April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ST. CLEMENT'S, SARATOGA SPRINGS
Evening of song and prayer will remember sister's service
Evening of song and prayer will remember sister's service
Now, a parish event will celebrate her life and raise funds for a scholarship in her memory.
During her time at St. Clement's, parishioners say, Sister Carolyn created a sense of community, making sure that people could count on their parish family for support. She also directed the choir, making sure that everyone involved knew they'd be raising their voices with the help of God.
Since her passing, there has been a scholarship fund created in her honor. The Sister Carolyn Krebs, OP, memorial scholarship will go to a Saratoga-area high-school senior who wants to pursue a music-related major in college.
"We always have high-school students involved in music ministry, so we thought that [Sister Carolyn] would be very happy that this was happening," said Brenda Vredenburg, one of the coordinators of the effort and a former director of liturgical music at St. Clement's.
On March 19 at 6 p.m., St. Clement's will hold a Lenten "sung prayer event" with a free-will offering to benefit the scholarship fund. The prayer service is both a way to honor Sister Carolyn and a kickoff of sorts for Holy Week.
The evening will consist of many sung psalms and familiar Lenten songs. Mrs. Vredenburg noted that many of the songs for the service were Sister Carolyn's favorites.
Jody Monachino-Orlando of Our Lady of Fatima parish in Delanson, a long-time friend of Sister Carolyn's, thinks her friend would be honored by the tribute: "She would be so proud to be part of such a beautiful thing."
Rev. Kevin Milton, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Annapolis, Md., and a former pastor of St. Clement's in the late 1970s and early '80s, is sure that Sister Carolyn would shy away from the recognition, noting that she was a very humble person.
However, he doesn't doubt that she deserves to be memorialized in song and prayer.
"This is our way of thanking her and saying that her memory will continue on," he said, noting that she inspired him to be a better priest and person: "She had a joyful, contagious effect on people that really made them better Catholics and better Christians."
"She had a great sense of humor," Ms. Monachino-Orlando told The Evangelist, remembering a time she was baking Rice Krispies treats in the rectory as dessert for the priest: "Sister Carolyn made a joke that they had run out of communion. She said that they were going to serve 'Christ Krispie treats.'
"One of the things that I realized after Carolyn had passed was that she was so full of knowledge, especially about Scripture," Ms. Monachino-Orlando continued. This is why the night of Lenten sung prayer will feature Psalm 95 ("Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord"), Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing") and Psalm 27 ("The Lord is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear?"), which were among Sister Carolyn's favorites.
Although Lent is often seen as a time of somber reflection, the evening will include some upbeat music. Many of the songs deal with looking within and striving for a better relationship with God.
"Lent doesn't have to be a dirge," said Ms. Monachino-Orlando. "It doesn't have to be non-joyful for it to be a Lenten reflection."[[In-content Ad]]
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