Humility

There's nothing like a Requiem Mass to give the soul a good dose of humility. Even better is a Requiem that one has to conduct, when she has only two other people, and all three are shy singers who barely know their music. I was mortified last night. I was unprepared and "understaffed," if you will.

I learned that God really does give us precisely what we need right when we need it. As I'm gathering the last shreds of my courage to go sing and just do as well as I can, in walks Tim the Engineering Student. Having seen him with a Liber Usualis before, I figure I'll take a stab in the dark: "Tim, do you know the Requiem?"

"Why, yes."

Praise God!! I couldn't have been anymore grateful had God sent St. Gregory himself down to help us. Tim helped us navigate the innavigable--Introits I hadn't studied, Communion, Libera Me (from the Absolution Service), and so on. The Dies Irae could only be described as powerful. Somehow, I ended up with six people in my choir last night (after Tim's arrival), and five of us could belt out that sequence like it was our job. And it was. We were begging for mercy on the souls of the faithful departed. I can't describe what it felt like to sing that--words just fail when confronting something beyond human comprehension.

Speaking with Tim and Father after Mass, I was enlightened as to how little I actually know about early music in general and sacred music specifically. I was so inspired by his knowledge and musicality. Indeed, God gives us what we need when we need it.