In anticipation of the 20th annual Honor Your Mother, the diocesan celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe taking place on Dec. 6, and in tandem with TILMA, Bishop John Dolan’s seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization, the Diocese of Phoenix held a musical competition to compose a bilingual, TILMA-themed choral arrangement to engage musicians across Arizona.
Dominic Smith, musician, writer and music director at St. Bridget in Mesa, Ariz., was selected as the winner and recently appeared on the monthly TILMA podcast with guest host Fr. John Muir to share the inspiration behind his piece.
The contest was open to all Catholic musicians within state lines, and the final piece had to be a brand-new composition that included a four-part harmony and keyboard accompaniment, incorporated the TILMA pastoral plan in some way and was appropriate for the Mass.
After hearing about the competition in an email, Smith was excited to get involved.
“As a Catholic and an Arizona native, I grew up here. We would pray rosaries [growing up] on the way to California every year,” said Smith. “Our Lady of Guadalupe, even though I’m not Mexican in heritage, is so integrated into Arizona and Phoenix and especially Catholic culture.
“And it being the closest Marian devotion in the Americas,” he continued, “it just felt like I had that excitement and that drive and that inspiration … that I would love to give back to the diocese that I was raised in, that I’m working in and that I’m a part of.”
Catch a sneak peek of the song below (begins at 22:00) that will be showcased at Honor Your Mother. The festival will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 outside St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix on Monroe Street.
