Martin Doman is well-known in Catholic circles. He has appeared at major Catholic conferences around the country, and his popular CDs include “Praying Twice” and “Praying Twice II.” Doman has also created a non-profit company called Christ Music. Its vision is to renew the heart of the Church through Eucharistic praise & worship. It has been in existence for about 3 years now, and its mission is to support Eucharistic Adoration through worship events called Caelorum Services and by producing recordings and songbooks of Catholic music. Caelorum means "of heaven" in Latin. Doman chose this name because he wanted to use the gift of musical worship to draw people closer to Christ in the Eucharist, creating on earth an aspiration for heavenly worship. Much of that music is on his new CD called, “God's Goodness So Far: Martin Doman 1996-2006.” The CD is a collection of some of the best songs from the two Praying Twice CDs and a few other songs, as well. There are a few live tracks from his performance at the 2003 Steubenville East Conference, including one of my favorite songs called “Psalm 139.” This is Doman’s rendition of this Psalm that tells us that God sees our every move and still loves us. It has a haunting violin blended with a beautiful duet. The highlight of this new CD is an anthem entitled, “St. Patrick's Breastplate”, which Doman wrote as an official theme song for the Boston Men's Conference. “I Am Here to Stay” is a love song that Doman wrote for his wife. The CD is a great collection for fans of Martin Doman or those that are interested in learning more about his music.


Sometimes you don’t need words to praise God in song. It is enough to hear beautiful music and know in your heart that you feel closer to Him. It is said that one of the best ways to show love to Christ is to show love to His mother. Catholic music is replete with hymns and songs to Mary. Catholic pianist Thomas Jones has collected some of those favorite songs, new and old, that celebrate the life and spirit of the Blessed Virgin Mary on his new CD called, “In The Quiet Of Her Heart: Songs Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.” The CD is just instrumental piano of beloved songs like “Bring Flowers of the Rarest,” “Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest,” “Sing of Mary,” “Hail Mary, Gentle Woman ,” and “Mary, Did You Know?” Jones’ version of the “Ave Maria” will bring a tear to your eye with its beauty. The title piece is his instrumental reflection of the uncertain feelings that gave way to total trust and faith in God, that Mary found in the quiet of her heart. In faith she said “YES” to God, and still unceasingly urges us to give our worship to her son Jesus, the Son of God. Thomas Jones’ “In The Quiet Of Her Heart: Songs Of The Blessed Virgin Mary” is a musical form of prayer and meditation on the life of the Mother of God.



I love the fact that there is a lot of new Catholic music being produced and published for children. Kids learn through music. It’s just easier. I still sometimes have to sing the “ABC” song in my head to know what letter is next. I can recite the “Preamble” because of a Saturday morning cartoon. The same one helped me with multiplication tables. CatholicMusicNetwork.com has a great collection of CDs for kids, so when one of the most popular Catholic singers, Dana, we had to get it. The CD is called “Good Morning, Jesus” and it’s a collection of prayers and songs for children of all ages. Many of these songs came out of what Dana has been doing on a yearly basis: the Annual Children’s Holy Hour. In fact, one of the songs, “We Are The Children Of The World (Answering His Call)” is the theme of the event. It’s a great upbeat song that kids will find appealing, and soon they will be singing along “Jesus in the Eucharist, I love you…” Dana is joined by the Tullylish Youth Choir on most of the CD. There are songs to help teach many of the basic prayers of the faith, such as the Our Father, the Angelus and the Creed. Kids will be swaying to numbers like “Alabare” and “Thank You God.” If you are a Dana fan but don’t have kids, don’t worry because you’ll like this one too. It has two of Dana’s classic songs, “Say Yes” and “My Little Toes” reworked just for this CD to make them more child-friendly. The title track “Good Morning, Jesus” is one that will have the entire family tapping their toes and singing along. “Good Morning, Jesus, This day’s for you, bless all I say, all I think and all I do….”



I really enjoyed the Rosary CD, “Through Her Eyes: A Journey to Jesus”, by award-winning Canadian Catholic singer/songwriter Mark Mallett. So, when I heard about his latest project I was thrilled. I am a follower of the Divine Mercy devotion as it helped bring me into the Catholic Church. You will find me in the chapel everyday at 3:00pm praying the devotion given to St. Faustina by Our Lord. Mallet has taken these prayers and added his music to them on a CD called “Divine Mercy Chaplet Prayed to the Stations of the Cross.” Working alongside composer Darcy Phillips and Father Don Calloway, Mallett takes the listener on a journey of mercy and healing towards Jesus. What this team has done is added these musical prayers to the Stations of The Cross as a narration, giving us a wonderful form of mediation. Mallett has reworked songs such as "Our Father" and "Jesus, Set Me Free" with their beautiful acoustic melodies and simple, yet passionate, lyrics that aid in the journey of mercy to Jesus. Between the songs are the prayers of meditation which are complimented by reflective musical scores by Darcy Phillips. These pieces of music have a distinctly classical feel with swatches of strings and piano, but they don't take anything away from the prayers themselves which are spoken by Fr. Don Calloway. By the end of the album the Chaplet is prayed in its entirety three times. Also on the CD are new songs that help cement the mediation, yet can stand alone as awesome tunes by themselves. “Someone Like Me” is one of those songs as it tells of the amazement one has that God would love us despite our sins. I really enjoyed the string instruments that sing to your soul on the song “Waves.” It’s mixed with a piano and Mallet’s strong vocals to emphasize the waves of love and healing that God sends to us. “Faustina’s Song” could be a pop hit as Mallet tells of the life of the great Saint while using her prayer of devotion as the chorus. “Holy One, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, Lord Have Mercy.” Buy “Divine Mercy Chaplet Prayed to the Stations of the Cross” and put it in your collection next to your Rosary CD.
 

--Jeff Burson