The C Major Project’s Newest Commission: The Litany of Loreto

Update: the premiere will take place on May 23!

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Your donation helps support the composition and performance of new music! Read the story below!

Let me begin with a quick history lesson; the reason will become clear in a moment.  Near the eastern coast about midway down the Italian peninsula stands a small town called Loreto.  On a hill overlooking the town is the Basilica della Santa Casa, the Basilica of the Holy House.  This is believed to be the house in which the Virgin Mary was born and received the visit from the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation. Wait a minute? Mary is from Nazareth in Israel, not Loreto in Italy! How did the House change locations? Legend has it that Angels carried the house from Nazareth all the way to Loreto a distance of nearly 1,400 miles.  The Basilica was built around this Holy House in the 15th and 16th Centuries.  The House itself consists of three walls and the archeological evidence shows that the building materials and construction methods match those from the time of Christ and the geographic area of Nazareth rather than what would be found in Italy at the time.  Further, the house has three sides because it was built into a cave or grotto in its original location.  In Nazareth at what is now the Basilica of the Annunciation is what is believed to be that very grotto and there is evidence that Holy House walls now in Loreto are a perfect fit to the grotto in Nazareth.

In 1576, a litany was written to honor Mary through the use of various titles given to her and asking for her intercession.  While there is no direct evidence of the place where the litany was written, it has been widely prayed through the centuries at the Basilica della Santa Casa.  And so it has become known as The Litany of Loreto. It is still the only Vatican approved “Litany of Our Lady”.  It was given this status by Pope Sixtus V in 1587.

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Last fall, we donated a newly commissioned work to the parish of Shrine of the True Cross in Dickinson, Texas for the live auction at their annual Fall Festival.  This newest piece is the result.  The winning bidder, Vicky, was not specific regarding the text to be set, only that it be something Marian and that it be dedicated to her granddaughter, Ava Maria (named for the Blessed Mother), now a young adult.  So what is the new music?

While speaking about the music, Vicky told me, “[the piece should be] about the sacrifice and sorrow of Our Lady, the loss and pain followed by the joy.”  There were many different texts that came to my mind as I contemplated those words.  Of course, the Ave Maria (there are many settings already!), and the antiphons from Marian Feast Days like The Assumption and Immaculate Conception came to mind.  I even thought about the Memorare Prayer (a project for another time perhaps), which at first I thought was the one.  But after more prayerful discernment about it, I realized it was not just the right text for this project.  What I mean is, as I was working, the music was not coming, as I tried to write.  So I sought out another text  – and upon discovering the story of the Holy House recounted above, I finally settled on The Litany of Loreto.  And just like that, the music was just there waiting to be discovered!  And so, led by the Holy Spirit, this text is the perfect pairing for this project.

This current setting is based on the traditional chant that is associated with the Litany as found in the Rituale Romanum.  It is still simple, as litanies are; as they are a form of communal prayer (think Litany of the Saints) with the repetitive call and response form.  The opening ‘Kyrie’ and closing ‘Agnus Dei’ are set for SATB choir in a short polyphonic section bookending the harmonized call and response litany.   The litany itself simply consists of various beautiful titles of the Blessed Mother asking for her intercession.  Titles like, “Mater Divinae Gratia - Mother of Divine Grace”, “Mater Spei - Mother of Hope”, “Rosa Mystica - Mystical Rose”, “Salus Infirmorum - Health of the Sick”, etc.  After proclaiming each title, the response is, “ora pro nobis - pray for us.”  And it concludes with the prayer:

Concede nos famulos tuos, quaesumus, Domine Deus, perpetua mentis et corporis sanitate gaudere: et gloriosa beatae Mariae semper Virginis intercessione, a praesenti liberari tristitia, et aeterna perfrui laetitia. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord God, that we, your servants, may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body;  and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin,  may be delivered from present sorrow, and obtain eternal joy. Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

While the commissioning of the new work was donated for the Shrine’s live auction, we are premiering it in a prayer service on May 23 to share with Vicky, but also with you, the public and especially those who might need to hear a song of intercessory prayer to our Blessed Mother.  We are asking for your help to do this.  Any amount you can give is helpful.  As is part of our mission at The C Major Project, all proceeds above and beyond the production costs will be donated to a charitable organization. In researching a partnering organization, I discovered a local Houston Catholic nonprofit whose aim is to provide mental and spiritual health services, Gratia Plena.  Through the power of sung prayer, we hope to make a difference in the lives of those struggling with thoughts of suicide and other mental and spiritual afflictions — as we pray in the closing prayer, ...may enjoy perpetual health of mind and body...  Help us support Gratia Plena, who helps those who are struggling with so much despair that they are considering ending their own lives.  Donors who give $50 or more will receive a PDF of the completed music score of  The Litany of Loreto.  This includes a license to print any number of copies needed for your choir to use the work.  We at The C Major Project hope you enjoy this new music and find it prayerful and consoling, and we hope you can join us on May 23 for the premiere and prayer service at The Shrine of the True Cross.

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