A Song of Hope

St. Louis Jesuits

The St. Louis Jesuits are a group of Catholic composers who composed music for worship most often in a folk music style of church music in their compositions and recordings, mainly from their heyday in the 1970s through the mid-1980s. Made up of Jesuit scholastics at St. Louis University, the group originally used acoustic guitars and contemporary-style melodies and rhythms to set biblical and other religious texts to music sung in English in response to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. John Kavanaugh, also a Jesuit and composer, never worked with the group; however, a few of his compositions were included in the first collection, "Neither Silver Nor Gold," that was produced before the members decided to collaborate and record together. more »