I knew Father Daniel Bowen before he was a Mercedarian priest . Father Bowen asked me at the end of 2020 if I would write some songs about the Saints from the Mercedarian Order . The Mercedarian Saints since 1969 have not been in the regular rotation of Saints in the Catholic Church regular liturgical rotation .Hee felt they need something to bring attention to there Saints and order
The church every day of the year commemorates and honors a Saint and there is only so many spaces on the calendar . Although not in the calendar year, they are still honored by the church as Saints.
The Mercedarian order was founded by St. Peter Nolasco who had Mary appear to him as the Lady Of Ransom..She urged him and gave him an inspiration to stand in for captive slaves and literately offer themselves in exchange for a slave who was for sale to go free . They the Mercedarians would raise money to free the Mercedarian who had sat in as a substitute.
Father Bowen told me that the Mercedarian are always looking for new ways to communicate helping those who are enslaved or held captive and for new ways that the Mercedarian order can stand in the gap for people of today.
These songs are my attempt to communicate the Mercedarian history with martyrdom ,and the hair raising tales that go with it, and to some how make it relatable to The 21st Century
522 is a heavy metal acoustic song about martyrs in the Spanish civil war in the 1930s, while a calling is putting my self in the thought process of a younger person contemplating there vocation .The Saints stories Include cruelties that are hard to fathom and if you are curious well you’ll just have to hear the songs I guess .
I learned a lot and felt that I grew spiritually, musically and as a writer and also as an artist for I had to make a video to go with each song .Half of the proceeds will go to the Mercedarian order . Best wishes and My prayer is for the Mercedarian order will continue to reinvent themselves and be forever fresh and new in their approach in setting the captives free .My intent is that should these songs glorify God and pays tribute and magnifies the Mercedarians righteous mission.
BELOW IS THE DOWNLOAD OF THE MUSIC I WROTE FOR THE MERCEDARIANS .ITS A FREE DOWNLOAD WITH FREE WILL CONTRIBUTIONS HALF OF WHICH GOES TO THE MERCEDARIAN ORDER. HERE IS A LINK TO THE YOU TUBE VIDEOS I MADE FOR The Mercedarians The videos start with A Calling then the other songs are listed