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Rosary for Youth |
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The Rosary for Youth |
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Over 40,000 copies sold |
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For US, Heart Beat Records, Web Site: www.heartbeatrecords.com Email: ronald@heartbeatrecords.com |
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All Australian orders
please use the order form. |
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Brenda
and Jenny with our Lady Help of Christians pilgrim
statue. |
Lucy D,Olympio Musical Director |
Janelle, Richard, Lyn,
Tracy Neil and Adam in the studio |
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The Rosary for Youth Media Release by Jenny Knight May 31st 1999 Giving a
personal witness is often a humbling experience but I have found from
listening to the testimonies of others that it can prove to be a very
fruitful exercise. The success of
The Rosary for Children recording selling over 50,000 copies world-wide in a
little over twelve months and the subsequent encouraging response to the
newly released Rosary for Youth has raised some very curious questions. Just
who are these two young mothers and what inspired them to take on this quiet
daunting task? When thinking
about this commonly asked question, two words immediately spring to mind, ordinary and unqualified. Exactly the sort of people the Holy Spirit seems to
like to work with.! Rosary Evangelization was formed quite simply in response
to a need to counteract New Age meditations that were creeping into our
Catholic schools. Under the watchful eye of Our Blessed Mother we set about
tackling a project neither of us had any experience or expertise in. Brenda
and I, however, have a burning desire to help in some small way, others who
have left the faith, to assist in drawing them back to prayer and the
Sacraments. We have a few
things in common. Brenda and I are both cradle Catholics educated post
Vatican two who left the faith and the sacraments in our teens. We were very worldly for many years before
conversions through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother. We came from good
families who had persevered through the years with their faith. I have no
doubt that their constant prayers for their children have now borne some
fruit. I think our
parents presumed that we were being taught the truths of our Catholic Faith within
our school religious education classes, but through the 1970,s the watering
down of the faith was well and truly underway. As we look at Religious
Education in its current form, battling against the pressures and moral breakdown
in society, it will never survive unless we get back to the basics and start
teaching the truths about Jesus Christ, our Catholic faith and especially
solid teachings on the Sacraments. My personal
conversion like so many others has come through suffering. Sometimes God has
to literally bring us to our knees to get a response. In 1990, as a young
mother of a beautiful year old baby girl, life was looking pretty good.
Blessed with a wonderful husband, fulfilling work as a midwife two nights a
week and being able to play sport almost every day, things were very
comfortable. Life changed
radically for me after I injured my back playing basketball. My lifestyle had
to undergo a severe transformation.
Lying flat on your back eight or more hours a day gave me plenty of
time to think. I would like to boast of an immediate conversion like St Paul,
but my journey back to God and understanding the value of my suffering, was a
much slower process. It was through
the intercession of Our Blessed Mother that I was led back to Jesus, His Holy
Catholic Church and the Sacraments. Eight years
down the track and with three major spinal operations behind me, things did
change. A once outgoing life of the party girl was called to a very different
life. Initially my baby had to go into child-care for much of her early years
and I have not been able to pick her up since she was twelve months old. I
still need plenty of outside help with all basic household chores and this
has taken some adjusting to. I think that
God must have an interesting sense of humour! My husband, Graeme, who had
suffered a chronic neck injury playing football some years earlier, found his
condition deteriorated to an extent that he has to wear a permanent neck
brace and also change his lifestyle. Through his suffering he returned to
practicing his faith in the Anglican church, but God had other plans and
after praying the rosary as a family for two years he eventually found his
home in the Catholic church in 1997. My road back to
the faith was not immediate and I did a lot of soul searching, researching
all kinds of religions and their philosophies. I even dabbled in some of the
New Age books and videos trying to find an easy answer to the meaning of
life. After a while
my soul was left in total confusion and darkness. Why hadn,t
I been told about all these Catholic truths during my formative years? In
particular, the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the value of
Reconciliation, The Holy Rosary, the Saints and their lives, Marian
apparitions, Eucharistic miracles and the list goes on. We are living
in times of incredible confusion and ignorance. There is a distinct void in the souls of so
many of the faithful who have simply lost their way and are hungry for the
truth. Once God has been allowed back into your soul even just a little, you
function like a sponge just thirsting for the truth . Through my daily
sufferings and humiliations, God opened the eyes of my soul to a new purpose.
My life is definitely not what I would have planned but God just shows us
that He is in charge of our every move and our will given freely to Him can bear much fruit. God chose to
stop me in my tracks (the only way He could slow me down!) and give me a real life. It is true, a lot has been
taken away from me. Any exercise, even a simple walk can be enough to send my
entire nervous system into chaos. But what He has taken, He has replaced with
something far richer which is life for my soul and the chance of eternal life
with Him. Nothing could replace this grace I have been given - not health nor
riches in this life, unless it is by His choosing. Suffering can
teach you so much. Things are so bad in society today that many of us need to
experience some form of suffering before we can turn our eyes towards Jesus
and try to live the life He has called us to.
In the eyes of the world my unique little family has often been
described as a write-off or a tragedy. Friends and family could be forgiven
for thinking the local rehabilitation hospital had run out of bed space as
they come into our home and manoeuvre their way around mattresses, neck and
back braces and various other essential apparatus! Both,The
Rosary for Children and The Rosary for Youth recordings have been put
together in humble surroundings along with many obstacles.The
youth recording was particularly difficult from start to finish. Trying to write the meditations , lyrics,
music and sound effects took its toll on all concerned. We petitioned whoever
we could including the beautiful nuns in our Carmelite Monastery who stormed
heaven with their prayers. There were
problems every step of the way with the music, the printing, the covers the
compact disc master copies, some of the recording and the list goes on. We
seriously wondered if this project would ever get off the ground as I became
very sick during the final stages of writing the script and was admitted to
hospital for nearly three weeks after it was completed. I don’t even remember
a lot of the actual recording stages and Brenda was left with all the
pressures of recording sessions and photo shoots etc. However, Our
Lady always provides and re-enforcements were called in and did a wonderful
job. There were many people who gave unselfishly of their time and talents to
get this project off the ground and I am sure they will be blessed abundantly.
When we heard the final product our hearts soared and we knew this truly was
a gift from above. From the
feed-back we have received so far, including the Archbishop of Perth (Rev Barry
James Hickey) who wrote, It is beautifully produced and inspires me as I
drive around, we feel that this recording will touch the hearts of all those
who listen to it. After each meditation recently ordained Fr Paul Baczynski gives teachings on the Sacraments, and many of
the fundamental truths of our Catholic faith including the dangers of the New
Age movement. An eighty-two
year old Christian Brother who listens to the recording every night has said
each time I listen, the Holy Spirit gives me new insights into the mysteries
of our faith. Another young man in his thirties who was struggling with his
faith has been inspired to go to confession after hearing Father say on the
recording that the priest can never reveal anything told to him in confession.
He said he never knew this and was always afraid to go. A woman in
Sydney who was going through a very traumatic time said that just listening
to the beautiful song Mary Take My Hand Now, Cause I Just Can,t
See The Light lifted her out of her depression
and inspired her. The feedback from many of the youth has also been very
encouraging. Both Brenda and
I feel that we owe a huge debt to Our Lady for bringing us to back to Jesus
and on the right track towards heaven. Our youth are screaming out for the
truth and we need to provide orthodox Catholic resources for our schools and
families so that we can begin to effectively evangelize our faith. After the
trials of this latest project I vowed never again, however we feel that the
Holy Spirit is still blowing strong in this direction and has much more work
for us to do. Our next project, God willing, is to have The Stations Of The
Cross available in a similar format to the rosary recordings complete with
music, sound effects and solid Catholic teachings. |
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