Case Studies

There is a strong philosophy and pedagogy behind the Making Music Praying Twice program.  But it is the stories of the individual children, the individual families the individual classes that best illustrate the importance of music education and the amazing power of prayer when it is combined with the gift of music.

Some names have been changed to protect anonymity.

 

 

Gregorian Chant

She was three years old and would be joining our new class at St. James.  I gave her mother the CD ahead of time to play for her children, so they would be familiar with the music.

 

“You’ll never believe what happened!” her mother told me.  “Gweneth heard the Magnificat and stopped what she was doing and went over to the CD player and knelt down to it and folded her hands.” 

 

“Wow.”  I answered.  “That’s great.  Did you show her that it was a prayer before?”  I knew this child had a strong Catholic family and had been taught to pray.  I assumed this was a great example of a child recognizing and discerning melody. 

 

“You don’t understand.  She had never heard the CD before.  She had never heard the song before.” 

 

The words to this song are in Latin.  How could she know it was a prayer?  I thought she must have characterized it as sacred music because she recognized the style of the Gregorian Chant.  So, I investigated, “Do you play a lot of Chant for her?”  

 

“No.”  This woman seems almost in awe.  What is she telling me?  “She has NEVER heard a Gregorian Chant in her life!” 

 

I know that we do not use this style of chant in the liturgy at our parish.  “But how could she know it was a prayer?”  I asked, “Its in Latin!”

 

“I know!” she said with eyes both excited by what she was sharing and relieved that I was finally getting it. 

 

Goosebumps ran up my arm.  That voice inside, the voice of the Holy Spirit, or maybe my Guardian Angel, said to me “Why are you surprised?” 

 

The Lord made Gweneth to know Him, love Him and serve Him and her young soul instantly knew what to do when she heard Mary’s song of praise, even though her brain couldn’t understand the words.
 

 

Luciana

I work at night.  I work in the day when the kids have free time and its not time to make dinner or lunch.  Sometimes I work in the day, and my husband has to put off some of his tasks so I can write, or plan, or teach.  But for the most part, most of my work is at night, after the kids are in bed.  So, I go to bed on the later side, between 12 – 1am, unless I’m facing a printing deadline, which may push my bedtime back to 2 or 3.  The result is that I don’t get up very early in the morning.  (That’s Dad’s job at our house.)
 

This is why on one Saturday morning, I was surprised to hear my work phone ring.  My feet had not yet hit the floor.  “Hello?” came a little voice on the other end.  Oh, it must be my nephew.
 

“Hi. Is this Mikey?” I answer.
 

“No.  Its Luciana.”
 

I don’t know any children named Luciana.
 

“Sorry honey, I think you have the wrong number.”
 

“She says this is the wrong number.”  Luciana tells the adult on the other end.  I hear murmuring.  “Is this Kate Daneluk?” she says clear as a bell. 

 

Now I am surprised.  “Yes. This is Kate Daneluk.”
 

More murmuring.  “I like your music.”
 

Suddenly, I feel a little silly, that I almost dismissed this precocious little girl off the phone.  At the same time, I feel very humble and I remember what we do.  That we become a part of a child’s life – of a family’s life.  Luciana went on to tell me that “The Old Woman” is her favorite song.  Again, humbling, since I wrote that song from an old English Nursery Rhyme and amazing songs like When Johnny Comes Marching Home, You are My Sunshine and Standing in the Need of Grace are also on that CD.  To write something that would become a favorite to a sweet little girl in Texas was not what I was aspiring to, but it felt amazing.  I talked to her for a while and then to her dad.  This was a good dad.  The kind of dad who isn’t letting the important things in life pass by.  Lucy means "light".  I felt like Luciana was well named.
 

While I listened to her chant the Agnus Dei in the background as her father discussed it, I heard that “little light” shining in the great state of Texas in a light-filled home.  Luciana and her dad give me hope in our country, in our society and in our Church.  She reminds me that so many of us all over the world are working to be a light and to fight the darkness of cynicism, faithlessness, and selfishness that seem to be taking over our world.  This family is living for Heaven and I am honored beyond belief to be a part of it.  Thank you for calling Luciana.  Call me back any time.  (after 9:30 AM Eastern Standard Time)

 

The Family

One of the things that continues to surprise me about our parish Making Music Praying Twice class is how it effects the OLDER siblings in the house.   Abigail had been in my class from before the age of one and her mother was making careful decisions to provide faithful instruction to her children with a purposeful  emphasis on the arts.  My kind of mom.

 

Helena and I frequently discussed Abigail’s development after class, but Helena also discussed her son, 8-years-older, who attends our parish school.  One day, Joshua had to come along to class because his school was off.  Joshua had brought some activities along, but spent much of the class joining in.  He had brought along Abigail’s songbook.  After we sang the Ave Maria, Joshua brought me the book and said, “Excuse me, what does this mean?”  I explained that we had sung the Hail Mary in Latin.  He continued to study the book.  His mother later shared that he often tries to read the music and play the songs on the piano and that he sings along and listens to the CD with his sister.

 

One day, I was especially surprised to hear that one student’s much older sister had uploaded one of our songs to her iPod.  This is the difference between a drop-off class and what we do.  The family-friendly environment with pro-life policies, the sense of love and community in the class that keeps parents hanging behind talking for up to an hour and half after class, and most importantly, the permeation of our faith and prayer throughout the program effect the whole family, even the ones who don’t come to class.  Sending home the CDs and songbooks do more than reinforce the music curriculum for our young students.  The home materials give the whole family access to the music.  It is in this music, this amazing gift from God that the power is unleashed which fuels the growth of the child and the growth of the family. 

 

I read blogs about homeschooling parents of older children who use the program to teach hymns and Gregorian Chant to their older children while using the program traditionally with the little ones.  Why do these “big kids” listen to this “little kid” music?  I think its because, while we pull back in some ways to make songs accessible and appropriate for young children, we do not dumb down the prayers or the music or the instrumentation.  Some songs or prayers are stripped down to their simple roots, but at that root is Spiritual truth and good music.  And who wouldn’t want that on her iPod?