The
St. Louis Jesuits, a group of
Catholic composers who popularized a contemporary style of
church music through their compositions and recordings in the 1970s and 1980s. The group, made up of
Jesuit seminarians at
St. Louis University, originally used acoustic guitars and
pop-style
melodies and
rhythms to set biblical and other religious texts to music sung in English as a result of the liturgical reforms initiated by
Vatican II.
Without intent, a groundswell of popularity took place when students,
seminarians and women religious took stenciled mimeographed copies of their new music back to their communities where it became known as music by "The St. Louis Jesuits".
History
Before finishing their studies and leaving St. Louis University, the seminarians decided to collect and make a recording of their music so it would be available to others. Some of the music was recorded in the basement of Fusz Memorial Chapel, the rest at a local studio. This first collection of 58 songs, some dating back as early as 1964, was called,
Neither Silver nor Gold. Later, this recording was issued as a four-cassette/LP set in 1974 by North American Liturgy Resources. It has since been remastered into a two CD set by
OCP Publications.
Over time,
Bob Dufford, S.J.,
John Foley, S.J.,
Tim Manion,
Roc O'Connor, S.J., and
Dan Schutte, and their music became known as the St. Louis Jesuits. At the time, all were members of the
Society of Jesus pursuing different vocations and...
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