The Proto-Cathedral Choristers exist to share in the musical tradition of the Church as part of their

formation as Christian men and women. All aspects of the choral program, from the stunning location, to the
deportment expected of the students, and especially the music they sing, are designed to instill in them a
desire to cherish beauty and a recognition that this beauty is most surely found in the life of the Church.

The choristers learn that participation in beauty requires dedication.

Their reward, in this life, is the joy of joining their voices together in praise of God and forging truly enduring
friendships based on this shared love of beauty and Holy Mother Church.

Beauty and harmony are not a superfluous extravagance; they are also not a kind of personal
preference, but they are reflections of the superabundant richness of God himself who grants us, created to
his image and likeness, to recognize glimpses of his truth, goodness and beauty in the whole order of creation
and in our own nature. Through the mystery of the incarnation God elevates this order of creation and our
nature as it becomes the home of his Son and the instrument of our redemption. Therefore, Holy Mother
Church has always, against many heresies, defended the important contribution of art and music and anything
good to a dignified celebration of the sacramental mysteries of our faith. Innumerable churches, pieces of art
all over the world, and uncountable pieces of sacred music as well as church organs witness that beauty and
harmony are not simply external decorative elements to a true Catholic culture, but a very essential part of it.
Over the centuries the development of styles of art and music for liturgical use has strongly influenced what
we call today “secular” culture. It is a relatively modern experience that something like such a “secular”
culture exists at all because ideally the culture of daily life should reflect its origin in religious life. Today’s
worldly culture that is in many aspects not only profoundly opposed to our faith, but simply ugly in its
expressions, should not raise a general suspicion against all beauty and harmony as reflections of our spiritual
life within the culture of our daily life.

Therefore, it is the mission of the Proto-Cathedral to promote a true Catholic culture in our life. At
the Proto-Cathedral we are most grateful that our beautiful church building is a strong testimony of the pious
devotion and generosity of our ancestors. The school buildings, the convent and the large rectory witness the
cultural effect and influence of former times. Today this mission is strengthened once again in the many
activities at this campus which surround the liturgical and sacramental life of the Oratory like the rays of the
sun and illuminate our daily life, our families and our work. Finally, the genuine Catholic culture of our daily
lives is an important testimony of our faith to the world, a very efficient instrument for the new
evangelization, and a strong remedy against the ugliness of today’s mono-cultural poverty where everyone
claims to do what they want and to realize themselves, but in reality at the end everyone does the same,
dresses the same, and listens to the same bad music. As beauty and harmony are expressions of God’s love,
their visible and audible expressions also elevate our minds to the love of what no eye has ever seen and what
no ear has ever heard, but what God has prepared for those who love him (I Cor. 2:9).