Three bishops, 50 priests and 300 Roman Catholics from across North Carolina will trek to Washington and New York City this week to join thousands of others in welcoming Pope Benedict XVI on his first official visit to the United States, which begins today.

One North Carolinian who will not attend will be there in spirit -- and song.

The Rev. Samuel Weber, a Benedictine monk and a professor of early Christianity and spiritual formation at the Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, has composed a chant for the private prayer service the pope will hold Wednesday evening. The service will be in front of about 350 U.S. bishops at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

Weber's chants consist of short Scripture verses sung before and after the reading of the psalms. Chanting Scripture is an ancient tradition with Jewish roots, and it's still performed today in synagogues, as well as Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.

Weber said cantillation, or chanting the texts, is a natural response of the love that worshippers have for God.

"Words are not enough," Weber said. "Those in love exclaim, 'How can I keep from singing?' "

Weber, whose chants are known throughout the English-speaking world, was invited to write the passages by the music director at the National Shrine. The director, Peter Latona, assembled a special choir to sing the pieces.

In addition to the chant at the Wednesday evening prayer service, the pope will hear another Weber composition during a private Mass at the Papal Embassy on Thursday.

Although the chants will be sung in English, Weber said the pope will recognize the melodic pattern from the Latin, which Benedict knows well. This will give the pope, known to Catholics as the Holy Father, a sense of both continuity -- which he represents -- and change.

Weber, who has been teaching at Wake Forest since 1999, was recruited to introduce divinity school students to the contemplative tradition in Catholicism. His presence at the university, begun by a Baptist pastor, is part of a desire to expose Protestants to the diversity and range of the Christian tradition.

During the pope's five-day trip, he will also meet with President Bush, pray at ground zero in Lower Manhattan and address the United Nations.