Traditional Carmelites, building and recording

The Archdiocesan paper of Kansas City, The Leaven has news of a CD, The Mystical Chants of Carmel of a group of approved Tridentine rite Carmelites, as well as their continuing growth and plans for expansion.

Here is part of the story:

Wyoming Carmelite monks release new CD honoring Mary

By Joseph O’Brien
Catholic News Service

LA CROSSE, Wis. (CNS) — The few lonely highways stretching toward the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in northwest Wyoming used to be the only way to reach the Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and hear their beautiful chants.

But now, thanks to modern technology and the release of their new CD, “Mystical Chants of Carmel,” the monks have opened up their cloister in Clark, Wyo., with 14 chants dedicated to the Blessed Mother.

“I figured that since the people couldn’t come to our Mass, we could share our liturgy with the world,” said Father Daniel Mary of Jesus Crucified, prior of the monastery, told The Catholic Times, newspaper of the La Crosse Diocese.

“The wonderful thing about chant is that it is a mystical form of music — many authorities believe it is directly inspired by God,” he added. “Its primary purpose is to help people go deeper into the life of prayer. It settles in your soul and allows you to focus directly on God.”

At the moment, the monks — seven in all — live in a four-bedroom farmhouse tucked away in the hills near Clark, a small town just a few miles south of the Montana border.

“We added an enclosure,” said Father Daniel Mary. “It is a wall with big double gates so we can live a cloistered life. We have a little chapel where we say our offices and Mass. We’ve basically transformed this house into a working monastery.”

This may be the only Carmelite monastery with its own makeshift recording studio. With soundproofed walls and an engineering booth, they recorded their CD and then had a professional production team work on mixing the music and mastering it in surround sound.

[To read the rest of the story click the link above.]