"Give yourself fully to GOD. HE will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in HIS LOVE than in your own weakness" - Mother Theresa of Calcutta+++ *********Five years ago, in January, 2001, I was inspired to write a melody to the Hail Mary, in the hopes that a musician friend of mine, Tom Fecanin, who was taking RCIA classes at the time would learn how to recite the prayer. He liked the melody so much that he suggested that we record a demo in his basement studio. So we did and as a result, he learned how to recite the prayer. I then gave a copy of the demo to another friend, Irene Keast, who has a great love and devotion to the Blessed Mother.Three and a half years later, on the evening of September 8, 2004, feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, I went for a visit to an adoration chapel at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Morton, PA. It turned out that Irene, whom I had not seen or talked to for a while, was also in the chapel and as she was leaving, I caught her attention. We talked and Irene shared with me that she had listened to the recording of the Hail Mary that particular morning and suggested that I should record it professionally because it needs to be heard out there. Needless to say, I told her that I would definitely pray about it. First of all, I didnt have the finances to go to a professional studio to record a song and secondly, I didnt think that I had the ability to produce and record a song by myself. I had collaborated with an album titled, Chord of Life, Song of Love, three years prior with a gentleman named Michael Bucella, whose friend financed the project. I co-wrote some of the music in the album but all I did then was go to the sessions to sing and put in my two cents when needed. The thought of doing it by myself was too overwhelming for me.
The next day I prayed for a particular sign to the Blessed Mother. SHE literally gave me the sign seconds after praying about it that I didnt have a choice but to call that same day the studio (4-Star Studio), the same place where Michael Bucella and I recorded 3 years before.
I was only to professionally record a version that I wrote of the Hail Mary but somehow what started to be a one song recording evolved into a whole album. I believe in my heart that Our Lord provided for everything; HE allowed me to earn some money by being called for a good amount of singing jobs during the course of the recording which enabled me to pay for the sessions. Somehow HE made it possible for me to write more melodies of prayers and find songs that I had written years before that were literally buried in my mound of papers, in particular, O Sacred Host (O, Sagrada Hostia), which I had completed writing on the feastday of the Sacred Heart in June of 2001.
I have been blessed to know three very gifted and good-hearted musicians who are also part owners of the studio where I recorded. They were so kind to lower their hourly fee for me and give their personal time despite their tight schedule to finish the instrumentation on more than a couple of songs in the album. To finish the whole project, God sent another blessing someone generously gave me the finances enough to pay for the pressing of the CDs.
From the onset I had fully entrusted everything to Our Lord and Our Lady. Although there were plenty of obstacles during the course of the recording, the prayers and encouragement of close friends and family kept me going. Looking back now on how all of this came about, I have to say that it was truly an experience nothing short of miraculous. I wouldnt have been able to continue the project without my constant visit to the Blessed Sacrament asking and praying for discernment, guidance and strength.
It is such a humbling experience to have been given the grace to complete this Eucharistic and Marian album: honoring Our Most Blessed Mother Mary and giving glory and praise to Her Son, Jesus Christ, in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
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