For more than 40 years, Natalie Le’s sung prayer has echoed in churches throughout the Washington, D.C., area. Her rich soprano voice could be heard most recently at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Arlington, where, until just a few months ago, she led the 11 a.m. Sunday choir and congregation in liturgical music.

After three decades of service to the parish community, Le, suffering from Lupus and its resulting mobility issues, recently stepped down from the position that helped define her life.

An early start

Le was born in Washington, D.C., on April 19, 1954. At the age of 12, she, with the encouragement of her parents, joined the folk choir at her then-parish, Sts. Paul and Augustine School (now St. Augustine) in Washington.

“My brother was an altar boy, so they were trying to find something for me to do,” Le said.

That “something to do” developed into a lifetime love of music ministry.

“I found a place of comfort,” she said. “I felt at home.”

While in high school at Immaculate Conception in Washington in the mid-’60s, Le planned music for student liturgies and played the guitar. She attended Catholic University in Washington for a year as a vocal major, but dropped out to be with her mother after her father was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

For three years she lived in Annapolis, Md., singing with bands and in theatrical productions.

“It was very good and it was fun, but I missed going to church,” she said.

In her mid-20s, Le moved to Arlington and, encouraged by three families she had grown up with who also lived in the area, she began attending St. Charles.

Again, she said, “it felt like home.”

After a couple of years singing with the choir, Le began directing the music at the then-10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass. She, like all music ministers, chose music to reinforce the weekly readings to help the congregation “grasp the message” of the liturgy.

As music minister she was more than just the song selector, Le said.

“You’re a mentor for the choir, you work closely with the parish staff, attend meetings, work closely with the school, keep up musical skills,” she said. “It takes a lot of planning, prayer, thought.”

Prayer through song

Raised in a post-Vatican II era, Le led the St. Charles choir in contemporary folk music. It opened her to interfaith experiences where she could learn to appreciate the beliefs of others while sharing her own. Her favorite songs include David Haas’ “You are Mine” and Laurence Rosania’s “The Supper of the Lord.”

“It really emphasizes what it means to share at the eucharistic table,” she said. “‘Supper of the Lord’ has really captured that meaning with me.”

For years, Le looked out on a congregation, connecting with them through notes and words.

“Singing for church has been really good for me, enhancing my prayer life, my spiritual life,” she said. “When I’m singing something I’m personally moved by, and seeing the community’s response to that, I feel totally connected.”

It’s a connection that she hopes the St. Charles community has felt as well — that, with the help of the music, they have found the liturgy to be a meaningful opportunity for prayer and worship — and “where they find God,” she said.

More than a community on Sundays, St. Charles parishioners reached out to Le when her mother was in intensive care, flooding her with good wishes and prayers.

“I feel like we’re living that Gospel message of taking care of each other,” she said.

Stepping back

Though she had to step down from her leadership position, Le knows that her years in ministry were a fulfillment of her true calling.

“It enriched my life knowing that with the little I do, I make a difference,” she said. “Now it’s my turn to be taken care of.”

That conclusion has been a humbling one to come to, and, Le said, “a hard lesson to learn.

“You need to find the place that feeds you,” Le added, and St. Charles has been that for her. The community has both nourished and uplifted her.

“It’s just the open, loving nature of the parish,” she said. “That spirit has helped me stay where I am.”