Today was a busy day and the culmination of lots of things. First, as you must know if you've checked the Institute website, Br. Alvaro was chosen for another stint as Superior General. He mentioned in his talk that he has spent 50 years outside of his own District of Costa Rica, and while he was open to where the Holy Spirit was leading him, he had been thinking about working back in his own district - finally. Well, that's on hold for another seven years now.The morning began early with the preparations for the morning prayer in the Main Chapel. This was a rather unique event, so I prepared something that included some simple songs and several readings spread out over about 30 minutes. It seemed to work well with the Brothers who were there at 7:00 AM, and so I'll do something similar tomorrow morning.
I hardly had time for breakfast, however, since the election was coming up at 9 AM and I still had a couple of things to do, including a Liturgy Committee meeting at 8:15 that went on for about 20 minutes (Closing ceremony details mostly, and we took a picture of the group - missing members, however). The programs were ready for the Brothers, but the Te Deum still seemed tricky. I went to Br. Rodolfo's office to show him what we would be using for our Te Deum music. He right away told me that most people would not know that, and that I should use a simpler tune. He had it in his office and would work on putting it together. It was now 8:56 and I told him I'd be back.
I rushed to the Aula Magna, since I had to lead the Veni Creator that begins the voting process. As I walked towards the Aula Magna, I wondered where the Brothers were since I didn't hear anything. When I walked in I found almost all of the Brothers there already, very quiet and solemn in their formal dress, with the dais full of various officials of the Chapter, with just whisperings going on around me. Within a minute, the bell rang and we began with the Veni Creator. Then Br. Georges Absi, the moderator for the day, began the instructions and I left to pick up with Br. Rodolfo.For the next 40 minutes I was rushing around trying to put this "new" piece of program together, using the melody that Br. Rodolfo had written out. Of course, the copier got jammed a couple of times, and I thought that I wouldn't make the deadline. But finally we had the copies made and ready to be handed out. Just when I got to my post outside the Aula Magna to await the Brothers in procession, I heard the applause and here came the Brothers to begin the procession. At that point, everything went on automatic for me, especially since neither myself nor most of the other Brothers had ever done this before. I started the "Laudate Omnes Gentes" and we processed slowly down the main 2nd floor hallway (1st floor if you live in Europe) to the main staircase to the front foyer, w
here the other Brothers had gathered and would join the procession, and so into the Chapel. The Brothers sang well, as usual, and picked up directions right away. We sang "Gloria Patri ..." (another Taize chant) for part of the procession but ended up with the Laudate within the chapel. There, Br. Alvaro came in, carrying the chapter staff, and prayed silently at the ornate kneeler that Vincenzo and Freddie had decorated in preparation. By now the bells in the tower were ringing up a storm as if a new pope had been elected - and I guess that for us that was the case - and two classes of little kids from the school came into the chapel, filling in the side aisles, to add their unique flavor to the ceremony - after all, it IS all about them.Then the disaster happened. I said the word "Te Deum" to the Brothers and they picked up the "new" paper with the words and music while the organ began. The first line went fairly well, since the notes and words were clear, but from there on it went downhill. Some of the Brothers were trying to sing the old Gregorian setting, others were trying to apply the given notes to the other written verses (given without the notes but with accent marks) and Br. Rodolfo seemed to be playing a totally different melody altogether from the one that he'd give me for the paper.
The Te Deum is a loooong piece. By about the fifth verse I had checked out and was simply moving my lips to make it look like I was singing. Others had done the same, I think. To his great credit, Gerard Rummery came up and, through gestures, offered to lead the singing. I readily let him do it, but even he was stymied some verses later and joined me near the side chapel as we merely attempted to survive the confusing musical cacophony going on around us. Finally, mercifully, it came to an end. Of course, Br. Alvara all the while was prayerfully standing at the kneeler, trying to sing and thinking I-don't-know-what. After the "singing" of the Te Deum, he moved to the relics of the Founder, prayed there a while, and then stood as we sang a quite nice French hymn "Ta Parole le Seigneur" which is also about the Founder. I'd put together verses in different languages and this one seemed to work well. The Brothers sang it lustily, as they say. Then Br
. Alvaro moved to the front of the sanctuary and everyone, from Brothers to custodial staff, came up to give him a welcoming greeting - the accolade. At the end, we sang the Honneur a Toi and then repaired to the dining room for aperitifs and a festive dinner.Br. Rodolfo spoke to me, of course, with some concern and couldn't understand why the Brothers didn't sing what was written. My clear impression is that he wasn't playing what was written, but at this point I just don't know. I just know that 1) it didn't work, 2) I should have stuck with my original plan (the traditional Te Deum), and 3) I will keep my own counsel in the future. After all the work of trying to get the right Latin setting, God knows why I made that last-minute change based on his input. I think it came from the hope that everyone would know the "new" setting more readily, as promised. It was not to be.
But besides that little disaster, everything came out well, and as one Brother said, "We were all so joyful that it didn't make any difference." A nice sentiment.After the dinner I began to work on the other liturgies that will happen tomorrow and beyond. Later on, the Chapter met to choose potential members of the General Council. Each Brother could name 10 Brothers. That means that now the Scrutineers would have to go through at least 1000 names in a very short time. But they did a masterful job. (One of them did tell me that the writing on some of the ballots was very hard to make out.)
At 6:30 PM was the Mass in the Main Chapel, organized by the Spanish language group. There were meetings pretty much right up against that time, so I thought I'd better help with some of the preparations. When I went into the chapel, the kneeler with its decorations was still there, so I did some cleaning up before calling Freddy to ask him to help out. Soon, Vincenzo arrived and Freddy and he did most of the setup. The priest for the Mass was a Salvatorian priest here in Rome, and originally from Colombia, whom Fr. Dennis had secured for us. The Mass itself was very nice, very Spanish, and a good end to the day. After the Mass, Tim Coldwell and I sat down to plan the program for the English language Mass in the Main Chapel for tomorrow evening, and then we joined Carlos, Lorenzo and his sister Maru at their table in the dining room. We ended up having a very nice conversation about all kinds of things.
I also found out that Lorenzo, in grammar school, was already a sort of "Secretary General." He knew English better than his teacher, and so while the kids were outside playing he was inside correcting the students' homework, including his own (which, he says, he did very honestly).After dinner, the Brothers from Africa had their festive evening and I went there for a while to join in the music, conversation, and presentations about the continent and the Brothers there. From the pictures and the stories, it's clear that Africa is very different from anything in the Western world, and I continue to marvel at the Brothers here who have come from those ministries and will be returning there within a week or two. If I hadn't thought that this was an international order, being here for five weeks has certainly convinced me. Unlike the first week, hearing four or five languages during the course of a day is not very strange and in a way seems normal here at the Motherhouse.
Sorry for the lengthy entry, but this was quite a full day. I'm sure that the next few will be similarly filled. I do want to include this picture of myself with Santiago and Patricio, however, since at the evening party I found out that Santiago's mother reads this blog in Argentine (Buenos Aires), emailing Patricio about it. Message out: "Hi Mom!"===========================
More pictures of the day at http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyMay28
