Patrick McGuire never expected his “church musician” content to take off like it did. But with over 50,000 followers across social media platforms, this Catholic dad has gone viral with his funny and sincere videos.
Who is Patrick McGuire? He defines himself as “a passionate church musician dedicated to an authentic renewal of the musical tradition and heritage of the Roman Catholic Church.”
Besides composing, conducting, and performing sacred music, he loves teaching and sharing the beauty of our Catholic faith.
McGuire is also a dad, and it’s this vocation that brings some of his best inspiration. Often, his two young daughters — Ruth, almost 5, and Harriet, almost 3 — make appearances as he balances organ practice with dad duties.
His most viral video yet, with 196,000 views and counting? “When your dad is a church musician.” The video shows him saying typical dad things but singing them as though in church — and the kids respond in song too!
Watch it here:
Loading
“When your dad is a church musician” is one of the cutest Catholic things you can find online. Aleteia reached out to McGuire to find out more about his viral Instagram presence, church musician work, and sharing sacred music with the next generation.
If you are interested in bringing him to your parish or school for a workshop, retreat, or performance, visit his website. With his sense of humor and breadth of music knowledge, a conversation with McGuire is always inspiring.
A conversation with Patrick McGuire
What inspired you to start sharing videos about being a parent who's a church musician?
I started sharing my “church musician” content a little over a year ago. As a young dad, I frequently have my two girls with me while I am at Mass playing the organ or singing.
In a few specific instances, I have shared videos that highlight the balancing act that is being a church musician and a husband/father. I think it is important to share with other young parents that they can be active and involved in their parishes in the midst of raising a family.
In fact, I would say it's one of the best ways to set our children up to be practicing Catholics in the long run. Instead of “surviving” each Mass, we're intimately involved. Our girls learn about what it is going on, and naturally become more invested in going to Mass.
What are your thoughts on sharing sacred music with the next generation, both as a parent and as a musician?
My undergraduate degree is in music education, and I spent the first five years of my career as a Catholic school choir teacher before becoming a full-time director of music in a Catholic parish. It is very important to me that we invest in what the Church calls "a treasure of inestimable value" (CCC 1156), that being the treasury of sacred music.
At the quarter-mark of the 21st century, I think we are seeing a bit of a change in the wind in regards to sacred music in Catholic churches. I continue to see more parishes investing in traditional liturgical practices, including Gregorian chant and emphasis on the use of the organ at Mass. It is in these and other elements through which our sacred music has grown and developed for centuries, and it is a beautiful thing to see us returning to our roots in the continual development of sacred music.
Both as a parent and as a musician, I want to foster and encourage the beautiful dignity of sacred music, so that the next generation can carry on this development, and take us to even greater heights in the performance of old works and composition of new works of music that adds to our treasury.
Would you suggest sacred music as a career?
Absolutely! I always thought of sacred music as a “side-gig” in my college years. I knew I would be a church musician in some capacity, but it was always second fiddle to my initial aspirations to be a choir teacher. I didn't see it as a viable career path.
Listening to those who have been involved in this career for far longer than I have, I know that the culture around sacred music has begun to change in many ways over the past 20 years or so. That includes more priests who are willing to invest in sacred music, which means church musicians are beginning to make a living within our work for our parishes.
The fact that I can say I feel comfortable providing for my family as a church musician now is kind of a wild statement in comparison to what myself and so many others have experienced before. The church music career is promising and ever-expanding. It's a great time to be getting into it!
What is the most important thing you would want people to know about your “church musician” videos and your work in general?
As a church musician that serves as a conductor and composer of sacred music, I'm very passionate about church music, and I love sharing that with others. I want to encourage and support other church musicians to help “raise the bar” for everyone by exposing people to the possibilities of what could be.
I'm quite surprised by the platform I have now! Back in 2021 I had developed a decent following on TikTok with my “choir teacher content,” but when I made the switch to the parish, I didn't think people would be interested in a full-time church musician. I've been delighted to see how wrong I was!
Since beginning sharing my music and my passion for the liturgy, I have over 50,000 followers across my social media platforms. I've been overwhelmed with positive messages from people around the world who are hungry for more sacred music that is truly “set apart” from the music of secular culture.
The transcendent nature of the liturgy calls for music that is not just beautiful, but wonderful, in that it draws the listener into awe and wonder at the Paschal Mystery. Pope Francis highlighted this in his apostolic letter Desiderio desideravi saying, “Beauty, just like truth, always engenders wonder, and when these are referred to the mystery of God, they lead to adoration” (DD25).
It is my hope that the music I share is impactful in creating this encounter, especially through the musical forms of chant, polyphony, and the playing of the organ, which our Church upholds as the primary ways that sacred music is to be offered within the liturgy.
