Music by Norwalk composer used in Masses during U.S. papal visit |
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Written by LAURIE STEVENS, Chronicle Writer
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Friday, 06 June 2008 01:00 |
NORWALK—Grace Whitehurst and her family heard familiar music playing when they turned on their television to watch Pope Benedict XVI celebrate Mass in New York City.
“When it came on, I said, ‘Well, that’s Mike’s music they’re playing,’ ” says Mrs. Whitehurst of Norwalk St. Paul.
Her late brother, Michael Hay, composed the response that was sung during the Prayer of the Faithful for all three Masses celebrated by Pope Benedict during his United States visit in April. The Masses took place at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., and St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Yankee Stadium in New York.
Mr. Hay composed his “Trilingual Intercessions” response 14 years ago, and the words are sung in English, Latin and Spanish.
Mrs. Whitehurst says she learned her brother’s music was used when her friend Father David Reinhart, who attended the Mass for clergy at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, called and told her family to turn on the Mass.
They tuned in “just as they were singing my brother’s song — we had no idea,” says Mrs. Whitehurst.
Mr. Hay died nine years ago at the age of 45, but he is still remembered in the Norwalk community and beyond for his witness to the faith and his liturgical music.
“He had a mission and a purpose throughout his life — his music,” says Mrs. Whitehurst.
The son of Herman and Helen Hay, he grew up in Norwalk and graduated from St. Paul High School in 1971. In high school, Mr. Hay played the trombone in the band and helped start what is now called the folk group in St. Paul Parish.
Father Franklin Kehres, pastor of St. Paul, got to know Mr. Hay when they worked together on Teens Encounter Christ retreats in Carey about 35 years ago. “He was just a very outgoing, talented individual,” says Fr. Kehres. “Extremely gifted.”
Two years after high school, Mr. Hay was severely injured in an automobile accident. He walked with crutches and braces until 1995, when he had to begin using a wheelchair.
Despite the physical limitations, Mr. Hay earned a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Meinrad College in Indiana and two master’s degrees from Loyola in Chicago and DePaul in Philadelphia to further his ministry in music.
He worked as a liturgical musician for the Archdiocese of Chicago and later for World Library Publications, a division of J.S. Paluch Company, Inc. that published “Trilingual Intercessions.”
“His music was everything to him — how he expressed his faith and his love of God, and it was a way to reach other people,” says Mrs. Whitehurst.
“We always knew he was very talented and in the Chicago area he was well-known, but to think that nine years later his music was chosen for the official papal visit is pretty amazing,” she adds.
Mrs. Whitehurst notes her brother loved to teach. When he returned to Norwalk as his medical condition worsened, he helped with liturgical music, the band program and vocals for students in the high school musical at St. Paul.
A testimony to Mr. Hay’s devotion to the community was his decision to leave the royalties from his music to St. Paul Parish. The amount accumulated now totals more than $12,000.
Mr. Hay’s family still has all of his original compositions, and Mrs. Whitehurst says it brings them some sense of peace to know he lives on through his music.
Additional reporting by MaryLisa Boose.
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Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2008 09:14 |
