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''That All May Be One'' Friars Hymn Competition Winners Announced
Pastoral musician Steven Ottományi and Paulist Father Ricky Manalo have been chosen as winners of the hymn competition, "That All May Be One," sponsored by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) and the Friars of the Atonement. Both of the winning entries are based on the prayer of Jesus, "That all may be one" (John 17:21).
Steven Ottományi, Director of Liturgy and Music at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Huntington Beach, California, has created a new hymn text entitled Family of Faith that may be sung to several different tunes familiar to English-speaking Christians. In just four brief stanzas the hymn forms a prayer to Christ to bring about the change of heart required for genuine unity in one family of faith.
Father Ricky Manalo, CSP, a well-known composer and author, is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has collaborated with Spanish and Vietnamese text writers to produce a new Communion song entitled That All May Be One in Christ. Rodolfo López and Nguyen Dinh Dien translated the text of Manalo's English refrain and then each created three original verses in Spanish and Vietnamese in keeping with the theme of the song yet reflecting their own unique cultural perspective. The result is a liturgical song for the Communion procession that both seeks and expresses unity in diversity.
The two winning entries will be distributed widely by the Friars of the Atonement and by NPM in preparation for the celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from January 18 to 25, 2008. Both songs will be available as free downloads for local churches to use in worship during the fall and winter as they prepare for ecumenical celebrations during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
"That All May Be One" is the theme of the 2007 NPM National Convention to be held in Indianapolis in July. The hymn Family of Faith will be sung at both the opening and closing events, and the Communion song, That All May Be One in Christ, will be sung during the festive Eucharistic celebration on July 11, the Memorial of Saint Benedict.
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