The Liturgy Arts Group of Boston College, a Campus Ministry group that provides music for campus liturgies, was impacted deeply by the COVID-19 restrictions on liturgical music throughout the pandemic.
Limited by the absence of congregational singing, bans on wind instruments, and restriction to one masked cantor, LAG was forced to create music with the bare minimum. For a group so focused on community, the lifting of restrictions that have come in this new school year have been a breath of fresh air.
As was the norm in pre-COVID-19 times, LAG was able to join forces with the University Chorale and make music for the Class of 2020 Baccalaureate Mass which took place on October 17. These large Conte Forum Masses are a rather regular occurrence for LAG––between Mass of the Holy Spirit, Parent’s Weekend, and other big all-campus celebrations, climbing up on the risers and dressing in Sunday’s best is no stranger to LAG members.
“We’ve had big gifts, like bringing back the Class of 2020 to Conte Forum. There was much scrambling around that, up until minutes before Mass, but we are a people of faith. This is our new normal in the truest sense of the word,” Meyer Chambers, the Campus Minister for Liturgical Arts and one of LAG’s three directors, stated.
In order to resume their Wednesday rehearsals in St. Joseph Chapel and their 8 PM Sunday Masses in three chapel locations, the group has had to take several safety precautions. Despite no more restrictions from the Archdiocese of Boston on singing, the group’s leadership has chosen to wear masks while singing. This follows some of the reasoning of when congregational singing was first removed from the Archdiocese in March 2020––a choir in Canada had rehearsed in the early days of the pandemic and spread COVID-19 to nearly every member within a few short hours. Thus, masks and shorter rehearsals are LAG’s choice. They have also removed sectional rehearsals, where voice parts used to rehearse separately in the back rooms of St. Joseph’s without windows or good ventilation. Instead, the group is now rehearsing only as a big group in the main chapel with all windows ajar.
A “beloved” LAG tradition is the annual October retreat in Craigville on Cape Cod. Last occurring in fall of 2019, the group made their return to the Sunset Lodge this past weekend, after a year of hosting their retreats on campus at BC. The retreat house in Craigville was filled with rehearsals of Christmas carols for upcoming events, plentiful opportunities for reflection and small group discussion, and talks by seniors and other community members. There was also an emphasis on remembering a LAG member, Patrick Gregorek, MCAS ‘19, who died when the current senior class was freshmen.
“We put in so much work to make it happen and just to be there was so wonderful––to be away from campus, whereas last year we had half-virtual, half-on campus retreats,” shared LAG’s Vice President Teagan Hosbein, MCAS ‘22. “I just didn’t know if an overnight away from campus would be possible, and it was tentative until the start of the school year.”
LAG President Mary Kenny, LSEHD ‘22, is hopeful and looking forward to LAG’s volunteering at Catholic Charities for Thanksgiving, the group’s holiday dinner, and their participation in Advent Mass in December. “I think I’m most worried about having a spring Arts Fest to the capacity that we once knew it. Our spring trip might also be more of an excursion, and I hope it is still worthwhile and fulfilling for our community,” Kenny added.
As for some of the younger students, LAG’s Office Manager Lucas Gatz, MCAS ‘23, shared he hasn’t “had ‘real’ LAG yet during my time in college––I didn’t realize what I was missing until it was too late. Everyone speaks so highly of LAG, and I wanted that. This year I decided to dive in headfirst. I work in the office now, and I’m constantly surrounded with LAG.”
“The LAG community feels whole again, rather than just one person singing at a Mass like last year,” Kenny went on to say. “Some of our members, particularly the freshmen and sophomores, have never sung together, played together, or experienced our parish communities. I can tell that the congregations are more engaged too. Making music is the way I pray the most, and being together with these people for hours straight to make music each week again is such a gift.”
These LAG members and Chambers all spoke of LAG’s return as a “gift,” and reflected on the special nature of this community. “They are the sweetest, most inviting, most accepting, and loving people I’ve met in my entire life,” Hosbein explained. Kenny added on, “It is a place that you can always come back to.”
As for what’s next for LAG, Christmas hymns are starting to be rehearsed and canned goods are beginning to accumulate for their annual Stuff-the-Truck food drive around Thanksgiving. The retreat’s theme this year was “Courage in the night, joy in the morning,” and Hosbein remarked that the theme always continues to apply throughout the year. Chambers concluded, “we’re not out of the pandemic; we’re just learning to function more fully. We’re reforming, and there’s a lot of joy and a lot of giftedness in it.”
Featured image courtesy of Ashley Antcio, LAG
Previously the Campus News Editor and Catholicism 101 Editor, Olivia dabbles in The Torch’s writing and photography. She is a senior studying theology and applied psychology and human development with a minor in journalism. She is unashamedly passionate about youth ministry, Haiti, all things charismatic, the Oxford comma, and CatholicTV––where she can often be found as an on-camera news reporter or host of the To the Heights podcast.
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