Brother David Marshall ’15 was chosen to write, compose, and perform a special song during the program portion at Chicago’s celebration for Pope Leo XIV on Saturday, June 14.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunity to offer this music as a gift to all the people who feel connected to Pope Leo XIV,” said Marshall. “I hope it helps spread his message, ‘In Illo Uno Unum’ (In the One, we are one).”
The Chicago Archdiocese is hosting this celebration because of Pope Leo’s connections to Chicago and described the event as a “once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the election of the first Chicago-born Pope.”
Robert Francis Prevost was born and raised in Chicago. He entered the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1982. He has since been known as Father Bob.
On May 8, 2025, Pope Leo became the first pope from the United States and the first from the Order of Saint Augustine. Marshall and Pope Leo are two of 60 brothers and priests in the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, which is based in Chicago and serves in the Midwest.
Chicago’s Celebration for Pope Leo XIV is being held at Rate Field, home of the White Sox, because Pope Leo is a fan of this Chicago baseball team. It is expected that 40,000 people will attend this sold-out event, including a video message from Pope Leo XIV to the world’s young people, a program featuring Marshall’s music, and a Catholic Mass with Cardinal Blasé J. Cupich as the celebrant.
“We’re going to have beautiful music and wonderful presentations that highlight the Holy Father in a very human way so that we can all relate to him and ask ourselves, ‘How do we open up our hearts to the movement of the Holy Spirit? How do we encounter the presence of the sacred?’ And I think the Holy Father’s life is a great example of that. It’s a great teaching tool for us to capitalize on,” said Bishop Lawrence Sullivan, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago in a news release.
Marshall was selected to write and perform the song, ‘In Illo Uno Unum,’ because of his strong musical background. He has a Bachelor of Arts in music from the University of Rochester and a Master of Sacred Music from the University of Notre Dame. Marshall is also the director of a professional vocal quartet for a local Chicago Shrine.
In the fall 2024 edition of CJ’s magazine, Vision, Marshall shared, “Conducting and directing music at liturgies is a deeply authentic and embodied expression of living my faith.”
“Pope Leo XIV was chosen at a crucial time in the history of the Church and the Augustinian order, and this music is an expression of our collective commitment to be at the service of the greater Church community and the world,” said Marshall. “Leveraging our charism of truth, unity, and love shared in a strong community to unite us as a local, provincial, national, and global family of beloved children of God.”
Marshall hopes to use his experience at this celebration to inspire his students when he teaches music at Providence High School, an Augustinian high school in New Lenox, Illinois.
“We send prayers and best wishes to Brother David as he takes on this massive project. He has made the CJ community proud,” said Brett Chmiel, assistant director of development. “God bless Pope Leo XIV on this festive occasion. Let us pray for him now and throughout his papacy.”
WATCH THE CELEBRATION
View “Chicago Celebrates Pope Leo XIV” event through live stream.
It is an article from the Dayton Daily News: Dayton native writes song honoring first American pope, performs it at Chicago event