Nebraska Seminary Recording Introduces Gregorian Chants to New Audience
By Dennis Kellogg 
, News Director Nebraska Public Media
Dec. 24, 2018, 8:45 a.m. ·
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Gregorian chanting, a centuries-old form of worship music, is now being introduced to a new audience. A recording from a small Nebraska seminary that topped the classical music charts is helping to do that.
Bells ring daily at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic seminary near Denton in eastern Nebraska. It’s a call for the 95 seminarians who live and study here to gather for prayer, something they do four to five times each day. Once inside the church, they’ll use an ancient form of musical prayer for their worship… Gregorian chants…
This seminarian leads his classmates in practicing Gregorian chants they'll later pray in the church at the seminary. (Image by Ralph Hammack, NET)
"There’s evidence that some of the tones that we sing today in the divine office not only goes back to the days of the early church… but even goes back to the days where Jesus was a little boy singing hymns with his parents in the temple," said Father Joseph Lee, the academic dean of the seminary and a graduate.
The students here will spend seven years studying to be a priest in the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. They study subjects like Latin, theology, and philosophy. And every student is required to take 16 credits of music.
"These are obligatory, these are not electives. They have to do it whether they went to music school before, acquired a major in the subject, or whether they’re tone deaf and cannot match pitch," Fr. Lee said.
As part of the early, more contemplative phase of their study, the seminarians don’t use their name publicly. One student from Washington state has an extensive music background, starting with playing the violin at age three and the piano shortly after. On this day in a crowded rehearsal room, he’s leading his classmates in chant practice.
"We take it very seriously, our prayer here. Saint Augustine says, 'He who sings well prays twice.' We try to sing well every time we do sing in the chapel," he said.
Watch this 360-degree video of the seminarians at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska praying with Gregorian chants during a vespers service.
Phone/Tablet users: Click here to view this 360° video in the YouTube App
The chants have not gone unnoticed. A record company, de Montfort Music, approached the seminary and asked 12 of its graduates – priests from across the world – to make a recording of Gregorian chants. The result is a CD called “Requiem,” which is the music of the Catholic Church’s funeral Mass.
"The most important thing about this music is that it’s a prayer. It’s not a performance," said Fr. Zachary Akers, one of those chanting on the recording. "We hear this on the album that these are songs of prayer that the Catholic Church has been singing for centuries at the death of a loved one."
Those songs seem to resonate with music lovers. The recording spent 13 weeks at number one on the classical music charts in 2017.
Students at the seminary pray together four to five times daily, often using Gregorian chants in their worship. (Image by Ralph Hammack, NET)
"I think it’s good for people to see that Gregorian chant is not something that is just of olden days that’s being sung at some small monastery in Spain or something, but this is something that is very much a part of our life as Catholics," Fr. Akers said.
"We sing this music every day. This is very much a part of what we do every Sunday and even every day together, and we’ll continue to do so whether the album was successful or not," Fr. Akers added.
Topping the music charts was never the goal.
"We live in our own little world here at the seminary... We don't get out that much," said Fr. Lee, who was also part of the "Requiem" recording. "We’re just happy to be able to have this opportunity to share this with other people who might be interested in learning or appreciating this kind of music and finding peace through it."
And Fr. Lee says there’s one more thing that made all the effort that went into this recording worth it.
"We like to sing," he said.
And apparently a lot of people like to listen to them sing. And that’s just what they plan to keep doing in this small seminary in rural Nebraska for years to come.
Editor's note: This story is part of our "Best of 2018" Signature Story report. The story originally aired and was published in February.
Gregorian chanting is a centuries-old form of worship in the Catholic Church. Meet the priests and seminarians at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary who pray using these chants in this "Nebraska Stories" feature on NET.