Customer Reviews

Women in Chant: Gregorian Chants for the Festal Celebrations of the Virgin Martyrs and Our Lady of Sorrows

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I was looking for music to use in my meditation and, since my path is women-spirituality based, I was pleased to come upon Women in Chant. What beautiful music. Although I am not Catholic, it hardly matters in terms of recognizing and appreciating the sacredness of these chants. I wonder at the dedication of the nuns of the Choir to perfect the intricacies of the songs. The accompanying informational booklet that describes the circumstances of the Virgin Martyrs and Our Lady of Sorrows was both interesting and poignant. If you love Gregorian Chant -- or if you would like to experience it ... if you have listened to choirs of women before -- or if you have never heard women's voices raised in chant ... whatever your past experience, I think you will enjoy and grow from this compilation.

Opening with a rousing tolling from the new Abbatial bell tower, this exquisite collection of hymns and chant from the Feasts of Saint Lucy, Saint Agnes, Saint Cecilia, Saint Agatha, and Our Lady of Sorrows (including the well-known Stabat Mater) is crowned with a deeply moving solo chant by the Founder of this Abbey of Regina Laudis, the so recently deceased Lady Abbess Reverend Mother Benedict Duss, OSB, whose new biography we now expect soon in May of 2007 from Ignatian Press. To hear her once again in advanced age intone the Kyrie and chant completely and with great inner strength the Pater Noster as so often throughout the life of this monastic choir, as well as the Collect of Our Lady of Sorrows, is to unite heart and mind, body and soul, in a sacred moment within an eternal and a sacramental dimension, full of God's loving grace, and challenge, and a prophetic calling to continual conversion in Christ.

The recording of the chant by this living Gregorian Choir of sacred women is perfect in every way, although on my small player I found some overtones in the upper registers. Certainly this was the fault of my inadequate player, and I shall try it again. The cassette tape copy which kept me company for thousands of my miles in my small truck finally separated, and its sound was full and deep until then, very present, in fact so much so I felt I must arise to bow while driving whenever the Gloria Patri et Filii came on.

As subtle and precise as is the chant itself, the extensive booklet informs and educates not only the initiate but all of us already familiar with these sacred tones. The full text of the hymns are presented in the 45 page well-illuminated booklet, along with English translation. The translation of scriptural verses is drawn "from the Confraternity Version of The Holy Bible: The Book of Psalms and the Canticles of the Roman Breviary, published by the St. Anthony Guild Press. This edition was chosen because of its reliability and because its numbering of the Psalms corresponds to that used in the Graduale Romanum, Antiphonale Monasticum, and Breviarium Monasticum. (p.39)" Therefore the anglophile yet Catholic listener should feel all confidence in the English translation employed in the accompanying text. Please note nevertheless the Nolite's English was drawn from the very well-regarded Jerusalem Bible.

What you might find most extraordinary about the English translations is that non-SCriptural yet very traditional hymns and sequence such as the Stabat Mater comes not only with a brief description of author. but also new English translations done at the Abbey in order to provide a fresh and simplified understanding of the profound meaning of these chants. As one who in my youth wished nothing more than to do precisely such sacred translations, I must restrain myself from contesting the words used, as any translation is treason, as they say. Rather I resolve to find what remains within my heart and mind to do as an exercise of prayerful contemplation the translation I might once have done, knowing full well this is now impossible. By this disk I may now view from a distance the Promised Land which might once have been attained.

Please purchase this disk and you will be greatly and overwhelmingly rewarded in so many dimensions. I find a profound homecoming in the stunning centerfold photo of the new Abbatial nave, a true and sturdy ship of our Faith. I weep once agian to view the beautiful bas-relief of the Holy Virgins here presented, and of Mother Placid's excellent Via Crucis. The photos of te two Abbesses are a strengthening and truly Ikonic joy (in the true sense of the word IKON, not the meaningless cliche it has now popularly and commercially become). The introduction includes brief biographies of Dr. Marier and of Tom P., the producer, but what follows is truly blessed, a one page biography of the Reverend Mother Benedict Duss, followed by an extensive interview with her regarding the essence of the Chant, concluding:

"When I hear the chant, I hear people at peace together (p. 9)"

A fine colleciton of hagiography follows, etc. Please give yourself the gift of this recording and its warmly embracing theological commentary.

Benedictine chant from the nuns of abbey of Regina Laudis. Really gives you the feeling of attending a beautiful service. The accompanying booklet gives the Latin text and English translation of each piece, the interesting history of the Abbey, and has some very nice photographs of the nuns. The album's production is very natural and has an ambient quality. The producer Tom Pomposello was interestingly enough a blues guitarist and Grammy award winning professor. Well worth having!

from liner notes:

"This music... is sung as a prayer of hope for all men and women seeking a path to wholeness and a restoration of the sacred in their own lives."

Liturgical chant is an integral part of the daily lives of the contemplative nuns of the Abbey of Regina Laudis who praise God through their work and song. Hearing these heavenly voices raised in prayer creates a peace-filled space for the listener as well, a way to reflect and draw closer to our Lord.

Conducted by Dr. Theodore Marier, the beautiful chants chosen for this album are prayed in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows and the virgin martyrs Saint Lucy, Saint Agnes, Saint Cecilia and Saint Agatha. The CD version includes a booklet with the Latin texts, English translations and essays on the faith of our Blessed Mother and each of the four featured saints, along with photographs and an interview with the abbey's foundress.

This is a wonderful collection, lovingly given.