IN 2009, Kathryn Nurre sought to perform an instrumental version (without lyrics) of the Ave Maria by German composer Franz Biebl at her public high school’s graduation ceremony. The superintendent of Everett School District in Washington state declared that the piece could not be played because of its religious meaning. The United State Court of Appeals for the Ninth District upheld the superintendent’s decision and the United States Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal. It’s not surprising really. After all, what if students were to hear something so beautiful and ethereal it made them question all they had learned (and not learned)?

“I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy; but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning”. ― Plato

Biebl actually composed the piece, an arrangement of portions of the Angelus prayer and the Ave Maria (the Hail Mary), for a secular function. A fireman in the Munich area approached him in the early 1960s and asked for something for his fire company’s choir.

It was common for companies, factories, police and fire departments, etc. to sponsor an employees’ choir, which often would participate in choral competitions and festivals with other similar choirs. This fireman asked Biebl to please compose something for his fireman’s choir for such an occasion. The result was the Ave Maria (double male choir version). [Source]

But is there any part of our lives that is truly secular? Isn’t it right and good? That men who went into the face of danger took time from their lives to honor the greatest woman who ever lived and seek her supernatural aid?

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Perhaps if Biebl had written a different sort of piece — maybe “Hail Mighty Justices! Hail Ruth! Hail Sonia!” — it would be acceptable in America’s public schools. Though too dangerous for public school students, Biebl’s Ave has gained popularity in this country since it was introduced here by the Cornell University Glee Club in 1970. Performances by the male choral ensemble Chanticleer, such as the one above, are especially popular.

— Comments —

Kyle writes:

I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. – John 15:5

Thank you for sharing the sublime performance of “Ave Maria” sung by members of Cantus and Chanticleer in a pub. The video exhibits a confident brand of masculinity and reverence we thirst for today. One where a man can clutch a cold pint of lager while singing in chorus with other men to honor Our Lady.

I recently watched the classic film Going My Way starring Bing Crosby as Father Charles O’Malley. In the picture he coaches a group of young boys into a competent choir. Towards the end they sing “Ave Maria” together in a sweet rendition that likely gave hope to a nation engaged in heavy warfare in 1944. In 2017, there are parochial schools taking down Mary statues because they offend the non-believing students.

There’s a reason why our culture is in chaos and it’s not because a “lack of education” as the progressives would have us believe. A lack of knowledge isn’t our problem, it’s wisdom that’s lacking.

This song would be banned from a public school setting in a world that grovels to vulgarity. Its innate beauty and truth holds a mirror to the sloppy Marxism promulgated daily. As Augustine postulated, men love truth when it enlightens, they hate it when it reproves.

In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that public schools were not allowed to recite prayers and we’ve been living with the consequences ever since. We were supposed to grow more enlightened with accepting that we all evolved from monkeys but the evidence is to the contrary.

Unsurprisingly, the United States has fallen down the charts in science, mathematics and reading according to a Pew Research study in 2017. Perhaps we’re more knowledgeable of the ways of the world now more than ever, but our current cultures understanding of wisdom leaves room to be desired (1 Kings 3:1-15).

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