Cette chanson parle de l'amour et de la fidélité de quelqu'un dont le conjoint ne le reconnaît plus en raison d'une forme de démence. À l'été 1976, je m'occupais d'un homme, Maurice Goodridge, atteint de la maladie de Parkinson. De temps en temps, il avait des hallucinations et ne connaissait même pas sa propre femme, Eleanor, depuis de très nombreuses années. Elle, en réponse à son manque de reconnaissance, essaierait de lui rafraîchir la mémoire en disant: "Maurice, je suis Eleanor, ta femme. Je t'aime comme tu m'aimes et c'est là que nous sommes tous les deux d'accord." D'où le fond de cette chanson.

L'arrangement a été fait par Nemesh de Serbie, les choeurs ont été faits par Yann Marc de la France, et l'enregistrement a été fait par Mike Clark dans son studio à Amherst, New Hampshire.

This song is about the love and fidelity of someone whose spouse no longer recognizes him/her due to some form of dementia.  Back in the summer of 1976, I was taking care of a man, Maurice Goodridge, who had Parkinson’s disease.   Occasionally he would hallucinate and not even know his own wife, Eleanor, of many, many years.  She, in response to his lack of recognition, would try to jog his memory by saying, “Maurice, I’m Eleanor, your wife.  I love you as you love me and that is where we both agree.”  Hence, the background and opening line to this song.

The arrangement was done by Nemesh of Serbia, the backing vocals were done by Yann Marc of France, and the recording was done by Mike Clark at his studio in Amherst, New Hampshire.

This song is for those interested in scriptural accuracy.  It’s a “Hail Mary,” except that I call it “Most Exalted One.”  I do so because it is more scripturally accurate.  In the second Catholic edition of the revised standard version, Gabriel addresses Mary not by her personal name but by a title – “Hail (or rejoice), full of grace.”  The expression “full of grace” is rooted in Catholic tradition and traced to St. Jerome’s translation in the Latin Vulgate.  Although fundamentally accurate, it lacks some of the depth of the Greek original.  Luke could have described her with the words “full of grace” (Gk. pleres charitos) as he did of Stephen in Acts 6:8, yet here he uses a different expression (Gk. kecharitomene) that is even more revealing than the traditional rendering.  It indicates that God has already “graced” Mary previous to the annunciation, making her a vessel who “has been” and “is now” filled with divine life.  Alternative translations like “favored one” or “highly favored” are possible but inadequate.  Because of the unparalleled role that Mary accepts at this point in salvation history, the best translation is “most exalted one.”  I found this information in a footnote on Luke 1:28 in the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 2001 edition, page 105.

The arranger for this song is Nemesh from Serbia and the recording engineer is Mike Clark from Amherst, New Hampshire.

Here’s the background to this song.  On my kitchen table I have a pamphlet that has on the inside a list of benefits of Eucharistic Adoration.  Here’s the list:  Everyone on earth is graced.  Souls who are about to die and on the precipice of going to hell are influenced to have a conversion of heart in order to go to heaven instead.  Men and women are influenced to enter religious life.  Families are brought closer together.  Evils of the world are repaired or atoned for.  The floodgates of God’s mercy are opened.  It helps to convert America and save the world.  And it helps to prevent abortions.  On the back side of the pamphlet are the words of Jesus to St. Padre Pio in 1923: “They leave me alone by day, they leave me alone by night.  No one comes to see their Divine Prisoner in the Tabernacle.  I am abandoned in the Eucharist.”   In this song I substituted the words “bedroom window” (four syllables) for the word “tabernacle”.  I figured that most people don’t even know what a tabernacle is and have an anti-religious bias, so that is why I used the metaphor of a window.   On the front side of the pamphlet is a picture of the Blessed Sacrament held in a monstrance, the monstrance that holds the Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano, Italy from 750 AD.  The consecrated host had turned to flesh and blood.  Above the monstrance are the words, “I wait for you always.  Come and see me, I am here…”  These are the words from which this song was inspired.  They tell us that Jesus likes our company and that He wants us to go visit Him.  For those of you who do not believe that a consecrated host is truly the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus or think that His presence might only be spiritual, metaphorical or symbolic, check out this article which proves otherwise.  The Science of Recent Eucharistic Miracles: A Message from Heaven? (ascensionpress.com).  Also see The Eucharistic Miracles of the World, a catalogue of miracles compiled by Carlos Acutis, which also  proves otherwise.

Marco Atanackovic, aka Nemesh, did the arrangement.  He’s a classically trained pianist who resides in Serbia.  Recorded by Mike Clark of Amherst, NH.

No vocals (except for harmonies/background vocals) which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.

Marco Atanackovic, aka Nemesh, did the arrangement.

No vocals (except for harmonies/background vocals) which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.

I originally wrote this back in 1998 and re-recorded it in February of 2022.  It’s a marriage proposal.  The name of the woman doing the background vocals  is Anastasia.  She’s from Ottawa, Canada.  I don’t know her last name.  I found her on airgigs.com.

No vocals (except for background vocals) or instrumental melody line which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.

No vocals or instrumental melody line which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.

Saint Michael the Archangel isn’t a saint, but rather he is an angel, and the leader of all angels and of the army of God. This is what the title “Archangel” means, that he is above all the others in rank.  So why is he called a saint?  I don’t know.

St. Michael has four main responsibilities or offices, as we know from scripture and Christian tradition.

• The first is to combat Satan.
• The second is to escort the faithful to heaven at their hour of death.
• The third is to be a champion of all Christians, and the Church itself.
• And the fourth is to call men from life on Earth to their heavenly judgment.

Very little is known about St Michael other than what we know from scriptures, which themselves are sparse.

In Daniel, St. Michael is mentioned twice. The first time as one who helped Daniel, and the second time he is mentioned with regard to the end times of the world when he will stand for the “children of thy people.”

His next mention comes in the Epistle of St. Jude, where St. Michael is said to guard the tombs of Moses and Eve and has contended with Satan over the body of Moses.

The final mention is in Revelation, where St. Michael and his angels, do battle with the dragon.

This song was arranged by Shahe Sinanoglu of Montreal, Canada and recorded by Mike Clark of Amherst, NH.

No vocals or instrumental melody line which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.

I originally wrote “I Wonder” as a jazz tune back in 1999 entitled “We Still Survive” and never recorded it. Then back in June of 2020 I re-wrote it as an adult contemporary song.  Musical arrangement done by Shahe Sinanoglu and sung by yours truly.

No vocals or instrumental melody line which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.

A Christmas song inspired by my father who used to make Christmas mangers.  He gave them to all of his eight children and to many of our relatives.  Just by way of full disclosure, however, the lyrics say that he used to provide the figurines as well as the manger itself.  That is not true.  We were on our own for that.  That would have been way too expensive for him.

No vocals or instrumental melody line which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.  Musical arrangement by Jim West.

Composed and sung by Bernard Leclerc.  Musical arrangement by Jim West.

The Jesus Prayer, also known as The Prayer, is a short formulaic prayer esteemed and advocated especially within the Eastern churches: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The prayer has been widely taught and discussed throughout the history of the Orthodox Church. The ancient and original form did not include the words “a sinner”, which were added later.  It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use being an integral part of the eremitic tradition of prayer known as hesychasm.

Though identified more with Eastern Christianity, the prayer is found in Western Christianity in the catechism of Catholic Church.

Origins

The prayer’s origin is most likely the Egyptian desert, which was settled by the monastic Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers in the 5th century.

Scriptural roots

The Jesus Prayer combines three Bible verses: the Christological hymn of the Pauline epistle Philippians 2:6–11 (verse 11: “Jesus Christ is Lord”), the Annunciation of Luke 1:31–35 (verse 35: “Son of God”), and the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican of Luke 18:9–14, in which the Pharisee demonstrates the improper way to pray (verse 11: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican”), whereas the Publican prays correctly in humility (verse 13: “God be merciful to me a sinner”).

Composed and sung by Bernard Leclerc.  Musical arrangement by Jim West.

Arranged by Jim West who also does the background vocals.  The lead is sung by Bernard Leclerc.  Even though I much prefer Jim’s voice to mine, I thought it was important for my own healing that I sing the song given that it’s about my father and not Jim’s.

No vocals whatsoever and no instrumental melody line which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.

A popular liturgical hymn of unknown origin.  In Latin it is called Ave Maris Stella.  It can be dated back to at least the 9th century for it is preserved in the Codex Sangallensis, a 9th century manuscript now in the Swiss Monastery of St. Gallen. Its appearance in the Codex points to a composition in possibly the 8th century. The hymn is frequently attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) and sometimes has been attributed to King Robert (1031), both of whom are too late to have authored it.   In reading the English translation, a melody seemed to emanate from the words.  So I just put the two together to make a song.   Arranged by Marco Atanackovic, aka Nemesh.

No vocals or instrumental melody line which allows for listener to sing with the arrangement as if he/she were the vocalist.

Written with my brother-in-law, Fern Cayer, in mind.  He died of brain cancer on July 11, 2019 after a five year battle. He was 55.  The words express what I imagined he would have wanted to say to his loved ones.  This song was also written, in part, to respond to the notion that people in heaven can’t hear our prayers.  To prove otherwise, I borrowed from the words expressed in Revelations 5:8 and 8:3-4 which tell us that saints in heaven mediate the praises and prayers of those of us on earth.  They wouldn’t be able to do that if they couldn’t hear us.  Arranged by Shahe Sinanoglu and sung by Bernard Leclerc.