Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

On August 10, my present parish in Harare, the Assumption of Our Lady in Rhodesville, Highlands, celebrated its diamond jubilee. In preparation for the celebration, a number of projects were embarked upon which included the building of a grotto, improving the car park, building a wall for the church, fundraising and designing a jubilee uniform which was to be worn not only on the day, but on the third Sunday of each month prior to the event.

Musician Fr Emmanuel Ribeiro introduced vernacular songs (17 of which he wrote himself) and African musical instruments into the Catholic Church in the 1960s, in the wake of Vatican Council II. (Photo courtesy The Zimbabwean)

As one can imagine, the parish, under the leadership of a new young African priest of about 31 years of age, was a hive of activity for months.

The day itself was obviously even more active than the proverbial hive.

First, there was the Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Robert Ndlovu of Harare.

It was a busy day for the archbishop: besides celebrating Mass he had to confer the sacrament of Confirmation on numerous candidates, he had to bless all couples whose wedding anniversaries are in the month of August because this was also their own jubilee; and to cap it all, he had to bless the new grotto before giving the final blessing.

Sometime last year I reported about how I found the Mass in the Shona language at St Joseph’s parish in Hatfield, Harare, very inspiring and uplifting. That was before my wife Teboho and I moved to the Assumption parish.

What happened on the day of the diamond jubilee partly explains why African church music is so good in Zimbabwe.

First, there is the critical role played by neighbourhood communities, the Small Christian Communities in each parish. These communities play a central role in the running and maintenance of the parish.

Second, music competitions are held from time to time at diocesan level, giving the parishes in the diocese the opportunity to compete with one another in the art and practice of singing for God.

For example, on July 29 this year there was a church music festival in honour of Fr Emmanuel Ribeiro, arguably the greatest composer in the country.

Now, on August 10, three parishes competed with one another. This happened after Mass and after food and drinks had been served (the eating and drinking continued during the singing competition). The winner was the host parish, Assumption parish, partly because a lot of effort had been put into the practice, and partly because Fr Ribeiro himself had been invited a number of times to come and coach the choir.

What was more exciting was the competition of the Assumption neighbourhood choirs. The nine neighbourhood communities plus the youth choir competed for the trophy. Each competing choir—the three parish choirs included—sang two songs: the competition song and one other.

It being the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, the competition song was appropriately a new Shona tune of the Hail Mary.

One of the things I find fascinating about the singing at the Assumption of Our Lady parish, and which was evident on this day, is the involvement of young people in the choir. For many of the neighbourhood choirs the conductor was a very young person, in most cases a girl.

Well, the winner was the neighbourhood of St Augustine (or Neighbourhood 9) which was led by a young woman. Our neighbourhood, called Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (or Neighbourhood 3), also led by a young woman, tied for third place with the youth choir, which was led by a young conductor of Neighbourhood 9.

The lesson here is that Zimbabwean church music is generally very good and powerful, but a lot of effort is put into the composing and practising, and this makes the Mass an enjoyable, inspiring and uplifting experience.

I believe there is much that the Church in other African countries can learn from Zimbabwe when it comes to using church music to worship God.