acoustics. I always stayed focused on what I was singing but also looked around to see where we are — and what happened here. It was a meaningful trip,” he said.
Every day, Preston Dibble, diocesan director of music, conducted diocesan choir members in singing at daily Masses at holy sites — including the Church of the Annunciation, Church of the Nativity and Church of the Transfiguration at Mount Tabor — as well as singing impromptu a cappella at sites, such as Shepherds Field and the top of Mount Tabor. Celebrating these Masses and delivering the homilies was Father Daniel O’Mullane, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Boonton, who served as spiritual director of the pilgrimage, coordinated by Peter’s Way Tours. Their tour guide, Fabricio E. Lomanto, a Scripture scholar, educated pilgrims about the Scriptural, historical, cultural and theological significance of each site.
The pilgrims retraced Jesus’ footsteps at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, also walking around Manger Square; at the Sea of Galilee; and through Jerusalem for the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, including Gethsemane, the Way of the Cross, Calvary and the Empty Tomb. Led by Dibble, the choir sang hymns in English and Latin and Latin chants mostly without accompaniment, because most of the old churches have no organs or pianos. Singers sang from booklets that Dibble prepared beforehand.
“The pilgrims saw stories of the Bible come to life in front of them. It was powerful for our singers to sing in many of these places. The music helped tie the biblical stories to these locations and to the Mass,” said Dibble, who directs the diocesan choir, which sings at diocesan liturgies, such as Chrism Mass and the Ordination of Priests, and performs an annual Christmas Concert for the Diocese in St. John the Baptist Cathedral, Paterson.
Each day, Father O’Mullane celebrated Masses that — unlike following the Catholic liturgical calendar — corresponded with the event that occurred at each site, such as Christmas Mass at the Church of the Nativity and the Mass of the Annunciation at the Church of the Annunciation. The priest was intrigued by one of the newer sites on the trip, Magdala, home of Mary of Magdala and a recently discovered first-century synagogue. Jesus prayed there and converted and healed Mary of Magdala.
“This pilgrimage was fruitful for my imagination — to think of what Jesus and the Apostles were up to at these sites. I often would say, ‘Wow! Jesus was here!’ I felt more connected,” said Father O’Mullane, who added, “In the holiest of places, I enjoyed saying Mass — remembering what Jesus offered to the Father for the good of the world. I allowed my homilies to let each place speak for itself,” he said.
Early in the pilgrimage, the diocesan choir teamed up with the choir of the Church of the Nativity in Palestine-controlled Bethlehem, to perform a combined informal concert. The diocesan choir sang in English and Latin, while the basilica choir sang in Arabic. They came together at the end of the concert to sing the hymn “Immaculate Mary.” The concert was a “powerful cultural immersion experience. Music is the universal language of unity, love and peace,” said Dibble, who led a diocesan choir pilgrimage to Rome two years ago.
Many of the pilgrims agreed that the pilgrimage concluded on a powerful spiritual note at the Mount of Olives to walk the Palm Sunday path, visit the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations and pray at the “Rock of Agony,” where Jesus prayed alone in the garden on the night he was arrested. Dibble called the experience there perfect for their return to the Diocese ahead of Ash Wednesday for the start of Lent.
“We can’t leave Gethsemane without wanting to forgive our enemies like Jesus did with the love that he poured into our hearts,” Father O’Mullane said.
For another pilgrim, Robert Cardinale of Resurrection Parish, Randolph, the holy sites “convinced me that Jesus was on this earth.” Not a diocesan choir member, he went with his wife, Nancy. He expressed surprise about their walk on the Via Dolorosa, tracing Jesus’ journey to Calvary, which he said is “an active city” today.
“I had to concentrate and use my imagination to think of what it was like in Jesus’ time, not our time. Today, I have a clear vision of what happened there. It reaffirmed my faith. It was a spiritually rewarding trip,” Cardinale said.