Notre Dame Football: Praise For the Alma Mater

Anyone who attends a game at Notre Dame Stadium knows all the pageantry that goes with it. To that end, it’s hard to imagine a game ending without the players and fans joining arms and singing “Notre Dame, Our Mother.” And when we see it sung …

Anyone who attends a game at Notre Dame Stadium knows all the pageantry that goes with it. To that end, it’s hard to imagine a game ending without the players and fans joining arms and singing “Notre Dame, Our Mother.” And when we see it sung elsewhere, as it was during Friday’s Echoes, we’re reminded that the song can be equally impressive on smaller scales.

I’ve been to exactly one Irish game in my life, and that was the 2012 game against Michigan. After Notre Dame was finished beating the Wolverines that night, I looked forward to singing the alma mater with my dad. Not only was it a beautiful song to sing along with, but I sang it to honor my late grandfather who was very proud of his connection to the university. Somehow, I believe he and all Notre Dam alumni who have passed on descend from Heaven onto Notre Dame Stadium to join everyone even though we can’t see them.

Is it a schmaltzy thought? Probably, but how could you not think otherwise whenever that lovely song rings through your ears?