Celebrating Bl. Dominic Barberi with a French choir

Yesterday evening to augment the celebration of the feast of Bl. Dominic Barberi the Oxford Oratory welcomed the Little Singers of Saint-Charles - Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Charles - from Versailles.

This Children's choir, founded by Fr Roger Morandi in 1983 are on their first English tour and their itinerary includes the Catholic cathedrals in Portsmouth, Arundel and Southwark, St George's Chapel Windsor and in Oxford both Christ Church Cathedral and the Oratory.

In the programme notes they state that their mission "is to sing the Lord and his wonders and to radiate faith and Christian joy. Our young singers receive both a musical and a spiritual education for without a living faith, sacred music is reduced to a purely artistic gesture and loses it's meaning."

They sang both for the Mass at 6 and then gave a concert of pieces from their classical repertoire. The singing was very beautiful, in a disciplined and reverent style - their spiritual formation as outlined above being apparent. It was a delightful way both  to mark the feast and to relax on a late summer evening.

Their web site can be seen at http://petits-chanteurs-st-charles.fr