Liturgical Choir to sing at Mass in New Jersey

Brian CummingsThirty five members of the Saint Michael's College Liturgical Ensemble and Singers will sing at Catholic Mass in a high school and in two churches in Oradell, Bayonne, and Belmar, NJ, Feb. 1, 2, and 3.

The singers will be accompanied by the Rev. Brian J. Cummings, SSE ’86, (pictured), Director of Edmundite Campus Ministry at Saint Michael's, who will say Mass at the three locations, and by Jerome Monachino '91, Associate Director of Edmundite Campus Ministry for Liturgical Ministry, who directs the singers.

"We have been doing these trips every year for 14 years - it is a great experience to take our ministry on the road to meet high school students, alumni and friends of Saint Michael's," Father Cummings said. "It gives our students a deeper sense of mission and of spreading God's Word in song as members of the choir." Fr. Cummings is a member of the Society of St. Edmund, the religious community of priests and brothers that founded Saint Michael's College in 1904.

Saint Michael's graduate of 2011 Michael DeCristofaro works at Saint Rose High School, Belmar, one of the places where the group will sing. He was instrumental in arrangements for the trip.

Schedule of Masses

Friday, Feb. 1, at 10 AM, Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, NJ, MA, celebrating the conclusion of Catholic Schools Week.

Saturday, Feb. 2, at 5:30 PM, St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Bayonne, NJ, MA. Saint Michael's first-year student James DeVoursney is a graduate of St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, and a parishioner of St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Bayonne.

Sunday, Feb. 3, at 10 AM and 11:30 AM at St. Rose Church in Belmar, NJ, two Masses. Belmar is on the Jersey Shore. The parish and high school sustained severe damage along with the whole town from Hurricane Sandy. The College sent a group of volunteers to Belmar in November to assist with clean-up efforts.

Father Brian Cummings: A New Jersey native

"It is always nice to visit my native state and share fine food with our choir!" Father Cummings said. The Rev. Brian Cummings, SSE, was born and raised in Jersey City, graduated from St. Peter’s Prep in 1982 and did summer parish ministry in Eatontown, NJ and West Long Branch, NJ, towns along the shore, from 1999-2003.

Father Larry Miller and Father Tom Conheeney of St. Mary, Star of the Sea were both influential priests in Fr. Cummings' life growing up in Jersey City. Fr. Conheeney served at his home parish of St. Aedan's and was moderator of the CYO, while Fr. Miller hired him during his high school years as a baseball umpire. Both of these Bayonne priests were role models for Fr. Cummings as he discerned his own vocation to the priesthood.

"These two men were and remain great models for young people: they love sports, love people and love God. I am fortunate to know them and try to follow in their footsteps serving God's people at a Catholic College," Father Cummings said.

The Choir will sing the following program:

The Saint Michael's Liturgical Choir and Ensemble performs in its own eclectic and popular musical style, using a combination of African, Brazilian, and American Swing flavors to compliment traditional hymn singing. Guided by their mission of inspiring sung prayer, they perform with great enthusiasm. The group was one of the select few choirs invited to perform for Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day in Denver, CO, in 1993.

Students traveling with the Choir:

Tim Nagy, Jake Trackey, Russell Hammond, James Devoursney, Emma Python, Merrill Poor, Mary Falcigno, Sarah Carrillo, Amelia Seman, Maya Lopez, Brianne Keith, Mary Ramos, Lizzy Nicolai, Kelley Ainsworth, Jordan Moore, Abbi Roney, Kathryn Whitson, Dennis Sullivan