My Saga of Singing at Mass by Gianna

July 23, 2026

My Saga of Singing at Mass by Gianna

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:16

Hello! Today I'll be sharing with you a little bit on my most recent adventure in Costa Rica, my singing saga. It was never in my wildest dreams that I would end up singing and playing my ukelele at Mass with the Clarissan Missionary Sisters, let alone becoming a Cantor at age twelve.

Two of the C.M. Sisters mainly lead the singing during 6pm daily Mass - Sister Magda, and Sister Rosa. One day, upon learning that I play ukelele, one of the sisters invited me to accompany them some time at Mass. So, after putting them off for a time, I started singing with them, at first without my ukelele. Costa Rica has different names for standard instrument chords, and I felt like I needed to know them fluently before I started playing my ukelele too.

Soon after though, I brought in my ukelele and was playing along with them during daily Mass. At first, I was just trying to figure out a tempo and strum along to all the beautiful and complicated fingerpicking patterns that the nuns play on their guitars. Throughout Mass, the Sisters would give me some tips on going faster or slower, or doing a specific strumming pattern during a certain song.

I don't usually know whether it's going to be the Sisters or our friends Alba and her daughter, Raquel, leading music for Mass. But, since I usually arrive first, it has become my permanant job to set up the sound system, microphones, and mic stands before Mass. Then, I sit down in the music pew to wait for the Sisters or Alba to arrive. (If Mass starts at 6 pm, they will often arrive at 6:01 pm, Pura Vida style.)

One night, one of the Church ladies informed me that since it was already 6:03 pm, the sisters wouldn't be coming in time, and would I please sing by myself? Would I please stand up in front of 40 people and sing in a foreign language? is what I heard. Was this a joke? No, clearly it was not. I'm not sure how or why I said "Yes." But somehow, through the grace of God and though I nearly had a nervous breakdown, I ended up singing that night at Mass, by myself. In my humble opinion, that should go in the Guinness Missionary Kids Book of Records of 2026.

And so now whenever nobody shows up to sing, I end up scrambling to put all my ripped and crinkled music notes that I store in my ukelele case in order, only a couple of minutes before Mass. The only bad part is that now I can't say "No" to Cantoring whenever nobody shows up to play music at Mass.

Believe me, I've tried...

After walking to Mass at the end of one particularly difficult and hot day I said to myself, This time I just have to say "No," or it will never end.

Well, God had a different plan. Our parish priest, seeing me in the pew with my family and the music area empty, aproached me before Mass and asked "Qué pasa? Why aren't you going to sing?" I tried explaining that I was very tired, and was hoping someone else could do it tonight. Father Alvaro then spread his arms wide, smiling big, and exclaimed. "Well, I'm tired too! Come, I will help you sing."

Would you have said "No?" Well, I couldn't...So, I sang that day too.

All in all, it's a blessing to be able to sing to the Lord with a grateful heart at Mass, even when things don't go how you planned for them to go. When the unexpected happens, well folks, that's just a day in a missionary kid's life.

Thank you all for reading.

La pace sia con tutti voi,

Gianna