The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles live a monastic life in prayer and sacrifice for priests, spending most of their waking hours in silence or song. The community follows the ancient horarium laid out in the rule of St. Benedict. They daily partake of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, and also chant the Divine Office in Latin according to the 1962 Breviarium Monasticum. The Benedictines of Mary daily rise before dawn to chant the twelve psalms of Matins, the first Divine Office. They return to their Priory’s chapel to celebrate seven further liturgical ‘hours’ before the close of the day. Their daily timetable includes fixed periods for mental prayer, private study or communal classes, recreation and manual labour. The work of their hands is devoted primarily to the making of priestly vestments. They also cultivate gardens, an orchard and a small farm.   

Tradition acknowledges that, on the Cross, Jesus entrusted His mother to the care of St. John, while at the same time entrusting the whole world to her in the person of St. John. After the martyrdom of St. James in Jerusalem, St. John then brought Our Lady to Ephesus, an ancient city in Turkey, where he built her a small home. Her presence there is confirmed by the fact that at the time of the Council of Ephesus, churches were named after saints who had lived or died in the locale. Today, the ruins of basilicas to Holy Mary and St. John are found in Ephesus. The Benedictines strive to imitate Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles most especially through her hidden apostolate of prayer at Ephesus. For this reason, the Priory where they live in rural Missouri is named in honor of Our Lady of Ephesus.

Florida-based music industry veterans Kevin and Monica Fitzgibbons, directors of DeMontfort Music, learned of the Benedictines of Mary and were astonished by the sound and spirit of one of their privately -released recordings. With help from Decca in the United States, DeMontfort released Advent at Ephesus in November 2012. The sisters’ first commercial album shot to No.1 in Billboard’s Classical Traditional Chart, displacing Fifty Shades of Grey: the Classical Album and occupying the top spot for six weeks. Their second album, Angels and Saints at Ephesus, was issued in May 2013. It topped the Billboard Classical Traditional Chart for fourteen consecutive weeks, climbed to No.1 in Amazon’s pop charts in the US in July and outsold new releases from Kanye West and Daft Punk. The album attracted extensive mainstream media coverage throughout the United States, including features on ABC’s Good Morning America and in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Angels and Saints will be released worldwide on Decca Black on 23 September 2013.

The order’s Prioress, Mother Cecilia, was a former member of the horn section of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio and arranged the music heard on Angels and Saints. Mother Cecilia attributes the sisters’ modest musical success to the frequent union of their voices and the silent union of their hearts in fraternal charity. Irrespective of their media exposure, the sisters of the Benedictines of Mary continue to live their vows of obedience, conversion of life and stability in following their daily round of singing God’s praises, work and prayer.

12 - Ave Regina Cælorum

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