Fr +Eduardo P Hontiveros Montage | Jesuit Music Ministry

Fr. Honti had a long career as a professor of theology and seminary formator for Jesuits and San Jose seminarians. He served in various capacities, including as Rector of San Jose Seminary and Dean of Loyola School of Theology.

But Fr. Honti is best known for his music. In 1965, as the Second Vatican Council ended and called for inculturation of the liturgy, Fr. Honti, whose family is musically inclined, was already composing Mass hymns in Tagalog. He asked the church choirs in Barangka, Marikina, and Pansol, both communities near the new Ateneo campus in Loyola Heights, to sing his songs, and he readily adjusted the notes if the choir found his compositions too difficult. Before long, he had composed a complete set of hymns for the Mass. Thus began Fr. Honti’s love affair with heartfelt liturgical music. His songs spread to other parishes and by the 1970s, aided by a fresh wave of nationalism, his songs had become staple fare at Masses.

As a pioneer of artistic creation through sacred music in the vernacular, Fr. Honti has served as an inspiration to generations of composers, and has been recognized with numerous awards and citations, including the Ateneo de Manila’s Tanglaw ng Lahi Awards (1976), the Asian Catholic Publisher’s Outstanding Catholic Author Award (1992), and the Papal Award Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (2000).

His legacy lives on, 100 years and beyond! Watch this montage as a tribute to Fr. Honti's ministry. #Hontiveros #Honti #FilipinoLiturgicalMusic