Benedict XVI has highlighted the fact that sacred music, as Vatican Council II had made clear, “is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy”.
From the time of Saint Gregory the Great in the fifth century the words schola cantorum, (literally “school of singers”) has referred to a group of singers who devote themselves to enhancing liturgical worship though sacred music. Youth is an excellent time to learn how to sing. It is an excellent time to gain an appreciation for the most beautiful music this side of heaven.
Every member of the student body sings in the Schola Cantorum. All students and faculty meet regularly to participate “as a group” in the production of beautiful sacred music to enhance school liturgies and daily prayer, providing an opportunity for students to give service to others by singing at the monthly first Friday Mass at Sacred Heart Parish as well as other various venues throughout the Cleveland area.
The choir focuses mainly on learning to sing sacred liturgical music of the Renaissance and Gregorian Chant: schola's purpose is to foster a love for the treasury of sacred liturgical music and to gain the skills needed for excellence in choral-singing.
These purposes enable and encourage students to go out into the world and effectively contribute to church music programs and become supporters of the Church's treasury of sacred music. Giving students an acquaintance with beautiful liturgical music is a reward in itself and certainly in keeping with the wishes of our Holy Father.