Fr. BENJAMIN OKON is a priest of the Missionary Society of St Paul of Nigeria. He hails from Oron, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. He has work experiences in Africa, Europe and America. His is currently the Registrar and Academic Dean of the Missionary Seminary of St Paul of Nigeria. He is an alumnus of the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome-Italy, where he obtained his PhD degree in Philosophy. He is a scholar and lover of music.
ABOUT THE TRACKS:
TRACK 1 – I WORSHIP YOU LORD GOD
On the 5th July 2023, while on summer vacation at the parish of Sant’Andrea, Bra Italy, I went into the Church at 3.00 pm for my Divine mercy devotion. While there I began to contemplate on what to do to celebrate the silver Jubilee of my priestly ordination. I had the thought of composing worship songs in thanksgiving to God for these twenty years of service. I dismissed it in the first instance that it is not possible. My spirit kept going back to the composition. At that stage, I made a prayer petition to God and asked him to teach me and direct me on what to do. I told God that I want to compose songs to worship him the way the angels and saints worship him in heaven. I prayed and asked him to give me heavenly tunes and musical sounds not from this world but directly from heaven. I then continued my prayer and left the Church and went about my normal business.
On the night of the 27th July 2023, I received strange musical sound and I found myself just producing the sounds without words. I began to record the different sounds with my phone as they came. Then I was led to the Rev 1. Reading through this text of Scripture, I was encapsulated with the description of “God on the Throne”, whom the angels worship. His hairs as white as snow, His eyes like burning flames, His feet like bronze set on the furnace (Rev 1, 14-15). I was also led to Rev 4 and I was again touched by further description of the throne of God. Rainbows encircle the throne. The throne looked like emerald. The voice of the one on the throne was like the ocean (Rev. 4, 3-4). These two texts provided the title of the album and also the content of the lyrics.
TRACK 2 – HOLY, HOLY LORD, O HOLY
This track is a continuation of “I worship you Lord God”. It recalls the proper worship of God by the four living creatures as found in Rev 4, 8. Day and Night they worship God with these songs: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty; who was and who is and who is to come”. It further captures the worship of God by the twenty-four elders, who prostrate themselves and worship God, the one who lives forever. They throw down their crowns in front of the throne and worship God in the following words: “You are worthy, our Lord and God to receive glory and honour and power” (Rev 4, 11). This track was composed on the 27th July 2023 at the parish of Sant’Andrea, Bra- Italy.
TRACK 3 – LA BIENHEUREUSE MÈRE DE DIEU (THE BLESSED MOTHER OF GOD)
On the 8th December 2023, solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, I was in Paris to connect to Italy. While there at the airport waiting for my flight, I prayed to our Lady to give me a song in French in honour of her Immaculate Conception. I struggled to get something, but nothing came and I seem to have forgotten that petition I made to our Lady.
On the 19th December, when I went for Morning Mass at the Church of St Antonino, in Bra (CN), Italy, I knelt down to pray at the creep and suddenly my spirit took me to that prayer petition and I immediately received the tune of what has become this song. I didn’t have my phone to record it. I requested a parishioner phone, Domenica Mimma, who gladly let me register the sound of the music and she sent it to WhatsApp later. The content of the song is the words of the prayers of “Hail Mary”, “Hail Holy Queen” and words of the definition of the dogma of “Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX”. The title means “The Blessed Mother of God”.
TRACK 4 – MADONNA VESTITA DI SOLE (THE WOMAN ADORNED WITH THE SUN)
This song was my primordial composition, the first ever written piece of music. In the month of July 2023, I was at the Parish of Sant’Andrea, in the city of Bra, the province of Piemonte in Italy for summer pastoral work. This parish has an annexed parish Sant’Antonino, a few kilometers away. I was going for morning Mass at the Church of Sant’Antonino on 10th July 2023, and I became overwhelmed with the whole desire to compose songs in worship of God for my Silver Jubilee. On arriving at the entrance of the church, I had this tune of music that rang in my head, just a musical sound with no word and I hummed it in my spirit and was enjoying it. I struggled to get rid of it but the more I struggled the stronger the impulse of the musical sound. I then recorded the sound on my phone and went into the sacristy. Right on the left roof top of the sacristy was the portrait of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The moment I caught sight of that portrait I received the word Madonna, which is the Italian word for “Woman” or “Lady”, meaning “Our Lady”, used to refer to Mary, the Blessed other of God. That word fitted neatly into the musical sound and I got so absorbed in the musical note, which was becoming comprehensible. After the Mass, I went back home. The moment I got home, I was led to read Rev 12, “The Woman adorned with the Sun”. That text now provided the content of the song “Madonna, Vestita di sole” – The woman adorned with the sun. I felt so happy and excited that I composed a song to Our Lady. From this first composition, I receive many other tunes that gave rise to other songs. Each of the tunes for the eight songs in this album, “God on the Throne”, was given to me. It just came and each time it came I was led to a particular Bible text to get the content. This is the background to the songs as contained in this Musical Album.
TRACK 5 – GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST
It was composed on the 30th July 2023 at 12.00 noon at the Parrocchia Sant’Andrea, Bra-Italy. The inspiration came from the experience of the angels who announced the birth of Christ to the Shepherds in the fields as found in Luke 2, 13-14: “and at once with the angels there was a great throng of the hosts of heaven, praising God with the words – Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace for those he favours”. It was also intended to provide a beautiful song for “Gloria” used at the Catholic Holy Mass during the Penitential rites. This further led to the composition of the corresponding song “Lord, have mercy” to introduce the “Gloria”. The content the lyrics are the words of the “Gloria” as approved and used by the Catholic Church.
TRACK 6 – NOÑOZODIGÓÑ M’ILA? (WHO WILL SUPPORT ME?)
The song is a recapitulation of my childhood experience. Growing in the village, going to fetch water in the stream was the duty of children. The first thing to do in the morning the moment the day breaks. Due to scarcity of water in the dry season especially in the month of November through January, going to fetch water was one of the things I dreaded because it was very cold, dark and too early. In the morning Baba, our Father, is the first to call out to everyone to wake that it is time to go to the stream to fetch water or to Farm or to School or to the Church. Mamma will take on from there and say let us wake up. This sometimes does not get us up, then she will come physically to shake us to wake. At this point we all wake up. Sometimes she will call and we refuse to heed and after screaming to no avail, she will come and shake up and we wake up grumbling, grab our container of water and leave for the stream. It was always in groups never alone. The same is applicable with going to farm, going to school and going to Church. This is the experience that inspired the song Nonozodikọñ m’ila? Who will stand by me or support? The word Nonozodikọñ m’ila, is the native name of my late Father, Sir Brendan Okon John, KSJ. He was very instrumental in the invitation to go to the farm, to school and to the Church. While Mamma was instrumental to the invitation to go to fetch water in the stream.
This song is also a challenge and a clarion wake-up call to ORO nation to rise up and be more pro-active in her socio-politico and economic life. It was composed on the 5th August 2023 at about 9.45 pm in Parrocchia Sant’Andrea, Bra-Italy.
TRACK 7 – THE WONDERS OF GOD
This track was composed on 31st July 2023 with inspiration from Psalms 8 and 126 at about 11.00 am in Parrocchia Sant’Andrea, Bra Italy. The background of the song is the wonder and marvels of God. It is born of contemplating the goodness of God as found in creation, in the beautiful sky, the celestial bodies: moon, stars, sun and seas. It is also an answer to the frequently asked questions in the face of problems and evil: Where shall my help come from? My help shall come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. It also signals hope and consolation, that no matter the situation, we trust in God, for the night of suffering will surely pass away with the dawn of the morning. Therefore, trust and hope in the Lord will make one worship God at all times.
TRACK 8 – EDEGHE OYO ONU ENỌ (A GOOD CHILD IS A GIFT FROM GOD)
It was on the 6th of November 2023 at 5.40 am, during Eucharistic Adoration in our Seminary Chapel, National Missionary Seminary of St Paul, Gwagwalada-Abuja), that I received the musical tune of this song. It came so strongly that I had to leave the adoration place outside to record the tune. The song is an expression of the faith of a Christian mother, who prayed and asked God for a child and God answered her prayers. She now narrates her experience of the child who became the blessing to her and source of joy and consolation to her. It is actually the experience of my mother. The song echoes her faith in God, her absolute trust and abandonment to divine providence, which accorded her the precious gift, which is the gift of a good child (Edeghe Oyo). The choral part of the song is a modified form of the cultural song, sang by the women of the Church of St Patrick, Ukukim, in December 2021, during the inauguration of their reconstructed Church building by the family late Sir B. O. John, (KSJ).
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