Newsletter

The Music Ministry of        Maureen and Bill Hayes

May our songs rise like incense to the Lord

December, 2013

In December, of course, comes Christmas and all it's hectic schedules!  Come join us for the 4 Sundays of Advent at the Church of St. Clare's as well as Christmas Eve (4:00 pm and 7:30 pm or Christmas morning at 10:00 am.  A Reconciliation Service is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 16th at 6:30 pm.

In November, we celebrate All Saints Day (Nov. 1), All Souls Day (Nov. 2) and Evening prayer for the Dead on Nov. 3, as well as Thanksgiving Day mass on Nov. 28.

In October, we celebrate the sacrament of confirmation at St. Clare's with Bishop Howard Hubbard, who will be retiring this year when his replacement is announced.

In March, we celbrated the Easter Triduum at St. Clare's Church with Holy Thursday mass, Good Friday Passion and Easter Vigil mass along with Easter Sunday masses.  A busy, week, but with many spiritual blessings!

In Decenber, Maureen and Bill celebrated the birth of their first grandson, born to their daughter and son-in-law on Christmas Eve! -- a blessed Christmas present!!

In November, Bill was requested by the Albany Catholic Diocese to write the theme song for the new DVD spiritual retreat disk titled Amazing God:  Filled With The Spirit.  The recording of the song as well as the sheet music appears on the DVD published by the Albany Diocese.  You can hear a recording of the song by going to the following link:

http://www.amazinggodrcda.org/filledwiththespirit.htm   (Copy this link onto your browser.)

In August, Bill was invited by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to appear in a taping of a diocesan DVD on the Holy Spirit.  This DVD will eventually be distributed to all the parishes in the Albany dicocese.  In addition, Bill was invited to participate in a hymn competition to write a liturgical song for Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, who will be cannonized by Pope Benedict to be known as Saint Kateri in late October.  This competition is sponsored by the Albany diocese and the winning hymn will be announced in October, with the winning song to be performed at a special mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in early Novermber.

In May and June, Bill has ben requested by the Albany Diocese to participate in the Awesome God evangelical program.  A part of this participation would be to record a DVD of his testimony as how the Holy Spirit has influenced his life with respect to his disability with multiple sclerosis.  More info to follow in August.  Watch this newsletter for details.

In April, Maureen and Bill provided the music ministry for St. Clare Church for Holy Week masses and services.  See the Monthly Calendar button on the lower left of this page for details.

In March, Bill continueD his Master's study program.  His mentor is Dr. Robert Carey, who was an intern with Dr. Martin Luther King in Atlanta in the 1960s.  An interview with Dr. Carey and his wife on the challenges of an interracial married couple may be found at: http://www.longmarriedcouples.com/p-b_intw.html.

In February, Bill began his master's degree study of psalmody at Empire State College in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Also, Bill & Maureen attended the Albany Diocesan Seminar on psalmody at  Little Sisters of the Poor Community Home in Latham, NY.

In January, in addition to our regular weekend mass schedules at St. Clare's and Our Lady of The Assumption, we also add an event at Hudson Park Nursing Home, 325 Northern Blvd Albany, NY on Jan. 25th at 10:30am.  Come join us !

In December, we led the St. Clare Congregation for the annual Christmas Masses on Christmas Eve at 4:00pm & 7:30pm as well as Christmas Morning at 10:00am. We have expanded the music ministry at St. Clare's to include two extra drummers for the two Christmas Eve masses as well as string bass, flute, guitar, violin and cello.  Also in December we played at the Eddy Nursing Home in Cohoes, NY providing a lively time of Chirstmas Music and other lively holiday songs for the residents.  Maureen has also expanded the Our Lady of The Assumption music ministry to inclule extra vocalists and a flute for the Christmas season.

In November, we led the Confirmation class for the sacrament of Confirmation on November 7th.  Also, we led the St. Clare congregation for the annual Thanksgiving mass on Thanksgiving Day.

In June, we had an annointing service for the sick and disabled at St. Clare's in which the sacrament of the sick was administered.  Also, we recorded another class on June 25th on the New Roman Missal.

In May, our music student performed in a recital on May 1st at The Church of St. Clare.  In addition, we recorded another class on May 14th on the the overview of the New Roman Missal which can be heard at the link on our HOME page under SPECIAL SHOWS AND ARTICLES.

In Apirl, we added additional recorded talks and homilies on the overview of the new Roman Missal that will be introduced later this year.  You'll find it on our HOME page at the link for SPECIAL SHOWS AND ARTICLES.

In March, we continued with the recorded talks at St. Clare Church with March's talk on the Introduction Rites, which includes:  what does it mean to gather, how to gather and other related topics.  Go to our HOME page for a link to the St. Clare talks.

In February, Maureen continued with her Liturgical Certificate program at The College of St. Rose.  In addition at The Church of St. Clare, we began an overview of theology and spirituality anticipating the changes in the Roman Catholic Mass next December, 2011.  Watch this website as we will be recording these talks to post on this website.

Starting in January, Maureen is enrolled at the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY for a special Liturgical Certificate program.  This certificate program will provide students with a broad but in-depth exposure to liturgical practice and ecclesiology.

In December, in addition to the Christmas masses found through the Calendar button on the left side of this page, Bill & Maureen also sing The Rosary at St. Clare Church on December 9th.

In November, Bill and Maureen celebrated the sacrament of Confirmation at The Church of St. Clare with Bishop Howard Hubbard.  Thanksgiving Day brought two mases at The Church of St. Clare and Our Lady of The Assumption.

In October, plans are underway for a sung scripturual rosay to be given at the Church of St. Clare, Albany, NY to be presented later this fall.  Watch this newsletter for further details.

In September, Mark Langevin appeared as a special guest music minister at St. Clare's on September 23rd & 24th. 

In August, our parish of St. Clare's celebrated their 70th anniversary with a special mass with Bishop Howard Hubbard as the principal celebrant.  Also concelebrating with the Bishop were current and past priest of St. Clare including Fr. Ron Menty, Fr. Michael Schmitt, Fr. Ed Deimeke, Fr. John Moyna, Fr. Peter Sullivan and Fr. Tom Konopka.

In July, our daughter-in-law graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) with her PhD in Communications and Rheteric.  We are all very proud of her.  Also, the St. Clare Choir will sang on June 12th at the 4:00pm mass. 

In May the second airing of Table of The Lord occurred on May 2nd on channel 23, the local Fox afilliate (Albany, NY cable channel 8.)  Also the St. Clare Choir sang on May 8th at St. Clare Church. 

In April, we began with Holy Week, the most sacred time of the calendar year at St. Clare's with Holy Thursday (April 1,) Good Friday (April 2,) Easter Vigil (April 3) and Easter Sunday (April 4.)    We will also be taped two masses for the local Fox TV afilliate (Albany, NY channel 8) for the show "Table of the Lord" which was aired on April 25th and May 2nd.  Maureen continues to play at Our Lady of the Assumption on Saturdays.  In addition we held our annual Spring student recital on April 25th at St. Clare Church featuring the best in our student's talents.

In March, we continued through Lent with 1st Reconcilliation and Adult Reconcilliation services.  Our Prayer and Worship (liturgy planning) meetings continued through March as well.  Also, in additon to playing at St. Clare's on Sunday mornings, Maureen played and sang every Saturday 4:30 mass in March at Our Lady of The Assumption, 498 Watervliet-Shaker Road, Latham, NY.  Be sure to stop by and say hello.  Also, Maureen played and sang at a Lenten Evening of Reflection presented by Archbishop Harry Flynn at Our Lady of The Assumption.  Bill gave a reflection of the Psalms in March.

In February, the holy season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday masses on Feb. 17th.   Be sure to stop by St. Clare Church for this special season. 

In January, we provided the music once again for the Cursillo organization for the Feast of The Conversion of St. Paul (patron saint of Cursillo.)  Bishop Howard Hubbard (Bishop of Albany) presided.

2009 IN REVIEW

In December, Christmas was at the top of the list with masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning masses.    We also had special radio shows with Christmas music played for December. 

In November, we went several vacations including to Florida with Maureen's sister and her husband, a trip to the Montreal opera and visting our new in-laws for Thanksgiving.   We'll played at the annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service just before

Thanksgivng.  Confirmation with Bishop Howard Hubbard also was held this month at St. Clare's.

In October, the long awaited wedding of our daughter, Kelly and her fiancee, Andy Mollica took place at Our Lady of The Assumption Church in Latham, NY.  We wish the happy couple many decades of a joyous life together.

In September, the St. Clare choir sang again as well as ministry by drummer, Darryl Scott.  We also continue to look forward to the October wedding of our daughter, Kelly and her fiance, Andy.

In August, our daughter had her bridal shower and we had a great time celebrating the wedding of our daughter Kelly and her fiance, Andy which will occur in October.  In ministry, the St. Clare choir sang as well as drummer, Darryl Scott.

In July, we visited Wellesley Island New York State Park and the Turning Stone campground in central New York state.  We also invite you to the Evening Vespers at the Dominican Retreat Center in Niskayuna, NY, held on a monthly basis.  Go to http://www.dominican-spiritual-life-center.com/ for more schedule information.

In June, we continued to minister at the Church of St. Clare, Albany, NY with the special feasts of Trinity Sunday and The Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi.  Come join us at the church at 1947 Central Ave., Albany NY 12205.  Let us know you heard about us from this website. 

In May, we returned to the Sisters of Mercy retirement community for another concert as well as The St. Clare Choir ministering at the 2nd Saturday mass.

In April, we scheduled a Nurses' conference in which we present the ministerial aspect of a nurses' role in caring for the sick.  We also scheduled our annual student music recital at St. Clare's.  Both of these events were in addition to our Holy Week schedule and weekly mass schedule.

In March, we scheduled several events which included a concert for the Sisters of Mercy retirement community, a presentation of Psalms for the youth at St. Clare's, a special prayer service for newly licensed drivers at St. Clare's and a First Reconciliation service also at St. Clare's  Bill also continued with two more classes in the Songwriter's Master class in additon to our usual weekend mass schedule.

In February, we gave a spiritual retreat for the Parish Nurses through Seaton Health Center.    Also, Bill gave a two night master class for songwritiers in February.  Two will be in March. 

In January, we provided the music for the annual mass for the Cursillo organization on the Feast of The Conversion of St. Paul (patron saint of Cursillo.)  Bishop Howard Hubbard presided.

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