Friday, Feb. 26 marked a year since the death of Father Hesburgh, a much-loved and revered member of the Notre Dame community. Father Hesburgh was president of the university for 35 years, and during his time at the helm of the school, he opened it to female students, championed civil rights and spent a great deal of time meeting one-on-one with students and alumni. He died at the age of 97 with the utmost respect from students, faculty and clergy alike, and the legacy he left behind remains on the campus he loved.
Friday night at 8 p.m., the Notre Dame Liturgical Choir, Folk Choir, Celebration Choir, Basilica Schola and Cora Primavera joined together along with members of the Notre Dame community in order to honor Father Hesburgh with a memorial concert. The evening began in prayer and readings, followed by a beautiful testament to Father Ted given by Father Austin Collins.
Soon after, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart was filled with the sounds of five choirs singing John Rutter’s "Requiem." Although I was singing, I could see the impact the music was making upon the audience; "Requiem" goes from celebration of God’s glory in one movement to bemoaning the human condition in the next, and then back to celebration again, and it is difficult to not be affected emotionally in some way. It is full of impressive chords and seemingly impossible high notes, sung beautifully by the soprano soloist of the night, Elizabeth Schleicher. I believe that the music was a fitting memorial to a truly great man.
After the concert, I had several people tell me how the Basilica was full of sound that night and how it was a truly beautiful memorial service. I am proud to have been able to honor Father Hesburgh with music; although I never met him, he is the reason that I, a female student, am able to attend Notre Dame, and I looked to him as inspiration during my college decision process last year. Although he is gone in a physical sense, Father Ted lingers around campus in the grotto, on the 13th floor of the Hesburgh Library, in Mod Quad and in the fondness and admiration those who met him continue to hold for him.
Rest in peace, Father Ted. Notre Dame will forever remember you.
