Father Bruce Wellens found a unique way to bring out the best in young people who live in his inner-city neighborhood: playing the marimba. The Claretian missionary discovered the beauty of the percussion instrument when his religious community sent him to Guatemala to learn Spanish. “I was visiting parishes there and had to go into the jungle where the people were very poor,” said Father Wellens, pastor of Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, 1740 W. 46th St. “The army came and I didn’t know what to expect. Were they bringing workers to Mass or were they going to arrest us? It was quite unnerving,” he said. “After they left that evening, the moon came out and I heard the children playing the marimba. It brought a sense of calm and peace to the entire village.” Bringing it back When Father Wellens returned to Chicago in 1984, he decided to get a marimba — an instrument similar to a xylophone — and have it played at Mass. The Mayan people considered the marimba a sacred instrument, the priest said. He convinced his Claretian community that a marimba could help do some good so they bought him one. Father Wellens began to live his dream when he became associate pastor at Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart of Mary. His then pastor, Father Peter Rodriguez, liked the Claretian’s idea of teaching children in the parish how to play the marimba. “At first we had three or four kids playing the marimba,” he said. “They played by rote and imitated each other’s patterns. Within two months they were playing every song at Mass.” As a result, Father Wellens was able to form a children’s choir, which now numbers about 50. He says he got to know the young people in his neighborhood because of the marimba. Getting requests to play In 1991 Father Wellens and his Marimba Ensemble accepted an invitation to play at a Christmas concert at the Daley Center. Shortly after that the group played upon request at a wedding reception. “It was then we began developing a style of playing together,” he said. For the first five or six years, there were sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders playing in the ensemble. Many of the young people went on to high school but remained in the group playing other instruments. “These kids are so energetic and committed,” he said. “They practice every day. The older kids help the younger ones. The ensemble has been playing for more than 20 years and never missed a single Sunday Mass, which is attended by about 1,000 people.” In the mid-1990s, the Marimba Ensemble played about 30 events a year. It has since grown to about 100 annually. The group charges for its services based upon location. They have traveled to New Mexico and last year to the East Coast and Washington, D.C. The money raised was able to help the church buy more marimbas and now supports about 30 parish youth programs including after-school tutoring, arts and recreation programs, journal reflection and other church music groups. The Marimba Ensemble still looks for some outside financial support to replace worn-out mallets and to help pay the parttime salaries of college students who help teach the younger ones. “Education is the primary focus of our Marimba Ensemble,” said Father Wellens. “Our music supports everything the parish does and helps make the neighborhood as vibrant now as when the church first opened.”