St. Mary's Chapel Organ

All Saints Catholic Church is proud to be the new owner of a 1976 Van Daalen mechanical-action pipe organ. It was originally installed in the Saint Paul Seminary Chapel until the 1990s. From there it was moved and became the beloved organ of the Saint John Vianney (SJV) Seminary Chapel.

 

The current remodeling of the SJV chapel included a new organ, so this one needed a new home.

 

Father Jonathon Kelly, the rector of SJV, thought that All Saints, his former parish, was the perfect church to “adopt” the older organ.

Arriving after Easter, the organ will be installed in Saint Mary’s Chapel to accompany liturgies celebrated in that space and will replace the piano that, for several years now, is no longer tunable.

 

The purchase of the organ was funded through private donations.

 

The pipe organ is the instrument named by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council as the traditional instrument for our worship. Sacrosanctum Concilium (the liturgical document of Vatican II), says, “The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts man’s mind to God and higher things.” (1963, chapter VI, #120).

 

Former Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once wrote, “Pipe organs reflect the greatness of God and the community in His Church, the Body of Christ.”

 

Pope Paul VI’s 1967 Instruction, Musicam Sacram, repeats this, as does the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM). The GIRM adds that "it is appropriate that…the organ be blessed according to the Roman Rituale" (GIRM §313).

 

So important a part of the church is the organ that the instrument has its own special blessing rite!

 

Many musicians believe that the organ is still the very best way to lead a congregation. It can be powerful and authoritative in a way no other instrument can. This is because, in part, the organ can play all the voice parts simultaneously from soprano through bass, thus encouraging all voice parts to sing.

 

The pipe organ is not only powerful and authoritative because of its depth and volume, but because it mimics the human voice, a fact alluded to by Pope Saint Pius X. That is, air is pumped through pipes (organ pipe/human windpipe) via a wind chest (lungs and diaphragm) and follows a nice straight path out the round opening (pipe opening/human mouth). This means that, like a singer, a pipe organ can actually breathe.