When the Shrine resounded with praise
By the time the first notes sounded, the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Rockies was already overflowing.
Every seat was taken. Extra rows of chairs had been set out behind the main seating area, and on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, the church was filled with parishioners, pilgrims, and visitors gathered for The Sun, the Stars, and the Queen of Heaven, an afternoon of sacred music that became something more than a concert.
Under the direction of Carlos Foggin, the nine professional voices of the Marquis Chamber Choir joined the Foothills Brass Quintet, timpanist Chris Santos, with Foggin at the organ in a programme that moved from great jubilation to moments of tenderness and prayer.
The Foothills Brass delivered a strong, confident sound, joined by organ and timpani in music that was joyful, majestic and unmistakably sacred. The Marquis Chamber Choir brought another dimension, singing with great precision and expression. At times, their voices soared in jubilation; at others, tender and deeply prayerful.
Foggin was happy to be back in the sacred space for the second time. He described the Shrine’s acoustics as “lovely” and was especially pleased by the congregation’s response to the portions where everyone was invited to sing.
“It’s wonderful to work with exceptional musicians who bring such commitment to the music,” he said, noting how well prepared they were from the very first rehearsal.
The programme spanned centuries of sacred music, from Gregorian chant and polyphonic works by Palestrina, Frescobaldi, Gabrieli, and Victoria to Richard Strauss’s grand processional music, Parry’s I Was Glad, and Vaughan Williams’ majestic setting of the Old 100th Psalm Tune, sung as All People That on Earth Do Dwell.
The congregation also joined in Immaculate Mary and All Creatures of Our God and King. The latter, drawn from the canticle of St. Francis of Assisi, was particularly fitting during this special jubilee year for the Saint, while The Sermon of St. Francis brought another Franciscan element to the programme.
Behind the afternoon were countless hours of preparation by Foggin, an accomplished organist, conductor, and composer who brought together the musicians and shaped a programme in which their gifts were ultimately offered in praise of God. He also performed on his new portable Casavant organ, an instrument he was especially excited to bring to the Shrine.
The organ itself brought a small last-minute adventure. Before the performance, the musicians discovered that the Shrine’s sound system was limiting its volume, and a timid organ sound was simply not an option! As it happened, the ensemble included both an audio technician and a recording engineer. With Fr. Pilmaiken's permission, they made adjustments just minutes before the concert and restored the organ sound, what Foggin later called, humorously, “a small miracle.”
The afternoon's impact was also evident in those who filled the Shrine. Parishioner Bandi Szakony from St. Anthony's in Calgary described looking around and seeing “a representative cross-section of our vibrant diocese.”
The concert also reached beyond the regular parish community. One attendee, who had heard about the event through friends at the Shrine and in the local newspaper, explained that it was not her parish because she was not Catholic, adding warmly that “it would be if I were Catholic.” Her presence reflected the mix of familiar parishioners, pilgrims, visitors, and new faces gathered that afternoon.
In his reflection, Bishop William T. McGrattan described sacred music as part of the Church's rich patrimony and its ability to draw people more deeply into the mystery celebrated in the liturgy. He described the music as “celestial manna,” helping those gathered enter spiritually into “that eternal mystery, that movement of salvation that we celebrate in the Eucharist.”
“This is both a concert, but also a spiritual experience,” he said.
The Bishop described the concert as becoming a “touchstone” of Marian Week in the Rockies and expressed his hope that this developing tradition would continue to bring forward “the richness of what we have received in terms of the patrimony of the Church,” while welcoming pilgrims and visitors to the churches in Banff and Canmore.
That spiritual character came into even clearer focus in the final portion of the programme, which moved into the Office of None, the Church’s traditional mid-afternoon prayer. Together, those gathered prayed the Salve Regina, Psalms 122, 126 and 127, listened to Scripture, and joined in the closing hymn.
The musicians were then met with enthusiastic applause and a standing ovation before the opening Parry anthem returned as an encore. Bishop McGrattan offered the final blessing, bringing to a close an afternoon in which music, prayer, and faith had come together at the Shrine.
