CATHOLIC high school student Sinead Cristaudo is confident she will connect her school peers at Good Counsel College, Innisfail, to God after attending the recent Ignite School of Music.
Miss Cristaudo is liturgical captain at her school this year, and found inspiration from School of Music, a five-day program of hands-on training and formation in contemporary Catholic worship held in January.
She said coming from a small country town meant she had little opportunities to play contemporary sacred music with other people.
Now she is ready to begin the year with a new heart for using music to enrich Mass and other sacred liturgies at her school.
Emmanuel Worship vocal director Laura Otto was one of the leaders at the School of Music, which aims to “raise up a new generation” of worship leaders for the Church.
The program focused on how to create beauty and grace through contemporary forms of sacred music.
Chapter six of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy says traditional sacred music, and in particular Gregorian chant, is “more holy” as it relates “more closely” with liturgical action.
However, other kinds of music, including contemporary music, is approved and admitted in divine worship.
Mrs Otto said the Psalms inspired the core team to guide young Catholics to have a “true heart” and “skillful hands” for worshipping Christ in and outside of the liturgy.
“We started forming hearts on the liturgy, and showed them examples of different music for the Mass,” she said.
The budding musicians learning on the camp put their new skills to practice at the closing Sunday Mass, which Mrs Otto said was “powerful”.
