Saint John’s presents Pax Christi Award to Marty Haugen and the Rev. J. Michael Joncas

Saint John's Abbey and University presented its Pax Christi Award to Marty Haugen and the Rev. J. Michael Joncas on Sunday, June 25, 2017, in Collegeville.

The presentation followed a mini concert by the National Catholic Youth Choir and Mass, featuring the National Catholic Youth Choir, Abbey Schola and St. John's Boys' Choir.

Haugen is a liturgical composer, workshop presenter, performing and recording artist, and author from Eagan, Minnesota.

Joncas is artist-in-residence and a fellow in the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Haugen and Joncas have generously offered their musical talents and contributed greatly to the “full, conscious and active participation” of the people of God in the liturgy as called for by the Second Vatican Council. Their compositions are sung by congregations and choirs and ensembles around the world — across a wide variety of Christian traditions.

In their writing, speaking and presenting, they have evocatively connected liturgical music with the work of the churches for peace and justice. Their commitment to sung liturgy exemplifies the Benedictine spirit, as shown in the first scholae cantorum founded by Benedictines in the 7th century to teach sacred music to youth, through the work for liturgical reform by Saint John’s monk the Rev. Virgil Michel and other leaders of the Liturgical Movement.

As the highest honor awarded by Saint John's Abbey and University, the Pax Christi Award recognizes those who have devoted themselves to God by working in the tradition of Benedictine monasticism to serve others and to build a heritage of faith in the world.

The award has been presented to 62 individuals, dating back to 1963.

Fr. Michael Joncas	Marty Haugen