church songs

One of the earliest memories I have of me singing church songs as a kid was when my aunt caught me singing Ave Maria with much gusto. I was 7 then. She said I had a nice voice, but I could sense her sarcasm. I've always wanted to be part of a choir but never had the guts to join. The closest I ever got to being in one was when I joined our college org's choir in a singing competition during Eng'g Week. We won in one of the 2 years I joined. The happiest feeling I had then was when our conductor/coach (who had a temper) congratulated me for catching up with the group and singing the notes correctly even when I only got to practice for 3 days before the competition (I was sick in the weeks prior). That's not to say of course that I have a great voice. It's just easier when all you sing is 'dum, dum, dum' in varying notes or something like that. :p

For about 2 years in college, I used to go to doctrine class and benediction regularly. That's when I learned to love singing songs in Latin. When I came to the US, Spanish church songs are common, so I started to like singing them as well. I can't speak Spanish (save for a few common phrases), but I do understand it a little, as some words are similar to my native language. I remember trying to translate Spanish words in English based on Filipino words, and being amused with myself when it's close to the actual English translation. Though Spanish isn't on the top of my list for foreign languages I want to learn, I do wish the government (or whoever) didn't remove it from our college curriculum (my parents' generation used to be required to take Spanish in school, if I'm not mistaken).

Anyway, to cut this post short, I just want to share this song that I can't get out of my head since yesterday. The 4:30 mass choir in Stanford is just amazing. I love their version of Oh Dios Crea En Mi, and their rendition of this song below is way better (I may sound biased but it's true!). If I heard this song somewhere else, I probably wouldn't remember it, but the choir here has its way of making church songs memorable. So props to them! :) I shall take a picture of them one of these days. ;)