The inaugural singing of a hymn composed for The Sycamore Tree Contemplative Prayer Center was part of an outdoor Mass at the Swan Valley center on Sept. 6, Labor Day. Kathleen Yeager and daughters Kayla, Hannah and Laura sang “O Lux Beata,” or “Trinity of Blessed Light,” composed by Cathedral of St. Helena organist Dale Fleck after he visited the center last spring. The Yeager family sang the hymn during the Mass and again at the grave of Sycamore Tree founder Father D.A. Okom, who died in January and is buried at the retreat center’s cemetery. More than 75 people were at the Mass celebrated by Father John Wang and concelebrated by Fathers Dick Sodja and Steve Tallman. After the Mass, a picnic took place and guitarist/singer Lance Witt provided music.

(Photo provided).


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 10, October 15, 2010.