ST. LOUIS — Ask Pauline Sister Nancy Usselmann whether she sang
in high school at Cor Jesu Academy or had a musical background, and her answer
is short and simple.
"Not really," she said, with a laugh.
So, how did she become a mainstay of the Daughters of St. Paul
Christmas concerts, now a 24-year holiday tradition?
Credit the Holy Spirit with that one, putting together the right
people in the right time and place — the early 1990s at the Paulines'
motherhouse in Boston.
"We sang together in chapel for years," said Sister
Nancy, who was a novice at the time with final vows coming in 1995. "It
was really neat to see. We knew each other and knew each other's voices.
"The choir director listened to the different voices, how we
harmonized, and selected some sisters to begin with this concert and asked me
to be part of it," she told the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the
Archdiocese of St. Louis.
From the humble beginning of a single concert in 1995, the
Paulines' Christmas concert has grown into an annual nationwide tour in Advent.
The choir also has produced 30 albums at the motherhouse recording studio.
"We started because some friends of ours wanted to help us
raise some money," Sister Nancy said. "They asked, 'What do you
sisters know how to do?' We had our recording studio and were recording albums
already by that point, so we said, 'We sing a little. ... OK, let's put on a
concert.'"
They received rave reviews for the first show, which was a debut
in more ways than one.
"They hadn't heard us sing until the night of the concert,
and they were blown away: 'You can actually sing.'" Sister Nancy said,
laughing.
This year, the Paulines will perform Christmas concerts in New
York, Boston, Lafayette, La., New Orleans, St. Louis, Cleveland and Los
Angeles. The "Glorious Night" shows in St. Louis will be Dec. 9 and
10 at the Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory
School.
A state-of-the-art concert venue calls for a state-of-the-art
production, which the "media nuns" deliver in a two-hour performance.
Pauline sisters run the lights and sound system, prepared the choreography and
props, and of course provide heavenly harmony to set the stage for the birth of
our savior, Jesus Christ.
"The start of Advent is a time that people want to hear the
music and have an experience of Christmas," Sister Nancy said, adding that
the sisters "help people enter into the mystery of the Christmas story,
the Christmas message."
The sisters bring more than the gift of music, though.
"It's also the joy we have as religious sisters — the joy we
have together and our love for Christ and love for the church," she said,
adding that those aspects "come out in how we sing, how we interact with
one another on stage and how we interact with the audience."
It's all in keeping with the Paulines' charism to evangelize in
whatever medium necessary. Founded in 1915 by Blessed James Alberione, the
Daughters of St. Paul started with pamphlets, newspapers and books, graduated
to recordings, radio and television and adapted adeptly to the digital world of
the 21st century.
The sisters operate a media center at 1025 King Street in Old
Town Alexandria.
A professional choir has added to the modes of evangelization.
"That's who we are as Daughters of St. Paul; we evangelize
through the media," said Sister Nancy, director of the Pauline Center for
Media Studies in Los Angeles. "The medium of music has a power all its
own, a power to touch the heart."
The ensemble choir draws on Pauline sisters serving throughout
the United States and Canada. They pick the music in March, gather for about 10
days to plan choreography and rehearse in August, and meet again after
Thanksgiving to finalize preparations and rehearse again for the 10-show,
18-day tour. Then, it's show time.
"It's miraculous how it comes together," she said.
The concert schedule
Go to daughtersofstpaulchoir.org.
Related podcasts
Subscribe to the Catholic Herald podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play Music.