December 2020
WELCOME
Welcome to the second edition of The Vigil Project Newsletter! We are so glad you are here and we appreciate all the wonderful feedback we have received since launching our first newsletter last month.
If you are new here, thank you for being here and being part of our Vigil family! We pray that this space inspires you, informs you of exciting initiatives, and offers a place of community for you.
There’s lots to cover in this newsletter including a new album, Giving Tuesday, new partnerships, a tiny addition to the Vigil family and more. So without further ado, let’s jump in!
MORE THAN A BAND
We've been joking internally for the last couple of years, that More Than a Band should actually be our mission tagline. Last month, I had the delight of sharing with you a family recipe that's been with my family for years. What makes that bread special (aside from the perfection of the crust), is the story behind it. That bread is meaningful because of where it came from, and I am reminded of the generations who came before me every single time I make it.
In a similar way (without the tasty carbs, of course, but we can work on that), there is so much meaning behind this mission because of the journey we’ve been on and the path God has hedged. He truly writes the best stories.
So let me take you back five years. I didn't know any of the people I now consider not only my teammates, but some of my dearest friends. Our story starts with a "what if" question (a beautifully dangerous one to ask, I might add). All of us were working in various music endeavors at the time, all as individual artists. Lizzy and I were connected through mutual friends, and since I can safely say it's harder to make real friends when you're an adult, we decided to trust our mutual friends and grab coffee.
Well, I'll remember that coffee forever. Because that day, I met a woman for coffee...this girl Lizzy Boudreaux...who traveled a bunch with her fellow-musician and husband, Greg. We started chatting as girls do, and I suddenly started hearing a similar ideology about music and beauty in the Catholic Church. We realized in that 90 minutes that just maybe we should collaborate on something sometime. This was in the Fall of 2015, and the spark of inspiration (otherwise known as the Holy Spirit) came and begged the question: "What if we got together and wrote new Catholic songs for the seasons of Lent and Easter, live-recorded them, captured beautiful video, and released them one by one for the Church to pray with?"
Well, my friends....as they say, the rest is history. Greg got to work pulling together our team. The musicians were gathered (I finally met this guy, John Finch, I had heard so much about), Dan Johnson & 4PM Media got on board to do the videography, Shawn Williams & Papercastle Records signed on to do the sound engineering, and we were off to the races. “Ignorance on fire” is the best way to describe it. Five weeks later we had fresh songs written and were recording in the same room. It was a whirlwind experience I'll never forget.
The image in my heart that I have for this ministry is the horse, Secretariat. That horse was made to run. Once he left the gate, there was excitement watching him leave it all on the track and do what he was made to do! It was inspiring! (The movie Secretariat is worth a watch, if you've never seen it). I hardly recognize the people who came together that February to record that first album. And no, I'm not just referring to John's constantly changing hair styles.
God has done so much in us, and we are simply left without words. I believe with all of my heart that God has been preparing each of us for a time such as this one to do this needed work in the Church; to elevate beauty as it ought to be elevated! And to empower those who desire to also hold it high. This work we are doing has eternal ramifications, and we take it that seriously.
And so...in the afterglow of Thanksgiving and at the outset of Advent, we find ourselves both reflecting with gratitude on so much the Lord has done/given AND still waiting with joyful hope for many things inside our mission to come to fruition. Practically speaking, we simply cannot do this alone, and we know that. We discerned three years ago to become a nonprofit, and that has been a tremendous blessing! Through the nonprofit status we now have, we are truly able to be more than a band. We are on a mission to restore our heritage of beauty through music. We would love to humbly ask you to consider partnering with us in prayer and giving financially so that together we can help change the world through beauty.
by Andrea Thomas
We are on a mission to restore our heritage of beauty through music, and we need your help! Please consider partnering with us in prayer and giving financially so that together we can help change the world through beauty.
Bethlehem, a city
(an Advent reflection written by Aimee MacIver)
They have called me the House of Bread, and built me atop a reservoir so abundant it could provide fresh water to all of Israel.
Today, I have never been so full. Footsteps beat upon my narrow streets, and travelers crowd my buildings. The people are strangers from many far places, but they come here because I am the city of their shared ancestors. Only a few ponder the wonder of it: a city filled with men who are all different and all the same. Two things at once.
They come because they must, because they have been instructed to do so by someone they fear. They do not come because I am beautiful and fertile, or to spend rich moments with their loved ones, or to embrace strangers who are really brothers, or to worship together the god they all claim. They hardly break to rest and gather refreshment. They come only because they do not want to be punished by a distant ruler far away in his palace, a king whose face they have never seen.
I have seen it repeated through time as old as my walls: the people will make themselves very busy to push away their fear. They will walk very far to outpace it. They will do work that gives no life to their hearts just to quell their anxiety with activity. They will hide in compliant anonymity because they believe it is safer than being known by name.
The enrollment demands much from these travelers. They have crossed land that has many dangers and few comforts. They carry so much with them, everything they believe they require for sustenance and defense, upon their backs and their shoulders and their animals. They are dusty, weary.
When they come through the city gates, they break from the labor, but they are not happy. They are only relieved. Joy and relief are both rungs of the ladder out of fear and fatigue, but the people seem to stop at relief far more often than they climb onward to joy.
I could give them much more than what they choose to receive. I am the city of bread to nourish and strengthen them. I am a city of fresh water to clean away the dust and fill their cups and refresh their hearts. I am a city with strong walls that set them free to rest. I am a city of life! I am the city of David, the shepherd who became the king!
But they are so tired, so focused only on how I can satisfy their duty, and they do not see my beauty and my gift.
The night sky fans out deep and wide, a bright star swelling above. I cannot make the people come or stay. I can only invite them. The gates are open.
PRAY: Mic 5:2, 1 Sam 16:1-13, Lk 2:1-3, Mt 2:5-6, Jn 7:42
LISTEN: ‘Starlight’ The Vigil Project
This reflection was written by our featured artist, Aimee MacIver. It is taken from her booklet of reflections titled “Today In the City,” which is currently featured in our online Advent & Christmas prayer journey. You can purchase the booklet in hardcopy here, or participate in the free prayer journey by signing up here.
— TVP HAPPENINGS —
‘A Jesús Por María’ - our first full-length album in Spanish…
Seven writers, three performing artists, and two producers, located across two continents and communicating in two languages, worked and prayed together to bring a brand new collection of original songs into existence. This album has been a dream planted in our hearts ever since we recognized in our parish mission-concerts the real need to serve both English and Spanish speaking listeners. The resulting album and the story of how we arrived at it is nothing short of profound, and we encourage you to discover more about it regardless of what language you speak!
FULL ALBUM RELEASING DECEMBER 12TH! Pre-Save
Giving Tuesday Wrap Up…
Words fall short of the gratitude we feel for all who came out to actively partner with us on our mission of making music for the Catholic journey - thank you! Though we’ve been a nonprofit organization since 2017, this past Giving Tuesday was our first public launch of our nonprofit arm. It was a success in every way, and that is due to our generous patrons! If you missed Giving Tuesday, you can still become a patron by making a one-time or recurring gift HERE. All donations are tax deductible. Thank you!
Calling all artists, writers and musicians attending SEEK21...
We’ve partnered with FOCUS, Papercastle Records, and Love Good to sponsor a digital art, exhibit at SEEK21. Selected finalists from three categories—music, art, and writing—will have their work featured in the exclusive digital Awaken exhibit at SEEK21. One musician will be selected by a panel of judges, including members of the Vigil team and the Papercastle Records team, to receive an all-inclusive trip to Nashville to attend a musician retreat with The Vigil Project and a chance to record their song with Papercastle Records. Submissions for this competition are open until December 15th and are open to anyone attending SEEK21. To submit your artwork, click HERE.
Find us on TV...
We’ve partnered with Catholic cable networks to bring our music and videos to your home via TV! CatholicTV, Salt and Light Media, and Maria Vision will be featuring our content as part of their programming through Advent and Christmas. Click on their links above to check their program schedules (if you don’t see us on their yet, check back soon)!
Partnership with the Hallow App…
TV isn’t the only new platform you can find us on this Advent and Christmas. We’re pleased to be able to offer our music directly on the Hallow prayer app to users of the app! In addition to the abundance of excellent resources provided on the app to aid your daily prayer, you’ll now also have the option to access music from TVP and other Catholic artists. Learn more HERE
BABY ERSKINE
Hey everybody, Corrie Marie here!
As I’m writing this, I’m not quite sure if the baby will have arrived by the time you read it! It’s possible that as you read this, Baby Erskine is making his/her entrance, so feel free to throw up a prayer or two for us!
Each month, we’d like to give you a little window into our lives as regular ole humans so here’s a sneak peek into mine!
Greg thought I should call this segment, [The] Hearth, and that’s probably because my first album is of that name. So as I thought about the reason I chose that title back then, I began to reach back into the inspiration of wanting to be with my listeners, around a fire, in a home. I desired to have an intimacy in the music that showed that while I was an artist, I was a person first, just like my listener, and that we can be real and raw with each other.
So it is in this spirit that I’d love to share with you some of the ways that I feel God has been tapping me on the shoulder lately and asking me to be real and raw with Him and with others.
Like I mentioned before, I’m very pregnant: currently over 38 weeks. For me I’m in awe that I am still pregnant because my son came at 37.5 weeks, and I was told to expect the same, if not earlier with this pregnancy. But one thing that we know that the doctors do not, is that we decided with each pregnancy to go through the consecration to Jesus through Mary and give each child over to her care. Without even realizing it at the time, our first son came early and arrived on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima! With this baby, we are “due” December 13th, so obviously the baby is either coming on the 8th or the 12th!
But even if baby does not arrive on one of those days, what has been amazing to me is just how intertwined our humanity is with His mystery. There was a moment in my pregnancy where I had been told that while I was pregnant, I had to refrain from extensive exercise for the sake of carrying the baby to full term. It goes against everything in my being to do that (also a personal trainer), and it was a priest friend of mine that pointed me to the Eucharist - “This is my body, given up for you”. It stopped me in my tracks and really carried me through the rest of this pregnancy. How beautiful it is to be carrying another human and called on to that kind of sacrifice, just as Jesus has taught us!
But it hasn’t stopped there. The latest parallel I noticed was that quite literally, we know neither the day, nor the hour. Talk about unknowns and just being prepared! So many times I think it’s happening only to discover it will not. And each time, I am given a chance to ready myself even more. It brings me to this time we are in, this time of uncertainty, of so much unknown. As I await this baby, I am also reminded that Christ will come again and we know not when. What a gift this baby is giving me to help me not only prepare to receive a new life, but also be focused on our eternal aim which is Heaven.
I hope these thoughts and moments in my life offer you a moment to hear Him speaking to You in an unexpected way—through a baby. I hope it helps you enter even more deeply into this Advent season as we await the birth of our Savior with great expectation!
This little one will soon join my husband and I, our 19 month old son Will, and our dog Bandit, just in time to experience his/her first Christmas. We will definitely keep you posted and share some pictures in the next updates!
— FEATURED PLAYLIST—
ADVENT // The Vigil Project
This month, we have collected songs to help you enter into the season of Advent as we prepare with great anticipation for the coming of our Savior! Click here to listen now and begin preparation for the coming of Christmas.
— FEATURED ARTIST —
AIMEE MACIVER
A native of the New Orleans area, Aimee is a wife and mother of two who loves Jesus, Mardi Gras, the saints, and the Saints. She has been writing and painting since childhood. She has published several books with Ascension Press, including works on Theology of the Body, the sacraments, and Church teaching. Her essays, articles, and liturgical reflections have appeared in a variety of other national platforms. Aimee frequently presents on the arts, Catholic life, and education for retreats, conferences, webinars, podcasts, and other events. Her artwork is inspired by the personal diversity of the saints. For almost 20 years, she has also loved teaching high school theology in Catholic schools of the New Orleans area.
— IN HER OWN WORDS —
All these endeavors are motivated by my deep belief that beauty is a universal language that elevates the human heart to contemplate truth, and the truth is the way to life. In particular, I have long loved how the Church offers us an anthropology that defies the weakness of earthly labels—ethnicity, gender, class, ability, age, talent, even history—and really shimmers with the promise of eternal fulfillment. Writing, painting, teaching, and speaking is an attempt to make visible the beauty of the Church and convey the hope it bears for you and me.
Please be sure to check out Aimee’s work and to join us in the online Advent & Christmas prayer journey!
Aimeemaciver.com | Today in the City prayer journey
WHAT SAY YOU?
Answer the question and we’ll share the answers in our next newsletter! You’ll also be entered into our random drawing for a prize:)
ON THE ROAD
We believe in seasons. The natural ebb and flow and change that we see in creation around us is reflected deeply in our own nature, our own practice of the faith, and (hopely) our own lives. For us, part of that ebb and flow has meant that Advent is a season of hard work, traveling, and serving parish communities through our Advent mission-concerts.
As we enter the waning days of 2020, we find ourselves entering a strange, if not very welcome, season: for the first time in three years, we are home with our families for Advent. Perhaps it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but for us, it feels almost as strange as summer turning to winter without autumn in the middle. It feels like we’ve been given a time of rest when we expected the exact opposite.
In short, we feel called to receive deeply this invitation God is giving us to rest, to pray, to enter in completely with our families and drink deeply of the mystery of this sacred season. In order to do that well, we’ll be closing the office for an extended holiday from Dec 18-28. We hope this time is filled with many blessings for you and revelations of the love our God has for us. We hold you in our hearts and prayers as we wait in the remaining weeks of Advent and celebrate in the coming weeks of Christmas. We can’t wait to catch up with you and continue the journey at the start of the new year.
From the bottom of our hearts, we wish you a blessed Advent, a merry Christmas, and a joyful new year!
BECOME A PATRON
We are on a mission to restore our heritage of beauty through music, and we need your help! Be part of the mission by doing what the Church has been doing for centuries - patronizing the arts.