Here is a sneak peek of the album cover:

These have only been made possible by the incredible network of patrons who support my work. Millions of people have benefited from your generosity already.

If you have ever given financially to this project over the last few years and have not received patron-exclusive emails for whatever reason, please write to me at kay@catholicsong.com and I’ll make sure you get the link.

If you’d like early patron access to the collection as well as the exclusive download package, you can become a member, where you will find a world of growing music resources, including my singing course. This resource is kept intentionally affordable with families in mind, but it’s for everyone.

This is also an incredible way to support this work so I can continue to create and share beauty and peace through music with the world.

The Rosaries will also be available early to paying members and patrons, along with the exclusive download package, when they are ready soon.

As always, your prayers and support are a great gift.

You can pre-save the collection here and, as always, listen to Cassia & Myrrh wherever you stream.

As it turns out, I think, beauty will not just save the world—it’s more like this, I think:

Beauty is always saving the world.

Beauty is always necessary for a world perpetually falling apart, this side of heaven.

Beauty is always the antidote to our suffering, which in this life is a part of what it is to be alive in this “valley of tears.”

I truly want to bring more human connection into the online sphere, and to find ways to offer beautiful, real, true things rooted in an authentic person rather than the onslaught of online characters and constant marketing language.

We are so hungry for meaning, and so often starved for it.

I have a lot of people who support my work in a variety of ways, but it’s a lot to manage, so I’ve been strategizing about how I can more effectively continue to create and share, especially with more consistency and with a deeper relationship with you all.

I’ve been gradually simplifying my work as a result, behind the scenes.

One major development is the opening up of the outer layer of my Kay Clarity Archive to more listeners, made possible by patrons.

You’re the first ones I’m sharing this with, because of your support with my Catholic work over the years.

I can’t solve every problem in your life.

Clearly.

But what I can give is some beauty, peace, and meaning via my work for your burdened heart, and maybe the burdened hearts of those you love.

I want to invite you to enjoy this benefit through the button below, where you will be given access to my full and growing private archive at no cost to you, made possible by generous patrons.

Enter the Archive

My music and writing is how I invite people into a deeper, more human, and more grounded place amidst the chaos of modern life.

Access to the archive is sent by email, and the archive includes my ongoing writing and occasional invitations to be more deeply involved.

I rarely sing or perform live more publicly, but I’m happy to say I’ll be doing so soon and would to you make it if you’re local to the LA area.

I’ll be presenting and singing live next Thursday, the 26th of February at St. Mark’s in Venice, 1169 Garfield Avenue, Venice, CA, 90291. In the hall; doors open 6pm.

Please feel free to invite anyone you like along and spread the word, and you can RSVP here to let us know:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdSONctYA8sRi2OgXYEJgxfZ7ayJvS6xYLMiqY-m13mvAztiQ/viewform?pli=1

It’s based around one singular line:

Things recede under the deep waters of your life—and they never really go away.

It isn’t anything but a gentle, steady, sober acknowledgement of the richness of our lives, and how everything that is, continues to be. In the context of our faith, it’s a beautiful invitation to allow everything to be taken up and transformed in the quiet, constant miracle of grace: with clear eyes, and no fear.

It fits as a one-time, small bridge via the contemplative heart that unites all of my work. I could feel as a wrote and produced it that it was bringing me a lot of peace, and I thought it could offer that to you, too.

Though not strictly religious in content, it’s an invitation into that same place out of which Cassia & Myrrh flows, and I wanted to share it with you.

You may appreciate some of the other songs on the album as well, also from my fight for an honest heart out to the world.

You can listen to it here.

Blessings to you all & thank you always for your kindness and appreciation of my work.

Kay

I’ve been working over here on the new website, and I’d love to share the new landing page I have with those who encounter the work on social media for the first time.

What do you think?

I’d love to share it with you as well, and would welcome any of your thoughts on it.

I think it captures the spirit of this project which has always been so critically important to me, and I’m happy to share it with you.

It’s beautiful watching this project unfold, with all of you supporting in a variety of ways.

Here it is:

Quiet Cassia & Myrrh/CatholicSong.com page

Praying you are all well. Thank you always for your prayers and support. God bless you.

Kay

I just wanted to send a brief message encouraging you in the year to come with a few key phrases to read and contemplate slowly:

All is not lost.

It’s never too late.

His mercies are new every morning.

You have so much to give.

You will not know the full degree of your impact until Heaven.

He is worth everything, even when it’s hard.

He often honors that which is hidden over that which the world stares at.

His riches for us are beyond comprehension.

He is a good provider, and a lover of your soul.

Squeezed out prayers on a hard day mean more than we fathom.

Faith in the midst of suffering is powerful.

Joyful days are a precious gift, and choosing joy when you can transforms your life and the world.

Every tear and bewilderment of yours is precious.

Generosity is always seen and valued—even the widow’s mite.

God’s ways are not our ways. They are far beyond ours.

People are precious gifts from God.

He grieves and rejoices with us, even when no one does.

He sees everything and is both just and merciful.

There is always an opportunity for a fresh start—every moment, every day, every hour, and certainly every year.

Welcome it with open arms.

Here is a song for you as you contemplate the year ahead.

Christmas also isn’t over yet, of course, and this Christmas album is still available for you, both in and outside of the membership.

Every blessing to you and all of yours!

xx,

Kay

As always, your support means the world and truly makes the difference between me being able to create and share. You can support me through your prayers, through sharing Cassia & Myrrh music with a friend or family member, by becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack, a member on the site, or making a one-time donation of any amount at my regular Kay Clarity site.

You are the difference and the backbone of this work, and I truly cannot do it without you. Thank you for being here.

If you’ve contributed financially in the past and would like complimentary access to the site, send me an email at kay@kayclarity.art and I will make sure you receive it :). I’ve offered before but I know life is busy and many may have missed it.

.

It’s a moment of grace, and it’s also temporary, I know. It also feels like it’s gotten me off to an impressively lackluster, imperfect Advent beginning. But sometimes God takes us into a more foundational place where He strips back a lot of the things we become dependent on - even the good things. (I would say, sometimes, even some of the spiritual things that have been fruitful in the past!)

This can be shocking, but I believe this periodic detachment is important, because in the end, He wants us attached to nothing but Him. It’s incredible the things we can make idols out of—perhaps most principally ourselves and the identity we build around the things we do: good in and of themselves, but often so full of us and therefore in need of detachment and purification.

So, in His kindness, He invites back into a kind of poverty, where it’s just starkly us and Him.

I share this because wherever you’re at, find your peace in Christ and His love.

The most important thing, always, is just to continue to turn your heart to Him, with whatever you have, and to never stop turning your heart to Him.

If you are bursting with zeal and vitality, in a season of expansiveness, then turn to Him with that. If you are feeling like you’re barely crossing some sort of vague finish line, limping along, then turn to Him with that. If you’re sorrowing, give Him your sorrow. If you’re some mix of all of it, give Him all of it.

Regardless, with all of the noise and calamity around us, I believe the calling is always to turn to Him with more honesty, frankness, and simplicity: to hide nothing, to pretend to be nothing but what we are, to turn to Him with dependency and trust, believing that He is enough in the midst of whatever we are or aren’t.

Remember: Christmas is coming. The weary world rejoices. And the world has always, always been a very weary one, aching for Christ. And we have always been weary, in varying degrees at different times, within it.

This is Advent: wearily living the holy ache of awaiting our glorious Savior, like every generation that has gone before.

To help you prepare your heart, I have a couple of songs to share.

The first is my chant-inspired version of Puer Natus Est (“the boy is born!”) which you can hear on Spotify or wherever you stream.

The second is a sound-enhanced new version of Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.

I pray these simple songs can help you turn more honestly and fruitfully to Christ in this holy season. If you’d like to help spread this simplicity and peace in Christ, consider sharing this article or one of the songs with a friend or family member.

Love and prayers as we begin together,

Kay

Audio Rosaries Update

Hello to all of you who have been so generous with the Rosaries project!

I wanted to send an update specifically to the financial contributors.

Without too much of the backstory, this chapter of the four musical chapters has been, by far, the most challenging. The audio Rosaries was an ambitious project from the start, but we’ve had unique challenges capturing the sound properly and without distortion for these songs due to the clarity and purity of the voice when I sing in this style. It’s a good problem to have, but requires creative solutions!

I’m happy to share that after much trial and error, we have a real way forward, and I will be completing the final studio sessions in January with one of my favorite producers in LA, Fabio Angelini, with whom I’ve worked extensively over the years.

Thank you so much for your patience, and know that I receive with gratitude all of your gifts and take seriously bringing this to full, beautiful completion at the best quality possible.

I’ve been busy in the meantime, creating and releasing a lot of other music, available on Spotify and everywhere else you stream your music. In particular, I just released a full-length lullaby Advent/Christmas album.

I also have worked tremendously hard on creating a members platform and a singing course to go with it. Anyone who has given financially is welcome to receive full complimentary access to the platform - simply write me an email at kay@kayclarity.art and I’ll set you up!

Your support continues to make this work possible. It is incredibly fruitful (we’ve reached many millions together!), but it remains a labor of love. Of course I need and welcome your prayers, and if you feel moved at all to financially support this work, you can do so by purchasing a membership for a friend or a family member, or by making a one-time donation at my regular folk music site.

May we all go deeper together into the season of Advent.

Many blessings to you and all whom you love,

Kay

I hope it brings you peace in what can become a chaotic season, instead helping you reflect gently and calmly on the coming of the Savior, preparing your heart for His Presence at the miracle of the Incarnation.

You can listen here on Spotify or wherever you stream, purchase the album in full on iTunes, or access it for streaming and download inside the membership.

I’ll be trying to upload all of the tracks to YouTube over the next couple of weeks leading to Christmas as well.

If you are blessed by this album and are a Spotify user, it really helps support the project when you save the album and/or individual tracks, as well as take a moment to send it directly to 2-5 people who you think may enjoy it. For this little project, every bit makes a big difference.

I hope it’s a blessing for you!

xx,

Kay

As always, your support means the world and truly makes the difference between me being able to create and share. You can support me through your prayers, through sharing Cassia & Myrrh music with a friend or family member, by becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack, a member on the site, or making a one-time donation of any amount at my regular Kay Clarity site.

You are the difference and the backbone of this work, and I truly cannot do it without you. Thank you for being here.

If you’ve contributed financially in the past and would like complimentary access to the site, send me an email at family@cassiaandmyrrh.com and I will make sure you receive it :). I’ve offered before but I know life is busy and many may have missed it.

It’s available early now for streaming & download inside the membership for all members, and I’d love to share it with you there, along with the singing course, the whole Cassia & Myrrh library (including many demos and non-public tracks), easy access to Gregorian chant sheet music, and much more to come.

Otherwise, Incarnation: A Lullaby Christmas Album will be available for streaming on all platforms beginning next Friday, November 28th. You can listen to Once in Royal David’s City there now, as well as the other previously released lullaby Christmas songs.

Thank you for a beautiful year of sharing beauty & peace with a world that so needs it. You are the ones that make this all possible!

If you appreciate anything I share or have in the past, please consider passing it on directly to a friend or family member who may need the music and inspiration. Bit by bit, we can together shift the balance of the world toward peace. People need it so badly right now—maybe more than ever.

Blessings as we head into the Advent season,

Kay

As always, your support means the world and truly makes the difference between me being able to create and share. You can support me through your prayers, through sharing Cassia & Myrrh music with a friend or family member, by becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack, a member on the site, or making a one-time donation of any amount at my regular Kay Clarity site.

You are the difference and the backbone of this work, and I truly cannot do it without you. Thank you for being here.

If you’ve contributed financially in the past and would like complimentary access to the site, send me an email at family@cassiaandmyrrh.com and I will make sure you receive it :). I’ve offered before but I know life is busy and many may have missed it.

And I think this has something important to tell all of us about how the small things really matter, which I will get to in a moment.

The cry of my heart in founding C&M was simply that the world was desperate for beauty and peace, and that together we could reach some of those in need with it — with something simple but real.

Remarkably, we have. For those who don’t know, between social media, YouTube, and Spotify, and an incredible Catholic app partnership, millions of people listen to Cassia & Myrrh every year now, and it’s on a constant trend of growth.

I am grateful and in a real way, very, very content. It has reached many more than I intended: this truly was just a quiet project of love for those who would want it. I had no grand designs, although believed God was with me in its inspiration.

But here we are. And I believe it’s just the beginning.

It’s gotten me thinking about how the small things matter so much, and so much more than we usually perceive.

This was almost a throwaway project to me - something I knew I had to do, that some people needed, but beyond that was just something quiet, sacred, and, I assumed, would be mostly hidden beyond those God meant it for. I was alright with that.

And then all of you! With your contributions, shares, encouragement, prayers: little bits of love thrown my way and in the way of beauty and peace. And every single one of those became a brick I could use to be faithful to this calling.

Isn’t all of life like that?

So little of what we give on a whim or a small prompting do we get to see the full flowering of - that smile to someone on the street, the donation we squeeze out in a tough moment, the kind word we decide not to withhold, the sharing of our gifts, food, talents, talent in a million little ways.

Once in a while we glimpse it, as I believe we can all together here with the unexpected magnitude of Cassia & Myrrh - but I felt it on my heart to say that none of us knew that fruit at the beginning, and the more common ending is that only Heaven sees the fullness of our small actions.

I have long been a good friend of St. Therese—the little, hidden nun of French Carmel who died of tuberculosis in obscurity—and while her story is another one of those anomalies that God permits in order to show forth the power of what’s hidden in metrics we can understand (her autobiography has been read by countless millions, outdoing many of even our previously-considered greatest saints), it’s been clear to me lately that one of His purposes in lifting her up, and perhaps even lifting up Cassia & Myrrh in a much lesser but still profound way, is to make it clear this inner power is always the most important and potent.

There are many more great saints like Therese we have never heard of. There are Carthusians buried all over the world with nothing but a wooden cross with no marking of their names, making canonization impossible (even if they are discovered to be incorrupt, which has happened according to a very personal, real authority). How many more quiet, hidden souls, especially those suffering, persecuted Christians all over—how many of them are living the most glorious fullness of being and holiness and greatness in this life, and yet whose names will only be known in the justice and beauty of heaven?

Many.

And many of you, too. Many of you with your quiet tears, and your plodding sacrifice, and your hidden lives of faithfulness as mothers, fathers, friends, sisters, uncles, grandparents, continuing to live according to the truth and vitality of the Gospel despite seemingly so little visible reward, perhaps even tempted to think it’s all been for nothing (demonic lies!).

But no—this is where the real power is. This is where God is. He rejoices, and I believe especially, over those who continue in humility and virtue for no reward but Him, for no reward but in fulfilling the duty of a Christian and a child of God.

Great, in fact, is your reward:

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9)

If we do not lose heart.

I plead with you: never lose heart.

I want to thank you today for your faithfulness, your beauty, your courage wherever you are, and say with all of the gusto in my chest that you and who you are and every choice to make in favor of what’s true, good, and beautiful matters, and matters more than you can possibly imagine.

One day you will see, if you persevere and do not grow weary from the weight of it.

You are not forgotten and you are not unimportant. God, the King of the Universe, and all of His precious saints—they see you, they know you, and they honor you, rejoicing over the hope and light you bring into the world around you simply by existing and being who you are.

In a small way, I hope the ongoing, humble success of this project, which so many of you have made possible, is a beacon of hope for you, and reminder of exactly that truth: that the little things matter, and it’s exactly how we reach millions, whether in worldly metrics or via the kind graces of God poured out over the world, mystically, through us.

Love and prayers,

Kay

As many of you know, I launched a simple but I believe beautiful singing course recently, and the initial response has been remarkable.

This is an excellent option for families on a small budget (it’s less than one vocal lesson’s cost) finding it difficult to provide extensive music lessons, as it is my very best distillation of the most important things to developing a truly beautiful way of singing and connecting with your heart (critical to beautiful music). This has been my heart and soul for decades, and I poured the most important things all into this deceptively simple and humble course.

I also designed it as a means of peace and regulating the nervous system, which I think we all need these days.

Although it’s great for families, as well as schools and organizations on a budget, it’s also appropriate for all ages, so if you’ve ever wanted a chance to grow as a musician and singer, or just learn some of the basics for your own peace and joy, this is perfect for you.

It’s also an incredible way to support the continued growth of this work of beauty and peace in the world, and I’d be honored if you’d consider becoming a member here today:

http://catholicsong.com/

As always, your support means the world and truly makes the difference between me being able to create and share. You can support me through your prayers, through sharing Cassia & Myrrh music with a friend or family member, by becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack, a member on the site, or making a one-time donation of any amount at my regular Kay Clarity site.

You are the difference and the backbone of this work, and I truly cannot do it without you. Thank you for being here.

If you’ve contributed financially in the past and would like complimentary access to the site, send me an email at famiy@cassiaandmyrrh.com and I will make sure you receive it :). I’ve offered before but I know life is busy and many may have missed it.

I often listen to Dan & Stephanie Burke’s podcast, Divine Intimacy Radio, and I always love that they refer to it as a little sacred corner in the digital world at the beginning of each episode.

We are desperate for the nourishment of our spirits.

That is how I’ve operated with CASSIA & MYRRH since I founded the project: I wanted to offer a reprieve from the chaos and noise in a world constantly shouting and completely overwhelming us. Our spirits—and nervous systems—are completely shot.

Along with the extraordinary success of reaching millions with this music because of all of your support, the feedback I’ve gotten over the years is remarkable:

That people find near-instant, almost shocking peace when they listen to this music.

What a profound grace.

I’ve taken this to heart and, more recently, to mind:

What is it about the way I approach things, aside from the grace that seems to accompany my work in this sphere, that lends itself to providing so much peace for listeners?

And then: how could I help bring this more consciously to the fore and help people enter more deeply into doing things this way?

It clicked one day driving through a very rough part of Los Angeles that I ended up in by accident and had trouble finding my way out of. I started thinking about how much I would like to be able to bring beauty and peace to that neighborhood, and especially to the little ones - but how?

What came was the idea of a digital monastery of my own, perhaps, with the very unique thing I have to give: the grace of singing beautiful things.

This reflection has now finally become a course, and a place where I’ve consciously focused on the value of using music and singing to calm the nervous system and intentionally bring beauty and peace into the listener’s life, as well as those for whom they will sing.

It’s for all ages and for anyone who has an interest in learning to sing chant beautifully, but I have in mind in particular homeschool families/co-ops as well as parishes and schools.

I’ve kept it extremely low-cost (less than the cost of one half-hour voice lesson) because that’s always been the impulse of this project: to spread beauty and peace as far and wide as possible via this music.

It’s meant as an accessible balm for as many people as possible.

If you or someone you know would benefit from this, you need to take a moment to look. It’s an incredible and gentle way for you to participate in my mission of beauty in the world, both in learning with me as well as in continuing to support my work.

I think you (and your kids) will love it and find it fills some of the gaping need for peace in our increasingly chaotic world.

Beauty matters! Check it out here:

While also working hard to finish the audio Rosaries for you all, I am happy to announce that over at CatholicSong.com I have launched a simple singing course, intended as an educational and personal development resource.

The membership also has all of the released C&M music in one place as well as exclusive track downloads, grants a public-use license for the music, and will be growing into much more very soon. If you’d like to support my ability to continue to create & share Catholic, contemplative music for a world in need, that’s a great way to do it. Those of you who are paid subscribers here or have supported my work financially in the past are very welcome to complimentary access as a thank you for your generosity - just reach out to me here or at family@cassiaandmyrrh.com and we will get you set up!

You can also become a paid subscriber here at the Substack link below, or give a one-time donation, and listen on Spotify or wherever you stream your music.

It all make such a difference! Thank you always for your support, love, appreciation, and prayers.

(this is also the place where the Rosaries will first be shared!)

(**For all of you who have supported CASSIA & MYRRH in any financial capacity over the years, use this code for a year’s FREE access: ARTPATRON2025. Honor system! This code will only be available for 48 hours, so use it right away. The system I use does take a $1 temporary/refunded verification on a valid card, just as a heads up.)

Watch this very (!) short video to learn more:

It’s been a very focused & contemplative last few months doing more of the deep work for the long-term goals around C&M. In the end, I’m just one little person sharing beauty with the world as best as I can, and all of everything falls more or less to me (with some helpful people in the background here and there!). So it’s easy (and sometimes necessary) to drift from some of the front-facing pieces, like social media and newsletters, when I can’t fit it all in. But I miss sharing with you all, and am planning to be active more again as the other things come to completion, including the Rosaries.

(I learn again & again that God’s time is so different from ours - patience really does feature heavily in the Christian life.)

But I am so happy to share that I am so close to completing the new C&M membership platform where some dreams of my heart, especially for the little ones of the world, are taking root. This is also where the Rosaries will be most easily available in their full form, although I’ll be working out other ways to get them out to the world as well.

Much more music to come very soon, but in the meantime, I realized I missed sharing that O Sacred Head Surrounded went live on Good Friday on a last-minute whim. Although we are full of alleluias in this Easter season, one of which you can listen to here, it’s still a beautiful song and the contemplation of His sacrifice is always prescient and beautiful.

I’ll try get it up on YouTube shortly, and you can find it wherever else you stream your music, but here is the Spotify link in case you would like to listen there.

While also working hard to finish the audio Rosaries for you all, I am timidly announcing that over at CatholicSong.com I am developing and soon formally launching a simple singing course, intended as an educational and personal development resource.

In the meantime, while I work on launching that element, the membership has all of the released C&M music in one place as well as exclusive track downloads, grants a public-use license for the music, and will be growing into much more very soon. If you’d like to support my ability to continue to create & share Catholic, contemplative music for a world in need, that’s a great way to do it. Those of you who are paid subscribers here are very welcome to complimentary access as a thank you for your generosity - just reach out to me here or at family@cassiaandmyrrh.com and we will get you set up!

You can also become a paid subscriber here at the Substack link below, or give a one-time donation.

In English this time (although perhaps Latin in the future), the hymn is rooted in the ancient Christian tradition, and I am always amazed at how these melodies truly transcend time and space: they never, ever get old. There is no hint of a cliché: like the truth of the words pointing to the eternal, the melody points to something completely beyond what we see around us.

This sense of breathing and fluidity is found in the melodic line, married to an exquisite rendering of the basic truths of Christianity. It is a joy to sing, and I hope it can be a “still point in a turning world” where you find rest and peace.

Here it is on Spotify but it’s available wherever you stream music. I’ll hopefully be uploading it to YouTube this week as well.

While also working hard to finally finish the audio Rosaries for you all, I am timidly announcing that over at CatholicSong.com I am developing and soon formally launching a simple singing course, intended as an educational and personal development resource.

In the meantime, while I work on launching that element, the membership has all of the released C&M music in one place as well as exclusive track downloads, grants a public-use license for the music, and will be growing into much more very soon. If you’d like to support my ability to continue to create & share Catholic, contemplative music for a world in need, that’s a great way to do it. Those of you who are paid subscribers here are very welcome to complimentary access as a thank you for your generosity - just reach out to me here or at family@cassiaandmyrrh.com and we will get you set up!

You can also become a paid subscriber here at Substack below, or give a one-time donation.

This is just a quick note to share a playlist I put together with Advent & Christmas songs (many of my own with C&M and some other projects) that I thought many of you might enjoy amidst the bustle of the next few days, especially if you’re in need of something calming and soothing.

It’s been a joy to be growing and sharing with you over the last few years and 2025 is shaping up to be an incredible year, including with the formal launch of the new membership platform which will serve as a music resource for you and your families. I’m excited to finally share it soon.

Many blessings on you and all of your loved ones this holiday season as we await together the arrival of the precious Baby Boy, God made Man, Word Incarnate—Prince of Peace.

Merry Christmas & ahappy new year!

Kay

Just a very quick post here to share the newest release at CASSIA & MYRRH: Noli Timere (Do Not Be Afraid), the Stained Glass Remix version.

I’m really happy to share this, especially with the delays with the Rosary project.

The original was recorded alongside the rest of The Songs Chapter in a studio in Santa Monica, but I always wanted to try to do a little more with it production wise. So I started experimenting the last little while with production personally, and was happy enough with the result to share. I think it captures more of what I had in mind in the meaning of the song, really tapping into the truth of the psalms and understanding that choosing not to be afraid is an act of courage amidst so much of the darkness we experience.

“Noli timere, do not be afraid—the darkness will not conquer you..”

You can listen on Spotify by clicking here or on the photo, or YouTube. (or most other places you might be streaming your music).

As always, you can stream the whole studio albums of chant, hymns, and my gentle contemplative originals on Spotify or wherever you stream music!  A lot of this is also normally available for free download but the website is down as we transition over to a new site (exciting news to come!)

Much love to you all, and many blessings,

Kay

If you’d like to support C&M with a financial gift (nothing too small or big) and keep this little engine going, you can do that by becoming a paid subscriber at the button below or becoming a contributor for the upcoming Rosary project. I can’t tell you how much your support helps me continue to create & share. Thank you!

I actually recorded this many years ago. A friend composed it. But its moment for re-release is now, and I can’t imagine a better context than this beautiful project you and I have built together at CASSIA & MYRRH.

Here it is, on Spotify:

Or on YouTube.

As always, you can stream the whole studio albums of chant, hymns, and my gentle contemplative originals on Spotify or wherever you stream music!  A lot of this is also normally available for free download but the website is down as we transition over to a new site (exciting news to come!)

Everything is for you and for God.

As always, your support means the world. Simply listening, especially on Spotify, and following along here is a great gift!  Over time, these numbers add up and help me reach a lot more people via the way algorithms work.

People need beauty and peace now more than ever, especially as the world continues to spin out and seemingly go corporately insane. By being here and being a part of what I do here, you are a part of that great mission!

If you would consider helping me honor Mary today with this song by listening and sharing with someone else in your life, it would mean the world. It makes the world just a bit more beautiful, hopeful, and bright.

Much love to you all, and many blessings,

Kay

If you’d like to support C&M with a financial gift (nothing too small or big) and keep this little engine going, you can do that by becoming a paid subscriber at the button below or becoming a contributor for the upcoming Rosary project. I can’t tell you how much your support helps me continue to create & share. Thank you!

I thought today that some of you would enjoy hearing one of those first demos - of “Adoro Te Devote.”

Here it is:

You can always stream the whole studio albums on Spotify here or wherever you stream music!  They are also normally available for free download but the website is down as we transition over to a new site (exciting news to come!)

Everything is for you and for God. I hope this music continues to be a great source of peace for many of you like I’ve heard repeatedly. Many leave it playing on repeat during the day while they work, clean, or homeschool. Many other find it calms down the little ones for sleep.

As always, your support means the world. Simply listening, especially on Spotify, and following along here is a great gift!  Over time, these numbers add up and help me reach a lot more people. There is little that people need more than other worldly peace in these times.

Sharing with a friend who needs peace is also an incredible way you can help fulfill the music mission I have here and make a difference in the lives of those who need it. It goes a very long way.

Much love to you all, and many blessings,

Kay

If you’d like to support C&M with a financial gift (nothing too small or big) and keep this little engine going, you can do that by becoming a paid subscriber at the button below or becoming a contributor for the upcoming Rosary project.

More importantly, it’s reached many people deeply. It has been an intimate encounter with God, a source of comfort and peace in some of the most trying moments, and an inspiration that beauty and our faith is valuable and worth fighting for. I usually forget, but when I remember, I am humbled sometimes to the point of confusion. Jesus has been generous with you through me, and it’s a strange thing to try to grasp.

And yet with all of this, it remains little, and I would never would wish to forget that—no matter how big it grows.

It makes me think of the paradox of St. Therese: the smaller she became, the more she willed to be seen only by God and stay little, the greater her influence became destined to be. A little nun, dying by 24 in near-total obscurity—whose little diary would reach the entire world and bring her unimaginable posthumous fame.

Now, let it be known I am no St. Therese, not by anyone’s stretch of the imagination. But her littleness—and the peace she had in that—has long captivated me, as it has many others, and particularly when it comes to any sort of apostolic work. I’ve always felt such a sacredness around this work, never wanting to mar it with anything (especially not the “market”), quite desperate to keep the purity of purpose.

It is the easiest thing in the world to lose purity of purpose with even the smallest amount of success, and, as I work to spread this music as far as possible in order to reach those who most need it and reach the bounds of God’s plans for it, I have a holy fear of this loss, which would render it useless in eternity.

We do have plans for growth now, from a place of seeing just how fruitful and blessed it seems to be. I resisted this for a long time, but at the urging of someone who sees how much of a blessing CASSIA & MYRRH can be to many more people, I came around to deciding to start to plan & structure what we do here so we can expand.

The truth is that I’m an artist: writer, composer, songwriter, photographer, poet doing too many things. The goal is to get back to that being the focus of my life once again, even quite soon. But for the meantime, I’ve spent a lot of time learning how to best serve the art through understanding the backdrop of organization and execution.

This is not easy for me but it is necessary: grace builds on nature.

It’s also simply difficult to prioritize it. I never intended for it to take much time besides the recording and sharing of the albums, although it’s a joy to commit more to it! I truly had no plan except to be obedient to something I felt God planting in me. This is why, as some of you would have seen in the newsletter I sent out, the Rosaries have had to be delayed again, likely until the fall (although we are making good progress!). It is just tremendously difficult to make the time necessary for this project, labor of love that it is, and especially at the quality I want everything to be. The time and energy I have been able to put in is because of so many of your prayers and financial contributions. Incredible: none of it would have been possible otherwise. Thank you so much for the difference you’ve made!

So, in that vein, I’m happy to say we (I have a few people who support me in planning and structuring my work) will be putting together some things to make C&M much more sustainable, and hopefully which will give way to my ability to create much more beautiful music for you all. This would be an enormous joy for me.

I am looking forward to hopefully announcing and sharing that very soon.

In the end, everything we do is little. Every great work is just a thousand steps. Every long trip is mile by mile. Every job, every building of a family, every life given to God, is just little act of love by little act of love. It’s how they built even the cathedrals, even all of European Christendom. As Christians, it is good for us to constantly remember this, and to stay small in Him, even while we welcome Him carrying us in and through all of our endeavors, even beyond what seems possible.

No one needs this reminder more than me, but my guess is that we all need it. And in the end, it is really only what God sees that matters.

St. Therese knew this, and lived completely by that principle.

And that’s how she reached the entire world.

***

As always, here’s a song for you today, from Ch. III (which you can listen to on Spotify here)

Announcement!

Email encouragements!

If you know someone in need of encouragement who is suffering in some way, please let me know at family@cassiaandmyrrh.com and I will reach out to them personally via email with a little note of encouragement and a C&M song from YouTube. This is just a gift that I am blessed to give. Nothing required from you.

Support Options:

Your support makes it possible for me to continue not just to sing and record and write, but to manage a lot of the necessary pieces that come with running a project like this.

Without you, my time goes to other kinds of work and projects, and I’d love to be able to focus much more steadily on this creative work to give you and the world the best things possible.

In this way, you become a beautiful part of this mission.

The substack and album downloads are always free, but if you ever feel moved, here are a few ways you can support my work!

• give any amount to the Rosary crowdfund which I still have up for casual contributions. $25+ gets you the exclusive, early contributor access.

• become a member for my overall work here

• become a paid subscriber (button below)

• pray for my work! I mean this so seriously.

A LOT.

(Like this project I don’t expect a lot of my Catholic audience to necessarily get without sitting down to chat with me, but which I see as just as important for souls.)

And like my regular work under my folk project I have long kept in the shadows while building other things.

And like finishing up the Audio Rosaries to release in July!

So, with all of this going on, I quite literally completely forgot Robbie Rivera and I were releasing a track for St. Francis of Assisi!

But, in God’s providence, this turned out to be for the most remarkable best—and an enormous encouragement to us that we are on the right track.

Choosing to serve Christ with your music is no small decision and needs a lot of assurance and encouragement.

It means saying no to significant opportunities, which isn’t just a loss of glamor and prestige, but also a significant loss of income. People like Robbie and I have worked in the music industry professionally for a long time but continually choose to stay faithful to Christ and the Church, no matter the consequences, which are not small. Often, this is a joy, but often, too, it is a great suffering. The losses haunt me not infrequently, although there is so much beauty in the life I have chosen.

But this is why, when I had forgotten this track I had sung on for Robbie’s Saints & Heroes project, what happened next was such a beautiful and needed confirmation from Heaven, especially following on the heels of my pop project crowdfund not going as well as we hoped, despite a lot of work and planning.

I arrived in Assisi—where St. Francis became the saint we now still love eight centuries later—on April 19th, tired but happy to be in a beautiful, holy place I hadn’t seen for more than a decade.

When travelling in Europe, I don’t use much data to save on expenses, so I hadn’t checked my Instagram for a while. I got to the city and to the monastery where I was staying, closed my door, and opened the app—to see Robbie had JUST released the Francis track!

My jaw dropped. How incredible God and the saints are! Nothing we could ever plan. I could barely have made that work if I HAD remembered we were releasing it.

The exact day?!?

I have been in Assisi precisely one other day in my whole life, and may never go again. And this exact day when I went was the day we released this track into the world, without me connecting any of the dots.

I’m still smiling about it. Clearly St. Francis felt honored by our humble, earthly efforts to shine a light on him and his beauty in rebuilding the Church at such a critical time. And I am honored and encouraged that Heaven truly cares and is so intimately involved in our lives and our work. With signs like this, how can one ever doubt?

With the story of St. Francis, I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that when the Church is crumbling at any point in history, God raises up only a few great saints, or sometimes even just one like Francis, to radically alter the course of history.

It makes me believe and pray we can see such a transformation again.

Maybe it’s one of you! Why not you or me? Who will respond to the radical call to holiness today that we need so much?

There is so much hope. There is always so much hope.

I hope this story and track encourages you. You can listen to on Spotify here, or on Apple Music/iTunes here.

As always, your support here and on social media makes all of the difference to this project and reaching people with the beauty and peace of our faith. We will have some more formal membership software going up shortly - somewhere in the next few weeks - but if you’d like to support this more casually, feel free to either give at the Rosary crowdfund link (https://www.givesendgo.com/rosaries) or become a paid subscriber here, just below. It makes such a difference and helps shift the balance of a world in need toward beauty and faith and peace rather than doubt and despair. You make a tremendous difference!

Blessings in Mary & Jesus,

Kay