STA News
Music to Their Ears: Listen to a Chapel Favorite
Lower School students gathered for a chapel hymn sing this week in St. Alban’s Church. As always, the noise of shoes squeaking and hushed whispers was quickly replaced by the sounds of organ music and singing. The music not only punctures the typically mundane sounds of the shuffling classes, but also provides a much-needed break in the week for the students from the daily grind and pressures of life and learning.
While all the music and choral sounds in chapel are cherished, the boys at St. Albans definitely have their favorites. “Amazing Grace” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” are often a staple of the services, but more St. Albans-specific favorites like “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and “Men of the Future, Stand” also feature heavily in the musical rotation. Little encouragement is needed for the boys to belt out their favorite songs and verses. The song rotations often change to match the message of each service, but the sense of community, support, and time for much-needed reflection the singing provides remain a beautiful constant of the St. Albans experience.
The song sung in the video below is “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God” - another crowd favorite, filmed at this week’s Lower School Chapel by Mr. Haley.
“I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green:
they were all of them saints of God, and I mean,
God helping, to be one too.
They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
and God’s love made them strong;
and they followed the right, for Jesus’ sake,
the whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
and one was slain by a fierce wild beast:
and there’s not any reason, no, not the least,
why shouldn't I be one too.”
Listen to the song:
Listen to the song:
Located in Washington D.C., St. Albans School is a private, all boys day and boarding school. For more than a century, St. Albans has offered a distinctive educational experience for young men in grades 4 through 12. While our students reach exceptional academic goals and exhibit first-rate athletic and artistic achievements, as an Episcopal school we place equal emphasis upon moral and spiritual education.