By Elijah Penn, Staff Writer
On Oct. 9, the Pilgrims of Hope Jubilee 2025 Concert was hosted in Saint Leo Abbey Church. Attendees enjoyed musical performances by Saint Leo University students and faculty.
This event comes after Pope Francis declared 2025 to be a “Jubilee Year of Hope” before he passed away. Pope Francis wrote that 2025 will “be a Holy Year marked by the hope that does not fade, our hope in God …. May the witness of believers be for our world a leaven of authentic hope, a harbinger of new heavens and a new earth … in joyful expectation of the fulfillment of the Lord’s promises.”
The Saint Leo Abbey is listed as one of six designated pilgrimage sites by the Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg this jubilee year.
The Department Chair of English, Music, and the Arts, Chantelle MacPhee, worked busily behind the scenes as Mistress of Ceremonies making sure that the concert ran smoothly. MacPhee explained that the music department had collaborated with the Catholic identity advisory committee to make the event a success.
The event opened with an excellent trumpet solo by a new adjunct professor and closed with a splendid number by the student musicians. The songs in between were equally fitting for the occasion and punctuated with short speeches on hope and finding joy and wonder in the smallest of things.
The Abbey was packed with people who had come from all over the area to listen to the songs of hope being beautifully performed.
“We had very little room left … We wanted to really bring in the community, not just the students and the faculty,” MacPhee said, talking about how the event was widely advertised to the community.
The turnout wasn’t the only thing that made the event so grand. The music choice was beautiful and stunningly performed by Dr. Cynthia Selph, Associate Professor of Music; she was the mastermind behind the song selections. Selph, who has been the face of the music program, and instrumental in its success, is retiring from the University.
MacPhee noted how well the songs connected with the other music pieces and the stories and speeches given, even though they hadn’t known what was going to be said.
The event was a great hope-filled occasion where students and faculty alike got an opportunity to showcase their talents while celebrating the year of jubilee.
“Music and the Holy Spirit are always a good connection,” MacPhee said.
