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When church bells ring, they are considered the voice of God calling the people to prayer; when the organ plays, it is the sweet sound of angels inviting the people to lift their hearts and minds to God. The venerable tradition of the Church holds that the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem (Musicam Sacram, 62) as it is the most fitting instrument in the celebration of the liturgy. Pope Benedict XVI considered it the “Queen of the Instruments.” For centuries past, the pipe organ is a powerful instrument for transcending the senses into the realm of the mysterious and the divine.
For the Cathedral Parish of Saint Paul the First Hermit in San Pablo City, the installation of a pipe organ is a dream yet to be fulfilled. It started with an initiative from the Santa Cecilia Male Choir in cooperation with the Cathedral Music Ministry in 2022 to procure a simple digital organ (Johannus Studio 350) through a fund-raising program entitled “Children of Saint Cecilia: Adopt a Pipe Program”. Donations poured.It was there that Msgr. Jerry V. Bitoon, HP, rector of the Cathedral, thought of upgrading the digital organ into a Grand Mechanical Pipe Organ. The Parish Finance Council immediately supported this vision.
January 17, 2023 when the Cathedral Parish of Saint Paul the First Hermit represented by its clergy, the Parish Finance Council, the Parish Pastoral Council, and the Cathedral Music Ministry entered into a contract with the Diego Cera Organ builders Inc. to start the project of a Grand Mechanical Pipe Organ by the year 2024. This will be the 7th in South Luzon together with the Cathedrals of Antipolo, Lipa, Quezon, and Oriental Mindoro, as well as the Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel in Tayabas, Quezon, and the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Word Seminary, Tagaytay City.
The pipe organ is projected to be one of the largest in the region. It consists of 28 stops, 2 manual keyboards with 56 keys each, and a pedal board with 30 keys. As planned, it would have 32 ranks of pipes with a total of 1,572 pipes made of alloy and brass metal in addition to gmelina and bamboo wood. The organ case will be constructed with solid wood in traditional wood joinery. The special pipe organ blower which supplies wind to the instrument will come from Europe.
August 20, 2023 when the parts of the Grand Mechanical Pipe Organ was delivered at the Cathedral. It was welcomed by some parishioners and blessed by the rector to commence the installation at the choir loft. According to Jowell Cruz of the Diego Cera Organ builders, it will take two to three months before the pipe organ is fully installed, after which would be the configuration of the sound quality. Hopefully by the Christmas, if not the feast of St. Paul the First Hermit on January 16, the Cathedral would be hearing the majestic sound of the Grand Mechanical Pipe Organ.
Today, more than ever, the Church has to renew its musical tradition – music that truly lifts up the minds and hearts to God; music that invites the faithful ones to always and everywhere sing anew song to the Lord (Isaiah 42:10). Just as the different sounds of the pipes together with the voices of the people and the choir harmonize into a beautiful melody of praise, so must the church in her rich diversity move together along the path of unity in synodality towards eternity.
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