Singing along with Christmas is easy. Easter oratorios are always a big draw. But Lent is often left off our musical diet.

The sweet soprano sounds that echoed from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Toronto could have come from a Mass at the Vatican.

The papacy has been a major patron of music for more than 1,500 years, inviting master musicians to compose masterpieces for its liturgical celebrations. Now for first time it has taken its act to Canada.

There is something about the language of music that transcends words.

ROME, Italy – Hundreds of musicians and pastors from around the world have signed a document urging parishes and publishers should take care to develop the Church’s rich musical traditions, not discard them.

VATICAN CITY – 'Tis the season for a huge assortment of holiday concerts and carols to choose from, making Advent and Christmas a unique period for reminding people of the evergreen beauty of sacred music.

Is music part of the missionary activity of the Church? Or does it remain part of her internal life, as it were, reserved to the worship of God?

PORT PERRY, ONT. – Maestro Uwe Lieflander always begins a Sparrows choir practice with a warmup for the brain. A crowd of 80 children from ages three to 14 years old are busy chitchatting. But the room falls silent once Lieflander begins to play the first few bars of Mozart’s “Requiem.”

GOWER, Mo. – Tucked away just off a rocky road is a small community of women who have chosen to retreat from the world and spend their days working in silence — except for when they are singing sacred music.