Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, the Ordinariate parish in San Antonio, Texas has released a Virtual Alumni Voice Recital on the feast of St. John Paul II.
According to an announcement posted to the parish's Facebook, the virtual recital is part of Our Lady of the Atonement’s Music Series, and features alumni from its parish choir "who are now pursuing or have already completed degrees in music from prestigious institutions."
“Through his ‘artistic creativity’ man appears more than ever ‘in the image of God,’” the Ordinariate parish quoted St. John Paul II writing, from his 1999 Letter to Artists.
The Virtual Alumni Voice Recital features countertenor Christian Cruz, soprano Mary Henriquez, soprano Maura Navarrete, bass-baritone Alejandro Oliveros, and mezzo-soprano Cameron Weger.
The recital features these artists singing music by Bach, Cavalli, Handel, Mendelssohn, Mussorgsky, Purcell, and Telemann.
"We are grateful for their gift of music to our parish," Our Lady of the Atonement posted on their website, referencing both these accomplished singers and the talents of the Atonement parish choir.
Our Lady of the Atonement was established in 1983 under St. John Paul II's Pastoral Provision allowing Episcopal and Anglican congregations to enter the Catholic Church corporately, but as part of the Latin-Rite territorial diocese in which they were located. In 2017, after a decree from Pope Francis, Atonement and other Pastoral Provision parishes were brought under the canonical jurisdication of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, one of three unique Latin-Rite dioceses with Anglican traditions established by Benedict XVI's 2009 apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus.
The parish has a school, Atonement Academy, which is listed as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education and a member of The Cardinal Newman Society's Catholic Education Honor Roll.
Atonement's Virtual Alumni Voice Recital can be viewed below or directly on YouTube.