She Traveled Europe Searching for Beauty and God With Benedictine

Last summer, Mary Nacanaynay lived out of a suitcase as she traveled across Europe, journeying with different groups from the Center for Beauty and Culture and the Music Department at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.

Nacanaynay (pictured above, left), a senior music education major, discovered the Angelico Fellows, a fellowship sponsored by the college’s Center for Beauty and Culture, upon applying to Benedictine College. When she learned about the group’s mission, she knew that she wanted to apply.

“We’re just people who seek to experience and cultivate Beauty in our lives to grow closer to God and bring others to Him,” Nacanaynay said. “The mission of the Fellows (and the Center) connects to my musical interests as well.”

When she joined, she did not expect to have many travel opportunities through the center, yet the Lord kept opening doors for her.

Last summer, she traveled to Ireland as a member of Benedictine Bands, where the group toured country performing for various audiences and listening to local bands. That experience taught her the joy of performing for an international audience.

“One of my favorite things about music is its communal aspect — the striving toward a goal as an individual as well as one living family,” Nacanaynay said. “I think the experience of playing for an international audience made me realize how much music transcends boundaries and brings people together.”

Later that summer, Nacanaynay traveled with the Angelico Fellows to Northern England and Scotland to hike St. Cuthbert’s Way, an ancient pilgrimage route. The pilgrimage was documented by the Center and aired on EWTN, but for Nacanaynay it was a once in a life-time experience.

“We spent most of our trip hiking through the English countryside, which has always been a dream of mine,” Nacanaynay said. “Traveling along this ancient pilgrimage route connected me with our Catholic ancestors, to whom we owe so much for keeping the faith and handing it down to us.”

Finally, this past winter, Nacanaynay traveled with the Benedictine College Chamber singers to tour Italy, where Nacanaynay conducted the Chamber Singers in a papal basilica and in two Benedictine abbeys, which she described as unforgettable experiences.

“The beauty of singing with my choir family in such hallowed spaces is something I cannot replicate or even explain sufficiently in words,” Nacanaynay said.

In all of her travels, her favorite spot was the Holy Island in Lindisfarne, England, the culmination of St. Cuthbert’s Way.

“The island was originally home to a monastery (which now is in ruins), and it was a center of early Celtic Christianity. I suppose living in close proximity to a Benedictine Abbey for (almost) four years made that place feel like home to me,” Nacanaynay said. “I felt so at peace with who I am and very close to God there.”

Aside from the international travel opportunities, the Angelico Fellows have had a lasting impact on Nacanaynay, offering a richer, more expansive college experience. Perhaps the most important lesson the center has impressed upon her is that beauty matters.

“Too often we spend our days trying to make our daily work more ‘productive’ or more ‘efficient’ or more ‘successful,’ but we don’t always try to make it ‘beautiful,’” Nacanaynay said. “I believe that if we want to love God, who is beautiful, we should seek to surround ourselves with as much beauty as we can and create it ourselves. We need beauty to remind us of where we’re meant to be.”

Additionally, the center has provided a plethora of opportunities to meet like-minded students and dive deeper into what she loves.

“I am grateful that the Center, through the Angelico Fellows, provided me with opportunities to connect with other students whom I may not have met, simply because I spent so much of my time doing musical activities,” Nacanaynay said. “I’ve been able to connect with more people just because we love to talk about beauty.”

After graduating, Nacanaynay plans to return to St. Louis where she hopes to teach music at a Catholic school. When she begins in a classroom, Nacanaynay will carry with her many of the lessons that she learned abroad and through the Angelico Fellows.

“Being in a program like Angelico Fellows has also given me the chance listen to people around me and respond, which is a big reason why I love being an educator,” Nacanaynay said.

 

By Jack Figge