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Ministry

Evergreen Calendar of events and performances

Karen Edited

The Folk Choir's primary ministry consists of providing music for the 12:00pm Sunday mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus. If you would like to see a complete listing of the Basilica's liturgical schedule, please visit their website.

Below, you'll find a list of additional ministries the Folk Choir engages in throughout the year. Between welcoming new students to campus in the fall, commissioning new graduates in the spring, traveling for tours and concerts, and offering music for liturgies celebrating the feast days of the Church, the Folk Choir remains active nearly year-round!

Liturgies

  • Freshman Orientation — On the Sunday morning of orientation weekend, the University welcomes its first-year students and their families with a Eucharistic Liturgy in the Joyce Center.
  • Opening of the School Year — On the first day of classes, the University marks the official beginning of its academic year with a Mass of the Holy Spirit in the Joyce Center. Music is provided by a combined choir of campus ensembles, including the Folk Choir.
  • Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe — The University marks the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, each year with a bilingual Spanish-English Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Music is provided by Coro Primavera de Nuestra Señora, ND Mariachi, and the Folk Choir.
  • Junior Parents Weekend — Notre Dame hosts Junior Parents Weekend every year in mid-February. A Saturday evening Vigil Mass, accompanied by the Folk Choir, is a highlight of the weekend.
  • Palm Sunday — Notre Dame begins its Palm Sunday celebration with a joyful procession from Bond Hall to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. After the congregation enters the Basilica, the tone of the Mass gradually becomes more somber as the community recalls the Passion of the Lord. This Palm Sunday, April 10th, 2022, the Folk Choir will perform The Passion in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. 
  • Holy Thursday — With a commemorative washing of the feet in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the Folk Choir leads music for the Holy Thursday evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
  • Easter Sunday — The Folk Choir provides triumphant Easter hymns for two Masses at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. A noon Mass is offered for the Notre Dame community, and another Mass, intended for the student body, is celebrated at 9pm.
  • Holy Cross Ordinations — On Easter Saturday, the Notre Dame community proudly joins the Congregation of Holy Cross to celebrate the ordination of its current class of seminarians to the priesthood. The Folk Choir is honored to provide music for this beautiful liturgy.
  • Commencement Mass - During graduation weekend, the Folk Choir joins with other Basilica choirs to offer music for a Mass of thanksgiving, celebrating the University’s graduating seniors.

Concerts, Services, and Pilgrimages


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  • Concert for the Missions — Following a home football game each fall, the Folk Choir offers an evening concert to benefit the educational, peace-building, medical, and religious efforts of the Holy Cross Missions. 
  • Advent Lessons and Carols — The Folk Choir collaborates with the other campus Liturgical choirs in early December to present a program of prayer, Scripture, and song for the Notre Dame community. This service centers around the preparatory themes of the Advent season.
  • Lenten Vespers — For each of the six Sundays of Lent, the Folk Choir provides music for Vespers, the evening prayer of the Church, at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
  • Stations of the Cross — On Fridays during the Lenten season, the Folk Choir provides music for weekly Stations of the Cross services in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
  • Indiana State Prison Concert —On Mother’s Day, the Folk Choir visits Indiana State Prison, a maximum-security institution in Michigan City, to offer their community a much-anticipated concert of sacred music.
  • Senior Service Send-Off — On the Saturday afternoon of graduation weekend, the Folk Choir joins the Center for Social Concerns for the Senior Service Send-Off at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. This service acknowledge graduating seniors preparing to embark on one or more years of volunteer service.
  • Spring Tour — Each year during the final days of May, the Folk Choir makes a pilgrimage to promote parish music ministry. The choir offers workshops for liturgical ministers, prayer services and liturgies for local parishioners, and concerts for all seeking spiritual renewal through song. Past tours have brought the choir to the Pacific Northwest, the Heartland states, Florida, New England, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and Texas. In May of 2022, the Folk Choir will record and tour their Passion Project in the Holy Land.