Don Bosco Philippines South Province

Church music has always been familiar to me. I used to live in a house almost adjacent to the parish and the music of the morning mass has been my alarm clock when I was a child. The songs of Msgr. Rudy Villanueva has thus become second nature to me as I hear them playing through the loud speakers.

Nyor Rudy, as he is fondly called, was a prolific musician. His music pervades the Bisaya speaking Church. In musical emergencies, when there’s not enough time to prepare, and in large gatherings, when irregular attendees return to Church, the songs from Cancionero Cebuano is a sure line-up for singing. HIs music strikes at the heart, quipped one youth who just realized most of the songs they were singing were Villanueva songs.

As he will be laid to rest today, the Church has lost a musician here on earth but his legacy will live on as his music continues to be sung in our masses. Thank you for the music, Nyor Rudy!

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