The weekend was a celebration for devotees of Blessed Father Eustace. On Saturday, the Choir of the Little Singers of the Sacred Hearts of Carmópolis de Minas-MG participated in the celebration with liturgical chants and a beautiful tribute to Jesus and Mary at the end of the Holy Mass. Yesterday, it was the Gregorian Choir's turn to perform. The members sang the chants of the Solemn Mass opening the Novena to Blessed Father Eustace.

The 11 members of the traditional Gregorian Choir of Belo Horizonte took to the central choir of the Archdiocesan Sanctuary of Health and Peace to sing songs in Latin during the Eucharistic Celebration this Sunday. The Holy Mass was broadcast live on the Padre Eustáquio Channel on YouTube (REVIEW HERE).

In addition to the Gregorian Choir's participation, the celebration also included the presence of invited religious men and women from various Congregations that have a house in the capital of Minas Gerais.

Gregorian Choir of Belo Horizonte

The Gregorian Choir of Belo Horizonte was founded on March 19, 1990, at the Cultural Center of the Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG, in Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais. The first group consisted of 38 people (men and women), and it should be noted that most of the men were former seminarians who had already been exposed to Gregorian chant during their school years. The choir is one of the few groups in Brazil that sings exclusively in Gregorian chant.

The creation of the choir and the Gregorian chant course was an initiative of Father Nereu de Castro Teixeira to rescue and keep alive the oldest repertoire of the Catholic Church. It arose from a question posed by his family, who were unhappy that he, being one of the greatest experts in this musical genre in Brazil, did not have the opportunity to pass on his knowledge to others. Therefore, he decided to form a choir and a Gregorian chant course.

As of December 2019, the group has 19 members, 4 of whom have been with the choir since its inception. The current choir members are:

Men: Altair de Almeida Costa, Antônio Correa Neto, Ely de Oliveira, José da Silva Araújo, José Lembi de Freitas Viana, Lucas Dueles Calonge, Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira, Olímpio Soares Aranha, Orlando Eliziário da Silva, and Paulo Maurício de Aguiar Botelho.

Women: Ângela Perlato Naves, Betty Ramos Pereira, Maria Alice Ladeira de Souza, Maria das Dores Faustina Lage (Dorinha): conductor, Natelze Ribeiro, Santa Rodrigues de Souza, Silvana Maria Elói Santos, Vanessa Campos and Vera Beatriz Paranhos Pinto.

Due to the unique nature of Gregorian chant, the choir primarily performs at liturgical celebrations (masses) and, sporadically, at other events with the aim of promoting Gregorian chant; its performances take place in parishes, churches, and other institutions.

In addition to singing at various masses in Belo Horizonte, the choir has participated in celebrations in the following cities in the state of Minas Gerais: Caeté, Campo Belo, Congonhas, Juiz de Fora (5th International Festival of Early Music and Brazilian Colonial Music), Lavras (1st Choir Festival of the Abraão Kasinski Foundation – FAK), Mariana, Ouro Preto, Santa Luzia, São João del Rei, and in Barretos, in the state of São Paulo, at the Thanksgiving Mass for the birthday of Dr. João Monteiro Filho, founder of Rede Vida Television, and Cabo Frio, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and as part of the celebrations of its 10 years of activity, the choir sang a mass with the monks of the Monastery of São Bento, in the city of Rio de Janeiro.