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COR SANCTUM, The people and power behind the band.
Interview by Jeffrey Brian, Heavenly Times
There is a joyful noise coming from the Heartland lately. An acoustic band, all Catholic - to the core, they say - playing all original music from contemplative to rowdy, this little group is grounded in the Catholic faith and eager to share the message of holiness. Cor Sanctum was formed in 1999 to serve a number of needs, the personal need to sing not excluded. Currently Jen Gaddie, Rick Smith and Stephen Tefft, Cor Sanctum was born out of the international movement Pro Sanctity.
Q: This may be a pretty basic question, but how did Cor Sanctum form?
Jen: Originally, it was Stephen, myself and Joy McCurley, with my husband, Greg, occasionally playing drums. Stephen, Greg and I had known each other a few years already and we were introduced to Joy at a Pro Sanctity event the summer of 1998. We sang together with a number of other people at Pro Sanctity's All Saint's Day Mass that November 1st, at St. Gerald's in Omaha. (What a night - Joy found she had two tires slashed in the parking lot there after everyone else had gone, and we were all supposed to meet at Stephen's house. When we arrived, there were a few messages from her, still at St. Gerald's and understandably a little stressed out, so Stephen went back to the parish to help her out.) We started practicing as a three-some after that. Greg only played at coffeehouses.
Q: You've changed members over the years. Why the turn-over?
Jen: You noticed! Rick joined Cor Sanctum officially in January of 2002. He took Greg's place to free him up for our web-site and other work. Joy stepped out between Christmas 2002 and New Year's 2003, to make time for other activities. So, since January 2003, Cor Sanctum has been myself, Rick and Stephen.
Q: You mentioned singing at Mass; do you do that often?
Rick: We provide music for various parishes at least 3-4 times a month; We sing at Margaret Mary's in Omaha and St. James in Mead regularly. Stephen and Jen have been asked to sing at weddings at both parishes, also.
Stephen: That's because we are still working on your singing voice.
Rick: I've discovered I am a 'redneck' singer.
Q: Do you like country music?
Rick: Certainly not. I was born in Oklahoma though. Didn't know I sang like an 'Okie' until Stephen had me sing lead in one of our new songs, "Let Them Come". Luckily, it was so bad we have to re-do it. (Laughs)
Jen: We aren't resinging it because of your 'accent', Rick. Stephen played the guitar too fast.
Q: Rick, do you sing or just play the drums at Mass?
Rick: I sing at Mass, if it sounds good when we practice. I rarely play drums, or any other percussion for that matter, at Mass. Very occasionally. I bring them out at concerts and the occasional coffeehouse.
Jen: He does play them at Mass when we are in Albuquerque now; they practically brow-beat him. As it was explained to us, there is a large Native American/Hispanic population in the parish (no kidding, in Albuquerque?) so use of the congas is common.
Stephen: However, that makes it even more unusual for them to hear Latin chant and the older hymns that we enjoy throwing in. We try to have all the genre's represented.
Q: Why is that?
Jen: Catholic means 'universal'. In America, we have so many different cultures represented, not to mention varying generations of Catholics. We pick music that not only brings out the messages you hear in the readings that day, but also songs that will appeal to all of those varieties of people.
Stephen: It can be a challenge, but it is worth it. I think that is one of the things that makes us different from other groups. We can present a diversity in our music that you often don't hear.
Q: Can you give me some examples?
Stephen: For instance, at a Mass for ordinary time, we typically choose one older hymn, like 'Holy God, We Praise Thy Name', an older OCP, Jesuit or GIA production, a newer one, and then throw in a Latin chant for Offertory or Communion meditation. We also frequently use one of my songs for Communion or meditation, depending on the parish.
Q: You write music? (Laughter)
Rick: He's written over 600 songs, although not all of them are religious.
Stephen: About two-thirds of the songs have religious lyrics, but even many of my secular pieces have 'faith' overtones.
Rick: Overtones?
Stephen: Or undertones. Whatever.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration to write?
Stephen: As Jen mentioned, we are part of the Pro Sanctity Movement, an international movement founded to promote holiness in our daily lives. The movement was founded by Bishop Guglielmo Giaquinta in 1947, in Italy. He looked around at the youth in Italy after WWII and felt they had lost their focus, lost their vocations in life, so, in 1947, he gathered some young Italians and taught them that they all could become saints. "You, too, can become saints!"
Rick: Stephen uses a lot of his prayers.
Stephen: I have used a number of the bishop's prayers that he wrote, to inspire me. I should tell you, Pro Sanctity has more than lay members. the Movement is made up of praying and active lay members, a secular institute for women - the Apostolic Oblates, the Sodales - a group of priests living holiness in their daily lives, and some lay members join the Cooperative Oblates - for women married or desiring marriage, and the Social Animators - for men living in the workplace. In fall 1999, the national moderator of the movement, Teresa Monaghen, in Omaha, asked me to put some of Giaquinta's prayers to music for the Apostolic Oblates 50th anniversary. I was skeptical, but had three songs written in a week or so. The first one, "Tell Me, My Lord," was their favorite and the Oblates invited us to Rome for their Jubilee to help them celebrate. Now, aside from other productions, we have released two CD's of bishop Giaquinta's prayers put to music.
Jen: Our newest CD, 'Trust', has 16 songs, all except one of which are the bishop's prayers. Stephen took a talk given by one of the Cooperatives, Rita Hejkal, and set it to music - 'Sowers of Hope'. Perhaps that will set a precedent. We are surrounded by so many ordinary people living such holy lives. They have so much spirituality to share!
Q: So, Cor Sanctum is part of Pro Sanctity?
Jen: You could say that, I guess. We are active members and we serve them as much as possible.
Stephen: Jen is the secretary of the Omaha local board, she and I also serve the board as co-directors of our young adult weekend experience called Choices. I work closely with the liturgy head and also represent our other young adult activities, like Catholic Campus Ministry, though I think we are going to change my functions a little.
Rick: I come to board meetings once in a while as an idea guy. I hate meetings.
Q: Where do you see God leading you?
Stephen: Good question. I think we struggle with that a lot.
Q: What do you mean?
Jen: We have gifts that God has given us, like in the parable of the talents. Well, we don't want to be that third guy who buried all the talents and was scorned by his master. So, we try to use them when and where ever we can. However, many of our venues require finances to acquire/fulfill/whatever and the money isn't always forthcoming. We do have many generous benefactors - it's all baby-steps. We suffer what many Catholic organizations do, a lot of verbal support, little money, little attendance.
Rick: We can get a little discouraged when many people say how much they love the music, but then there is hardly anyone we know at the concerts, hardly any CD's purchased, etc.
Jen: We do focus on constantly renewing our realization that God's plan is not ours to work on, mull over, fix... We are certainly happier when we let God work on His own plan, using us as He needs to. So, when the pews are empty at a concert everyone said they were coming to (laughs), we know that is okay - really. The people that are there, are the ones God called to hear the message. The rest is really none of our business. Then, we can have fun singing and know we are part of His plan for other's salvation, conversion - whatever He needs us to be or do. We can relax!
Stephen: Some days that is harder to realize than on others.
Rick: Sure. It can be depressing if you don't keep your focus on the Son.
Q: You all have special devotions, I assume? Something to get you through the blues?
Jen: (sings) "You've gotta right to sing the blues."
Rick: Undercover Blues. Oh yeah. My confirmation name is Gabriel, after the Archangel, of course. I also have a special relationship with St. Benedict.
Stephen: For confirmation I chose Anthony of Padua. Then, a couple of years ago, I developed a strong connection to John Bosco - he used his talents to further God's message. He also trusted that the money he would need to do that would be there as needed. I suppose that has happened to me, also, though it is hard to live that kind of trust faithfully.
Jen: My parish priest was a bit shocked, but my confirmation name is Luke. I remember him asking, "Can she do that?" (Laugh) I am also particularly fond of St. Therese of Liseaux and St. Francis of Assisi. We also have devotions as a band; ones that we came together with and ones we developed over time.
Rick: Michael the Archangel is one.
Jen: Definitely. Of course, we have a strong devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and The Sacred Heart of Jesus. I don't think that is news to anyone who has heard us sing. Stephen and I, before we 'became a band', consecrated our lives to the Immaculate Heart; at the same time, we gathered a group of friends together for a 'Scapular conferation ceremony'.
Q: A what?
Jen: We had all read Bud McFarlane's book "Pierced By A Sword" the summer of '97 - was it '97? Anyway, we each wore a scapular already, many even had blessed them before 'donning the wool', but no one had actually gone through the prayers, blessings, etc. with a priest. We had never heard of doing it that way. So, we contacted the Militia Immaculata, the community that Maximilian Kolbe founded, and did some research. The day we chose is December 8th, the Immaculate Conception - luckily, it wasn't very far off on the calendar! We called Father Shane at Sts. Peter and Paul parish, where Greg and I were attending Mass (actually, his family is a huge part of the congregation there!), and his associate pastor agreed to 'confer' us. I am really not sure how to use that word!
Q: Why the Militia Immaculata?
Stephen: Kolbe was an early promoter of using current media and technology to spread the Gospel and the teachings of the Church. We weren't singing together yet, but we were part of an acting group that my sister, Jen Hoover, and I started years ago to provide good family entertainment. Maximilian Kolbe's charism spoke to us. There are certainly other consecrations and other ways to confer the scapular. I do recommend wearing one though!
Rick: You're forgetting a huge inspiration guys!
Stephen: I didn't forget. We already spoke a bit about it. Naturally, we have a strong devotion to Bishop Giaquinta and the universal call to holiness. Otherwise, we wouldn't be members of Pro Sanctity and I would still be searching for lyrics to quite a few songs!
Jen: We are also greatly inspired by our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II... and Rich Mullins. (Shrugs) Rich wrote great music. I was so blessed to meet him twice when I attended the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He left us huge footsteps to follow in our journey.
Stephen: And the Holy Father - there is a wealth of inspiration in his writings alone.
Jen: The Eucharist.
Stephen: We have a huge devotion to the Real Presence. I don't think there is anything more significant really than the presence of our Lord and Savior in the Holy Eucharist.
Rick: That's the reason we added it to the Sacred Heart prayer: "O Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, we place our trust in You."
Q: Do you only use Bishop Giaquinta's prayers and writings to provide ideas for actual lyrics?
Stephen: No way. Most of my music is completely original in the sense that I wasn't looking at someone else's thoughts first, as I did with the Bishop's prayers. Many of those are word for word, as much as possible, because that is what Pro Sanctity asked for.
Jen: Especially the first CD "Make Us Saints".
Stephen: Yes. With the newest one, "Trust", I felt more confidant in my ability to portray his message without following his exact text, though you can pick out his words and phrases in many places. Jen mentioned Rita and "Sowers of Hope"; I have also put one of Kimberly Hahn's prayers to music, too; which we can now start singing with her blessing. I sent her a copy of the lyrics and a cassette of the song and she returned a letter giving us permission to use it anywhere.
Q: So, it is not on a CD yet?
Stephen: No, just a quick recording I did in my basement to give her an idea of what it sounded like. It's called "My Path to Sanctity". We didn't want to practice it until we heard from her.
Q: I can see why you would choose that prayer.
Jen: She included it in her book, "Life Giving Love".
Q: You have mentioned mission a lot - what is your mission?
Rick: To go where no man has gone before!
Stephen: Well, we really want to get the word out, the Bishop's words to be exact. All of us are called to live holiness in our daily lives; we are called into a brotherhood, one in which we should be living models of Christ.
Jen: We recently received Pro Sanctity's official blessing to 'go out' as Pro Sanctity's Mission Team. It's a good thing we enjoy traveling.
Q: Speaking of travel - where have you been and where do you see yourselves going?
Stephen: Not far with our finances.
Jen: Pessimist.
Rick: Jen and Stephen have been to Rome with Pro Sanctity. I joined the band in the hopes that they would take me there someday. Since I joined, we have been as far as Salisbury and Charlotte, North Carolina, and Albuquerque, New Mexico - both a few times. And of course, we've stuck around home, too - Fremont, Mead, Columbus, Valley.
Stephen: Jen and I have been out to the Pro Sanctity Retreat Center in Fullerton, California. We hope to get out there again soon. And we just drove down to Wichita for the Midwest Catholic Family Conference to run a booth. No gigs there.
Jen: Maybe next time. We also have plans to go out to the Pro Sanctity house in Brooklyn. It would be nice to gain a following on the North-eastern coast, right?
Q: Have you considered EWTN or St. Joseph's Communications?
(Rick, Stephen and Jen share 'a look')
Q: What about radio stations?
Rick: We have recently sent our newest CD's to two stations, one is only on the internet. Two songs from Cor Sanctum's first CD was heard on "New Heart, New Voices", on the internet, way back when. They tried "Catholic Jukebox" back then, too, and I intend to contact them again. I am told that both of the entities you referred to have the first CD in hand, actually two copies. We have never heard from them, however.
Jen: We are going to send our newest CD this time; give it another try. We've also tried to talk Teresa Monaghen into contacting them about Pro Sanctity, with little success, so perhaps we'll combine the two like we have been doing recently. It's been quite a while.
Rick: This sounds like a job for - 'The Mission Team'!
Q: Stephen, can you share a 'favorite'? A 'remember when'?
Stephen: We've talked about that and there are a lot of fun times to account. I think my favorite, however, is the day we went street singing in Rome.
Q: That must have been interesting. Something you can share?
Stephen: If you're sure you're interested… In 2000, we were given the opportunity to travel to the International Pro Sanctity Convention in Rome, Italy. During our stay we'd had a night of... I'll call them emotional setbacks. We'd let our own expectations, expectations that were not filled to our satisfaction, allow us to become frustrated and angry. The next day we decided to go to St. Peter's Square to do some street singing. Thank you, Father Carl, for the suggestion! It was a bright, warm, sunny day but the entire walk all we could do was complain and whine that things weren't going the way we wanted and that no one was listening to our music... music we'd traveled thousands of miles to share. It was all so unfair! (At least that's what I was doing. I guess I shouldn't speak for the whole band on this...) When we got to the Square, we set up under one of the "arms" that surround St. Peter's Square and started to sing. One thing we still all agree on is that music is a great outlet for emotion. When I'm feeling particularly upset I try to lose myself in song, especially when the song is one that leads the heart and mind to God. So I was there, eyes closed, singing my heart and lungs out when I noticed that it was getting really crowded. I could barely move without running into people. I opened my eyes to discover that it had begun raining... pouring cats and dogs... and dozens of people were crowding together under the "arms" of St. Peter's to get out of the rain. Suddenly we had a huge audience, all due to the weather. People were dancing and trying to sing along as well as the language differences would permit. It was awesome! After another forty-five minutes or so, my voice and hands were getting tired so we decided to rest a while. We finished one more song and started to put the guitar away. Just then the rain let up. The sun came out again and all the people who were listening to us walked off to finish their day. It didn't rain again that day.
Q: Not something everyone gets to experience.
Stephen: Certainly not. And I really needed it. To me this was God speaking pretty clearly. We were upset that no one was listening so He gave us an audience. We were thinking that God didn't care, so He showed us that He did... in a way that even I could understand.
Jen: He does that a lot. This convention we went to in Wichita; we got there with such optimism, okay maybe not so much, but we try… We did not do as well as we'd hoped, let's leave it at that shall we? So, we are once again, sitting around wondering why we are here, why does God call us so loudly to do these things. Sure, we shared the message of holiness with many people, but did we touch anyone? Who knows. Did we make enough to recoup our table cost? No. There we were at the closing Mass, however, and it was simply awesome to see all those people worshipping the Lord. And the opening song begins, and it is "Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All". Well, we had been trying to find the music and lyrics to that song for months for Monsignor Hollamen in Mead, Nebraska. He has been around a long time and wanted us to sing this song at Mass, but we couldn't figure out what the name was from what he sang to us. So, now we have it. I think it was the real reason we were supposed to be there.
Rick: That would make for a very expensive song.
Jen: But, worth every penny to please a friend, right?
Q: Any last words you want to share?
Stephen: Since you've asked… (all laugh) I would really like to mention all the emotional and financial support we have received from so many people - my parents, and Jen's, many friends over the years, Pro Sanctity and especially all the holy priests who have continued to encourage us by asking us to come provide music. I would especially like to thank Father Carl Zoucha, from the Omaha Archdiocese, for years of much appreciated support. He has a tough job as our spiritual director and he's heard it all.
Jen: We go to him for all kinds of advice, absolution, humor…
Rick: And just to 'jam'. Thanks!
Stephen: Thanks, Padre!
Jen: We couldn't possibly list them all, but I have to thank Father Charles Townsend in the Lincoln diocese for all his support and encouragement, also. Without those two priests, we'd be basket cases.
Stephen: Father Damien Cook, Father Jeff Loseke.
Rick: Don't forget Tom at Tesco Productions. Jen and
Stephen: Tom!
Q: Tesco?
Stephen: Tom is the owner of Tesco Productions in Omaha, the studio we have been using to record our music since we began. Joy found him for us and he has been more than a blessing. Definitely thank you, Tom!
Q: Anyone else?
Stephen: Better to stop there!
Q: Sounds like you you've been blessed with good people to share your journey.
Rick: You don't know the half of it! Tell them what we've got behind door number three! (Laughter)
Q: Well, thanks for giving me so much of your time. Stephen, Rick, Jen - it has been a pleasure hearing your story.
Stephen: Any time. Thanks for having us.
Note: If there are any questions that were not answered sufficiently, or at all, through this interview, please contact info@corsanctum.com and the members would be happy to fill that need for you!
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