Singing for God: Share Your Gifts with the Church

By Carissa Krautscheid 

Sometimes all you need to begin serving the Church is for someone to open the door. 

That was the experience of Alma Leon, who is now offering her gifts of music to praise the Lord as a cantor at St. Augustine Cathedral. A cantor is the principal singer at Mass, who leads the congregation in worship. 

Leon comes from a musical family in Douglas and said she has been singing since the age of three. Leon says she began writing songs when she was 16, “My mom sings and plays guitar, and there was always music playing at our house. All her siblings sing, and most play more than one instrument. While growing up, family gatherings always involved my aunts and uncles playing guitar and singing. The next generation joined in the singing once we felt ready.” 

Leon sang in a church choir in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, across the border from Douglas. The group was called the Mensajeros del Amor (Messengers of Love), Leon spent 10 years with the group, “During that time, I learned more about God’s great love for us and found a spiritual closeness to Him through music.” 



After leaving the choir, Leon continued to sing at services for family members or friends. 

In fall of 2021, Leon was asked to sing at a friend’s quinceañera at Our Lady’s Chapel in Tucson. “There was a moment when it seemed as though I would not be allowed to sing for the Mass,” said Leon. She decided to go in person to introduce herself. “When I arrived, I first went into the Cathedral and said a prayer. No one was there, so I sang something during my prayer. What I meant to say was, ‘I would really love to sing at that Mass,’ but what came out was, ‘I would really love to sing here.’ I think the latter was what I really wanted: not to sing only once at the Chapel, but to sing more than once at the Cathedral. This prayer was answered.” 

The Cathedral’s rector, Father Alan Valencia, arrived to open the door to Our Lady’s Chapel, and consequently to Leon’s current role as a cantor at the Cathedral. 

Leon had only hoped to sing the Ave Maria at the end of Mass. Fr. Alan quizzed her on her knowledge of liturgical music and soon granted her permission to sing the entire Mass. “I was ecstatic!” she remembers. 

After the quinceañera, Fr. Alan invited Leon to consider singing at the Cathedral. “I knew it was time to come back to singing at church,” she said. 



Leon now sings at the Cathedral’s 5:30pm Mass in Spanish every other Sunday, in addition to bilingual Holy Hours on the first Friday of the month and the last two Wednesdays of the month. Leon has also sung at Las Posadas, first Holy Communions, and the Via Crucis. When she isn’t at the Cathedral, Leon works as a clinical research nurse at the University of Arizona. Leon and her husband have been married for 21 years and they have two sons. 

Since October 2021, Leon has dedicated more of her time to writing faith-based songs. “There exists beautiful music of worship and praise and for Mass,” said Leon, “but I believe there are many more songs to be created, to be sung about and for our Lord. I love how music can help us feel closer to God and help us feel His closeness to us.” 



Leon encourages each person to use their gifts and talents to praise God and serve the Church. “Place yourself in God’s hands,” she said. “Pray. Ask Him to show you where your gifts are needed most. I believe everyone has gifts, and we’re called to use them in different ways for the glory of God.”