Musician-Saints Throughout the Ages

One of the greatest gifts that we have as Catholics is the assurance of the prayers of the saints, “on whose constant intercession in [God’s] presence we rely for unfailing help” (Eucharistic Prayer III). The saints in heaven are perfected in charity and united to us as fellow members of Christ’s mystical body, the Church. As a result, we can be sure that they love us, are aware of our needs, and rejoice to make intercession on our behalf with the Father.

In order that we might get to know them better, I thought I would offer some short biographical sketches of men and women who were church musicians themselves and who can empathize with the joys and struggles of our profession. This list is not meant to be exhaustive; some of these saints (and blesseds, venerables, and servants of God) are well-known, while many others are not. I hope that these brief sketches will inspire us all to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” confident that we are “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1)!…Read more at Corpus Christi Watershed.