Slava Men's Chorus Listener Comments

Listener's Comments
About The Slava Men's Chorus

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We greatly appreciate comments made by those who have heard us. One of our most cherished responses is from the Rev. Msgr. George E. Dobes, J.C.L. The Msgr., who is responsible for the genesis of the group, wrote:

Congratulations and Our Gratitude
to the
Slava Men's Chorus
on their 5th Anniversary

by Rev. Msgr. George E. Dobes, J.C.L.

Born out of my request to Cantor Don Springer for a group of men to enhance the solemnity of my 25th Anniversary of Ordination Liturgy, an ensemble of singers first sang here at Epiphany Church on May 1, 1993. Since the volunteers were not only personally most interssted in the tresures of our Slavonic Eastern Church music but also eager and willing to stay together, the small group of singers formed for an anniversary Divine Liturgy evolved into the Slava Men's Chorus. The Chorus now has 29 members.

Overcoming some skepticicsm and criticism of a few who opposed having a choir again at Epiphany, the Slava Men's Chorus has proved that a skilled troupe can sing and pray together along with the congregaton as one community for the praise, adoration, worship, and glory of our God. The Chorus has led the responses at the Divine Liturgy at Eipiphany for the past five years, usually on the second Sunday of the month. In addition, the Chorus voluntarily offers their services for special parish celebrations, most notably the celebrations of our parishioners' marriages and our annual parish Slavic-American Festival.

Beyond the confines of our parish church, Slava Men's Chorus has shared their music and our Ruthenian Catholic heritage by singing at the Cathedral of St. Matthew and the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, both in Washington, DC. Additionally, the Chorus has and continues to perform for the entertainment of those confined in local nursing homes. It also appeared on the program for the 1997 Christmas Celebration in the Concert Hall of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.

Members of the Slava Men's Chorus volunteer their time and talents for the promotion of our Byzantine Slav heritage to the glory of God and practice on almost a weekly basis usually at the home of their director. As volunteers, they are not professional singers, but freely give of their gifts to our parish community and our neighbors in the National Capital Area.

The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council in their Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches (Orientalium Ecclesiarum) highly valued the institutions of the Eastern Churches and said "all members of the Eastern Churches should be firmly convinced that they can and ought always preserve their own legitimate liturgical rites and ways of life... ." Our Eastern Catholic Law (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches) codifies the preservation of the heritage and treasures of the Church in canon 39: "The rites of the Eastern Churches, as the patrimony of the entire Church of Christ, in which there is clearly evident the tradition which has come from the Apostles and the Fathers and which affirm the divine unity in diversity of the Catholic faith, are to be religiously preserved and fostered." In canon 40, paragraph 3, we read "[the] Christian faithful are also to foster an understanding and appreciation of their own rite ... ." Our Holy Father, John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen (May 2, 1995), speaking to the Churches of the East and West, said "we are called to show in word and deed today the immense riches that our Churches preserve in the coffers of their traditions." The Slava Men's Chorus, a group of the Christian faithful, are certainly perserving and fostering an understanding and appreciation of the riches of our Eastern Catholic Church in their enhancement of our parish Divine Liturgies and by their visits to various churches and institutions in our area.

"Blahorarim Hospoda!"

To contact the Slava Mens Chorus email slavagal@fcc.net
To send comments on this website email soyka@starpower.net .

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