By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

Father Jeff Keyes’ love for music has served as the linchpin of his priestly ministry. “It was prayer that led me to music. It was music that led me to liturgy. It was liturgy that led me to priesthood, and it was priesthood that led me to prayer,” he explains reflectively.

Father Jeff Keyes

His spiral walk comes together every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. when he leads a chanted sung Mass which combines English and Latin

Four years ago, Father Keyes, pastor of St. Edward Parish in Newark and a prominent composer with nine recordings of liturgical music, began gradually introducing the Ordinary parts of the Mass in Latin — the Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. He wanted to give parishioners the opportunity to become familiar with the Church’s ancient roots.

He uses the Graduale Romanum, the official Vatican book which contains all of the music for the Mass according to the Roman Rite and revised Roman calendar.

His decision to incorporate Latin into one of the Sunday liturgies honors Pope Paul VI, who in the 1963 Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy urged that “steps be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.”

On Feb. 27, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI likewise recommended in his document Sacramentum Caritatis that Gregorian chant “be suitably esteemed and employed as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy.”

“Besides the return to ancient musical roots, a combined Latin/English liturgy makes much practical sense in today’s world,” Father Keyes reasons.

“There are so many different languages in the pew,” so it’s logical to use the Church’s language as a bond of unity across cultures, he explained. “Latin is not a barrier, the way an English Mass might be,” when worshippers might speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, or any one of a dozen other languages.

One of the parish choirs helps Father Keyes with the chanting.

Reactions to the priest’s sung Mass span both extremes. “Some people can’t stand it. Others drive 30 miles to participate,” he said. These faithful commuters join with parishioners to become a community of about 400 children and adults.

Regarding the naysayers, Father Keyes is philosophical. “The Mass is not like a market-driven popularity contest. The point here is this is what the Church has asked for.”

Besides, people have opportunities to worship with music they are more comfortable with, such as Michael Joncas’ contemporary liturgical songs, at the parish’s other eight weekend Masses.

One recent visitor to the 10 a.m. Mass found himself involved “in a very, very prayerful experience.” The visitor was Father Larry D’Anjou, diocesan director of vocations, who decided to concelebrate at Father Keyes’ sung Mass on Nov. 16.

Father D’Anjou discovered that the chant provided a “calming, peaceful place of settling in. It brought me to a place of being very present and prayerful.” For people who want to be in a contemplative mode, he noted, “this is a beautiful kind of experience for them.”

Whether it is contemplation-inducing chant or other varieties of liturgical compositions, Father Keyes considers music “to be a beautiful tool which lifts us up out of ourselves and gives us a vehicle for worshipping God.” He agrees that music could be described as an auditory icon, which like visual written icons, is said to be a window into heaven.

He is thoroughly immersed in many forms of music, ranging from Gregorian chant to contemporary liturgical music to Protestant and Catholic charismatic praise songs. He has composed most of the songs showcased on nine recorded collections of liturgical music with Vineyard Pastoral Music Ministry.

Other compositions are featured on two recent chant recordings from Schola Speciale at St. Joseph College in Indiana. He also composed an antiphon for the September Dedication Mass for the new Cathedral of Christ the Light.

Father Keyes has been a member of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission and has put his musical talents to use for various pastoral conventions.

His immersion in music spans several decades. He began studying guitar as a student at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, but couldn’t make the student chorus because his wavering teenage voice was too temperamental.

After it settled down, he joined his college choir at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, while studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy. After graduating in 1975, he added piano and organ to his musical repertoire while studying composition and voice at St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Indiana.

He served as choir director at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in Oakland from 1989 to 1991, and also as a lay minister on the staff of St. Leander Parish in San Leandro for five years. He worked in a similar capacity at St. Edward Parish for four years before entering the Missionary Priests of the Precious Blood.

After ordination in 1991, he served for three years in Chicago as director of both vocations and Precious Blood companions, preaching at missions and retreats in Texas, California, and Ohio. He became pastor of St. Barnabas Parish in Alameda in 1994, then returned to his community’s offices in Chicago in 2001 to become director of advanced formation. He was named pastor at St. Edward’s in 2004.

Has he ever considered offering his chant at St. Edwards’s eight other weekend Masses?

Of course, on occasion, he replies. But as much as he loves music “as a beautiful tool,” he doesn’t see singing nine Masses over a 24-hour period as quite the practical thing to do. The attempt would probably wear him out, he admits ruefully.

But he has added another musical bonus for the parish — morning and evening prayer every day at 6:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., using music from the Meinrad Psalter. About a dozen people are joining him each time, he said.

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