Millersville musicians and deacon experience the unexpected during Italy trip

Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville was in the house June 24 when its director of liturgical music, deacon and choir members filled St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City with words and song.

The group was scheduled to provide liturgical music with four other choirs under the direction of renowned conductor and composer Z. Randall Stroope during the daily Mass. Things took a turn when Stroope suffered a medical emergency and was taken away by ambulance before the Mass. Alex Ashman, Our Lady of the Fields music director, was shopping at the time when his phone started ringing nonstop.

“The Vatican called me and asked if I would be comfortable leading all the musicians during Mass,” Ashman, 29, said. “I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ The whole thing was a blur.”

That wasn’t the end of Our Lady of the Fields’ part in the Mass, however.

While Deacon Mark Loepker had filed all the paperwork and received the proper credentials to assist with the Mass, he was given another role to his surprise.

“The Mass was in Italian. I had read ahead of time the Gospel, but as we were standing there listening to it, the emcee whispered, ‘Father said you will give the homily as most people here are English,’” Deacon Loepker said. “I had about 60 seconds of prep time. As the Gospel concluded, I said a prayer. It was just surreal. I don’t remember what I said.”

It was “a phenomenal experience,” Deacon Loepker said, and one he will always remember, especially with Ashman directing the choir.

“Our Lady of the Fields was really well represented at St. Peter’s that day,” Deacon Loepker said.

And that was just the beginning of the group’s trip to Italy. The group of 27 choir members performed with the other choirs again as part of the Festival Corale Internazionale di Roma, an annual event in Rome since 2009. From there, the group traveled to Naples for a performance at Chiesa di Sant’Anna alle Paludi, a small local parish, where in addition to the choir performance, 10 members of the church’s folk group played guitars and the dulcimer.

“They (Sant’Anna) had singers and they sang for us and we sang for them,” Ashman said. “We then did a collaboration work to the ‘Immaculate Mary’ tune in Italian with words you will never find anywhere else. Words that the parish wrote.”

The performance at Sant’Anna was part of the community’s festival in honor of its namesake saint that also featured a parade of the church’s famous relic, Sant’Anna’s foot, Ashman said.

“They truly appreciated us being there and worshiping with them,” Ashman said. “Thankfully, the local ladies didn’t have lipstick on. My shirt collar would have been ruined.”

Sightseeing was also done throughout Rome, Pompeii and along the Amalfi coast. With a group ranging in age from 23 to 89, Ashman was thankful that everyone remained healthy and had a good time.

“Europe is a very non-accommodating place,” Ashman said. “Especially the older streets. There was a lot of walking. It was quite the whirlwind.”

The trip was wonderful, Deacon Loepker said, but also grueling.

“We toured and sang a lot,” he said. “We all slept good. No one got bored.”

The trip’s success has Ashman looking to the future. He hopes to take a musical group to Spain in 2026 to perform.

“Lots of people …connect to God through music,” Ashman said. “Music brings us closer to the Eucharist and our Lord. The Holy Spirit was with us the whole time.”

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