Schaal Music

Lent is upon us.  "Lenten Song" reflects on the season of Lent, our call to conversion, and change. 

This is our next exciting venture!  Mark your calendars now for March 7 at 7 pm for a CD Release Concert of our album THE CALL: TO KNOW, LOVE, AND SERVE.  We are so excited to join with the help of Resurrection Parish's Music Ministry to bring you a live performance of all the songs from our new album, as well as prayers and meditations of the inspirations behind the music.  Please come join us, tell your parishes, bring your friends!!   For any questions, email schaalmusic@gmail.com



 

As we have been inviting you all to join us for our praise and adoration evenings, (coming up tomorrow night!!!) I thought it might be helpful to introduce what Eucharistic adoration is, for those who might not be familiar with it. 

Because of our belief that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, we hold immense reverence for his Presence in the consecrated host. The early monastics had such a keen sense of the Real Presence of the Eucharist that a devotion emerged over time which involved the display of a consecrated host as a focal point of prayer.  Let me explain the flow of our evenings of Praise and Adoration to help describe what goes on in this devotion.

Our adoration evenings begin with songs of praise and joy. Then, the priest brings out our Lord, in the form of the host, and places Him in what is called the monstrance. This is an ornate and golden vessel whose sole purpose is to hold the body of Christ on display. Then, we sit in His presence. We sing. We listen. We pray. We talk. We are quiet. As the end of the evening approaches, we participate in the ancient rite of benediction.  Here, the monstrance is raised up, as Christ was raised on the cross, and we are blessed in His presence. We proclaim the "Divine Praises" and sing the medieval hymn by Thomas Aquinas, "Tantum Ergo:"

Down in adoration falling,
This great Sacrament we hail;
Over ancient forms of worship
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith will tell us Christ is present,
When our human senses fail.

To the everlasting Father,
And the Son who made us free,
And the Spirit, God proceeding
From them Each eternally,
Be salvation, honor, blessing,
Might and endless majesty. Amen.

Then, the priest returns Him to the humble tabernacle, where He is hidden away, ever present, ever loving, always waiting for us. We stand and sing with hearts full of joy, songs of praise and thanksgiving.

"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament... There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that: Death. By the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste -or foretaste- of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man's heart desires."  ~J.R.R. Tolkien

We are very excited to share our first album with you all.  This project has been about 8 months in the making, and it is so exciting for us to be able to share this songs with you.  We hope that they will draw you into prayer, and we are humbled to have these songs enter your homes, your churches, your cars, wherever it is you choose to pray with us. 

Without further ado, you can now click on the "Recordings" link and purchase "The Call: To Know, Love, and Serve."  You can download the whole album for $9.99 or buy individual tracks for $.99 each.  Along with the album, you'll be able to download the bonus files which contain our CD insert.  There are short meditations that go with each track, explaining the inspiration for the song, as well as the lyrics to each track. 

If you are interested in using this music in your church community, please contact us at schaalmusic@gmail.com

We thank you for your prayers and all your support,
In Christ
N & J

Our site has been officially launched for one month now!  Thanks for all the visits, music downloads, kind words, and support!  We love sharing our music with you and your communities.  Please contact us if you are interested in using our music in your parishes.  You can fill in the form on the contact page or simply shoot us an email at schaalmusic@gmail.com

Currently, we are working on our upcoming album which will be a compilation of our liturgical and nonliturgical music.  It can be tricky to produce an album in your home with 3 kids under 5!  But it is a wonderful challenge and we are so very blessed to be able to share on this adventure together!  You can bet that the silent sleepy smiles of our little ones are behind many of our recordings, as they often wander out of bed at night into our music studio, cuddle up with blankets, and listen to our recording sessions.  It is truly a blessed life.

Keep your eyes and ears out for more new music coming soon!  In the meantime, enjoy the blessings of the Easter Season and peace be with all of you.


J&N
 

On April 3 we had the pleasure of sharing our faith journeys and music on KBVM 88.3, our local catholic radio station. You can find the audio archive of this interview below!