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The Destruction of the Indies, Etc.

October 16, 2025 - 5:13am — Kfmiller
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Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566) was a Spanish Dominican friar who, shocked by human rights violations he saw in Central and South America, spent most of his life in an unpopular fight for better conditions for indigenous and enslaved people in the New World. One of his major works, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, helped lead to reform in how these people were treated. His life still provides an example of Catholic social teaching in action, and shows the need for us to stand up today for defenseless victims at all stages of life.

Instrumentation: Voice, guitar, bass
Duration: 1’
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Birthday (Christmas)

October 12, 2025 - 12:19pm — Kfmiller
MP3 Music Playlist: 
Instrumentation: SATB chorus, brass quintet
Duration: 2’30”

G                                               Cm13
You might see Him through the window
G                               Cm13
Wandering around in the cold
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Chasm

October 5, 2025 - 4:26pm — Kfmiller
MP3 Music Playlist: 
Luke 16:26

Instrumentation: Voice, string quartet
Duration: 1’

E♭m6       A♭m
There’s a chasm
E♭m6                          A♭m
Between heaven and hell
Emaj13        Bmaj7
No one can cover the distance
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Ransom

October 2, 2025 - 6:48pm — Kfmiller
MP3 Music Playlist: 
Instrumentation: Voice, ukulele, cello
Duration: 1’

A capella
I’m a starving mess
Lying in the dirt
I’m eyeing the husks
Ransom me

Dm                    A7
I’m a splintered wreck
G                    Dm
Sinking in the depths
Em                    Dm
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Compiègne

September 27, 2025 - 5:21am — Kfmiller
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The Martyrs of Compiègne were sixteen French Catholic women who refused to give up the faith despite being imprisoned by the anti-Christian government in 1794 France. Sentenced to death by the revolutionary tribunal during the Reign of Terror, they sang hymns on their way to the guillotine. The remaining women continued to sing as they were executed one by one, until the last sang by herself before dying. Their feast day is July 17, the date they were martyred.

Instrumentation: SSAA chorus, harpsichord, bass
Duration: 1’30”
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30 Years

September 23, 2025 - 8:24pm — Kfmiller
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St. Mark Ji Tianxang (1834-1900) was a lay Catholic doctor in China. Becoming addicted to opium after an injury, he was denied communion for 30 years but persevered in going to church, finally being allowed to resume receiving the Eucharist. During the Boxer Rebellion, he chose martyrdom rather than renounce his faith. His feast day is July 7.

Instrumentation: Voice, guitar, percussion
Duration: 1’

Dm     Am    Em7     Dm  Dm(maj7) Dm7 Dm6 Dm
Thirty years lost in a haze
Dm      Am   Em7          Dm6       Dm  Dm6 Dsus4 D Dm
All that time caught in a powerful trap

Dm     Am  Em7              Dm(maj7) Dm6
Kept apart from the Table
Dm        Am Em7               Dm(maj7)      Dm6   Dsus4 D Dm
For wanting more than wanting what you should.

       Cmaj7                      F
But brother, we’re not so different
           Cmaj7                   Asus4
We’re all in snares of our own
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Communication (for St. Catherine of Siena)

September 19, 2025 - 9:50am — Kfmiller
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Instrumentation: Voice, Piano
Duration: 1’

C♭                                  F♭maj7
All of those years and a world away -
C♭          F♭maj7
can you hear me

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Litany of the Popes

September 14, 2025 - 11:15am — Kfmiller
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In honor of Pope Leo’s birthday, “Litany of the Popes” lists all the names used by the popes since the foundation of the Church. Each bracketed note is meant to be determined by the syllables in each pope’s name. For example, Julius would be two C notes as a duplet followed by a D; Anacletus would be three C notes as a triplet followed by a D, etc. It’s a great way for CCD students to learn the history of the Church.

Instrumentation: voice only
Duration: 3’

(sheet music attached)
 
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Arrival

September 13, 2025 - 7:11pm — Kfmiller
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Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-95) was a Mexican nun, poet, dramatist and scholar. Her “Villancico VI” was a 1676 poem celebrating the Assumption and is used as the lyrical basis for “Arrival.”

Instrumentation: SATB chorus with concert band.
Duration: 2’

(sheet music attached)
 
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Bright

September 7, 2025 - 9:42am — Kfmiller
MP3 Music Playlist: 
Bright

Instrumentation: Voice, piano, percussion
Duration: 1’


The Fall has arrived
It’s tougher to see where you’re going
But I am with you, and you make it bright
You make it bright

The fog’s rolling in
Mist blankets the roads and the highways
But I am with you, and you make it bright
You make it bright

The days are short now
Darkness claims more and more of the hours
But I am with you, and you make it bright
You make it bright

(sheet music attached)
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Recusant (for St. Margaret Clitherow)

September 2, 2025 - 10:13am — Kfmiller
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St. Margaret Clitherow (1556-1586) was an English layperson and recusant – one who refused to give up the Catholic faith during the Reformation. She was martyred by government officials who placed a sharpened stone at the base of her spine before gradually adding crushing weight to a door placed on top of her. Her feast day is March 26.

Recusant

Instrumentation: Voice, guitar, mandolin, percussion
Length: 1’

Secret words
Hidden ways
Survival when darkness has taken control

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How Can You Not?

August 31, 2025 - 3:21pm — Kfmiller
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How Can You Not?

Instrumentation: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: 1'30"
 

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