I mentioned on Twitter earlier this week that sometimes, only my Ave Maria playlist can make things better for me. I was surprised to have a loud clamor for the contents of that playlist.

Really?

You mean I’m not the only Mary geek out there? And I’m not the only one who loves the Ave Maria enough to make an almost two-hour playlist out of it?

REALLY?

COOL!

The reason I have this playlist is very simple: I realized, when I first started writing about Mary regularly about two years ago that I needed something to help me write, and I have always found the Ave Maria to be calming in the way my girls find our nightly lullaby calming. It gave me the background music to do what seemed impossible: convey love of Mary and information and somehow make it accessible in the way that I find Mary to be accessible. How could I be clear without leaving out the necessary emotion when writing about Mary? Why in the world was I, someone who didn’t even know very much about Mary, being called to do this writing?

I found my morning prayer to be indispensable to that end (writing about Mary) and I also found that my Ave Maria playlist was a sort of “secret weapon.” No, it’s not magical. It’s calming. I can let go of my worries and the things that stand in the way of the One; I can let the Still, Small Voice do Its work through me, and sometimes I can even get out of the way and it touches someone who needs touched.

This playlist has also turned into a way I pray, especially in those times when I have the big blockage of words, the well of emotion, the need for a big heavenly hug. There’s just something in this song. It reminds me that Mama Mary loves me and is praying for me, no matter what. It leads me to Her Son with the raw emotion I have, with the imperfections I bear, with the burdens of my soul.

With that long introduction, here is the playlist (in order), based on the song name, artist, and album that iTunes gave me. (I didn’t link. Sorry…it’s a time thing. Or a lazy thing. If you need further help, I do have most of these in hard CD copy somewhere in the attic, and would be happy to provide more information.)

  1. Ave Maria – by The Carpenters – from Christmas Portrait
  2. Ave Maria – by L’Angelus – from Sacred Hymns Collection
  3. Ave Maria – by Barry Manilow – from Christmas Classics
  4. Ave Maria – by The Cathedral Singers and Richard Proulx – from Catholic Latin Classics
  5. Ave Maria – by The Cathedral Singers and Richard Proulx – from Catholic Latin Classics (different than #4)
  6. Ave Maria – from Songs of Mary Volume 2
  7. Ave Maria – from Contemporary Holiday Classics
  8. Ave Maria – by Dan Troxell – from A Christmas Homecoming
  9. Ave Maria – by Franz Schubert – from Romance
  10. Ave Maria – by The Priests – from The Priests
  11. Ave Maria – from Christmas Concert
  12. Ave Maria – from Songs of Mary Volume 2 (different than #6)
  13. Ave Maria Medley (Gregorian, Bach-Gounod, Schubert) – from Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest
  14. Ave Maris Stella – by The Cathedral Singers and Richard Proulx – from Catholic Latin Classics
  15. Ave Maria – by Kitty Cleveland – from Sublime Chant: The Scotland Project
  16. Ave Maria – by Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles – from Echoes of Ephesus
  17. Traditional: Agur Maria (Harmonistation Pere de Madina) – by Oldarra/Urtizberea, Inaki – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary
  18. Schubert: Ellens Gesang #3, D 839, “Ave Maria” – by Barbara Bonney, Geoffrey Parsons – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary
  19. Verdi: Ave Maria (from Quattro Pezzi Sacri) – by Scimone, Claudio(cond)/Chorus and Orchestra of the Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary
  20. Bach/Gounod: Ave Maria – by Hampson, Thomas(br)/Wolff, Hugh(cond)/the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary
  21. Mawby: Ave Verum Corpus – by O’Donnell, James(cond)/Westminster Cathedral Choir/City of London Sinfonia – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary
  22. Ave Maris Stella – by I Fagiolini – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary
  23. Ave Maria – by Serge Nakariakov – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary
  24. Ave Maria – by Chanticleer – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary
  25. Ave Maria – by Josh Groban – from Noel
  26. Ave Maria – by Susan Bailey – from Mary, Queen of Peace Guide & Sung Rosary
  27. Caccini: Ave Maria (arrangement Turrini, Joseph) – by Jo, Sumi(s)/Carella, Giuliano(cond)/English Chamber Orchestra – from Ave Maria: The Myth of Mary

What would you add to my Ave Maria playlist? (Ah, bliss. The excuse to purchase more Ave Marias!) This list is just what I was able to compile from the music I already had in iTunes.

Updated to add:

Here’s a link to the text file with what’s on my Ave Maria playlist as of today, January 21, 2013.