I love Gregorian chant. When I was in college, before I was a Catholic, I used to accompany my sorority sisters to Mass at the Newman Club in Berkeley. At that time, Newman Hall was in an old, beautifully paneled building and Mass was held upstairs. They used something called “The Congregational High Mass”. This was before Vatican II.
If you arrived a tiny bit late (which happened because we all walked) you could hear the strains of the chant drifting down the stairs and out the doors before you ever actually arrived. It was mystical and probably contributed to my conversion.
Later, after I was married, my husband used to fish in a pond on the St. Mary’s College, Orinda, campus. You could hear the Brothers chanting vespers in the evenings. The music would drift across the meadow. So soothing! Didn’t matter whether you caught any fish. More reverant than church!
Thanks for sharing a beautiful memory.
Have you seen the new Newman Hall Center (College Avenue and Dwight Way)? Brutal concrete structure. They try to soften the interior with felt banners.
Beautiful story, thanks for sharing it!!!