PROVIDENCE—Heavenly music provides an aura of holiness during Mass, and Msgr. Anthony Mancini’s talent for composition contributes harmony to liturgies and services at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul.
Click here to download a wmv file that contains audio of the choir practicing for the performance.
Msgr. Mancini, the Cathedral’s rector and music director, will demonstrate his love for music and the priesthood when he leads the Gregorian Concert Choir and Orchestra during a concert on Sunday, Oct. 25 to benefit the Our Lady of Providence Seminary.
The concert Celebrating the Call: The Year of the Priesthood will be conducted by Msgr. Mancini, and will feature the Cathedral’s organist Philip Faraone. “The concert will honor Our Lady of Providence and all the proceeds will benefit the seminary and education of the young men studying for the priesthood,” said Msgr. Mancini.
He said the choir and orchestra will play works that have been performed at ordinations and pieces that honor the Holy Eucharist, which he said is the “source of the priesthood.”
Father Albert Kenney, rector of the seminary, said the funds raised during the Cathedral concert will go directly to the seminarians’ education. This includes tuition expenses as well as health care and room and board.
The seminarians live and receive spiritual formation at the seminary and take their undergraduate courses in theology and other subjects at Providence College. Room and board at the seminary is $7,800 a year and tuition at PC is $24,120, according to Our Lady of Providence Seminary.
There are 21 seminarians with the Diocese of Providence studying for the priesthood at Our Lady of Providence.
Msgr. Mancini said showcasing the Cathedral’s Gregorian Concert Choir and Orchestra in a concert to benefit seminarians was hatched in conjunction with the Year for Priests. The Year for Priests was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI on June 19, and concludes next year in Rome with an international gathering of priests with the Holy Father from June 9-11.
Msgr. Mancini said he is thrilled that he will be able to use his love for composing music to benefit future priests.
“My talents for music are a centrality for the priesthood and the Church and I thank God for it, and celebrate it with great music with everything from [Johann] Bach to [Dave] Brubeck,” said Msgr. Mancini. “Music is part of my service to the Church, and we are all called to use our gifts and talents in the building of the body of Christ —not to benefit from it.”
Msgr. Mancini said he plays the piano, sings, conducts and composes. He has produced more than 100 compositions, and his works are published by Cantica NOVA Publications. One of his latest works is “Salve Regina, A Marian Entrance Song.” His musical mentor is Alexander Peloquin, a renowned composer whose musical residence was at Boston College and produced more than 500 works. Peloquin died in 1997.
Msgr. Mancini, who was raised on Federal Hill and graduated from Holy Ghost School, succeeded Peloquin as the Cathedral’s music director in 1990.
Msgr. Mancini, named the Cathedral’s rector in 2004, recalled the summers when he worked as a custodian at the Cathedral when he began his studies for the priesthood at Our Lady of Providence Seminary. He played the organ at the Cathedral as well while he was in seminary. He was pastor at Holy Cross Church in the city for eight years before being named rector.
He speaks fluent Italian and composed a musical composition “Te Deum” (Your God, We Praise You) for the Church’s Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, conducted during its premiere in Calabria, Italy. The piece is a combination of Latin and Italian.
Msgr. Mancini said the Cathedral’s choir and orchestra will perform its next concert on Feb. 28 to raise money for Bishop Thomas J. Tobin’s “Keep the Heat On” fund. The choir and orchestra performs during Masses on Christmas Eve, Holy Week and for ordinations as well.
