By Jay Sorgi • Posted October 14, 2026

It’s not often that Charlene Angelini serves as cantor for 50,000 people during a Mass. Rarer still is doing so without seeing any of them, or the hundreds  more joining via livestream.

That was the scene Sept. 24 in St. Louis, where Angelini, director of music at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, helped lead pilgrims in person and online in song during the beatification Mass for Blessed Fulton Sheen, who is now one step closer to sainthood.

“It’s an out-of-body experience where you know that you’re there and you’re doing this thing,” Angelini said.

“What a momentous occasion for the Catholic Church to be a part of the beatification of a potential saint. (It) was really, really special.”

The experience highlighted a ministry that has carried Angelini from some of the Catholic Church’s most significant liturgical celebrations to ongoing formation of young church musicians in Philadelphia.

It is also among the reasons the Knights of Columbus Philadelphia Chapter honored her as its Woman of the Year during a banquet Oct. 11 at Twining Hall in Trevose.

Angelini said that any butterflies she felt while leading song in a stadium filled with 50,000 worshipers were tempered by an unusual reality: she could barely see those gathered in prayer.

“Ultimately, I was singing into a black curtain that had a camera on a tripod. So there’s not much to get nervous about when you’re singing at a curtain,” she said. “Not having that eye contact or personal connection, that was a challenge.”

Angelini described the role of a cantor as a bridge between what happens at the altar and the congregation, helping invite people into the prayers of the Mass and encouraging their active participation in the liturgy.

Not being able to visually connect with the congregation brought that challenge, yet she had enough things to be mindful of while spiritually connecting dozens of choir and orchestra members with all the in-person and online worshipers.

“You have to compartmentalize and focus on exactly what you’re doing and not let anything distract you,” she said. “With a venue like that, there are challenges because you don’t have the natural acoustics of a cathedral or church.”

Angelini is no stranger to major liturgical events. She also cantored during Pope Francis’ 2015 visit to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, helping lead worship for hundreds of thousands gathered along Benjamin Franklin Parkway and millions more watching around the world.

Yet much of her ministry takes place closer to home at the Cathedral Basilica, where she balances preserving the Church’s sacred musical traditions with finding new ways to engage worshipers, like the Cathedral Basilica choir’s recent collaboration with gospel and Jewish choirs and the use of different song traditions in the July 5 Mass and procession for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.

She also has worked to grow the craft of choral singing by annually running the Cathedral Basilica’s Cantate Domino summer camp, encouraging young people to find their own voice while learning the faith and skills to guide Catholics in faith through the Mass and more.

Those efforts have not gone unnoticed. That has led the Philadelphia Knights of Columbus chapter to honor Angelini.

“We see the Knights here regularly. We have our own chapter of course here at the Cathedral and the Knights are a regular part of many of our archdiocesan celebrations,” she said.

“I happen to have a dear friend whose husband is a member of the order. My friend put my name in the mix of things and they voted. I’m so humbled. It’s a really beautiful honor.”

For Angelini, however, the recognition is secondary to the moments when music becomes prayer.

One such moment came just after the beatification Mass.

“I went around to the front of the altar and was taking a selfie, taking in the moment. And this lovely nun came over and said, ‘No, no, no, you need a nice picture.’”

Then came a chance to take in what had just happened.

“There’s a moment when you just look at the altar when it’s all done,” Angelini said.

“There’s a moment of grace there.”