Brad Doyle is a seminarian studying to be a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has been singing his entire life, yet when he was 16 years old, Brad attended a Catholic youth conference where he received a profound experience of Christ and His Church, and has since been singing for Him. At that very same conference, during Eucharistic adoration, Brad began to realize a call to the priesthood. He entered seminary directly out of high school, and has been continually affirmed in that call.
In 2009, Brad began to write music about saints whom he was beginning to read about and be inspired by. The saints give great example, not just of the joy of the Christian life, but also the sorrow and struggle that necessarily accompany a true follower of Jesus. They are real people who lived real lives, and Brad desires for all to hear about their example. His music is intended to join the secular with the sacred, just as the saints do. They lived heaven on earth, and if we pay attention, we will see the crucified Christ in their lives and be conformed to Him.
St. Therese, Little Flower
Pray for us
Christians have always faced east while in prayer. The Christian liturgy itself has often had the priest facing with the people toward the East, the rising sun; thus facing Christ, the Rising Son! This EP, “Ad Orientem” (toward the east), is meant to highlight this reality. The entire Christian life should be lived facing Christ, with the example of His saints before us. The songs try to capture the grittiness of the Christian life; its ups and downs and joys and pains. The saints are real people who lived real lives for Christ, and if we look through them, we see that Everything Is Love!
This past tuesday was a great success. I want to thank everyone who came out to both Christ in the City and the release party. I know the weather kept us guessing, but it turned out well! Praise God! Keep telling friends about the EP. If you are too far away, it's always available on itunes.
Recently a friend of mine took it upon himself to update my status for me while I was away from my computer. It read, “I wish we would stop singing in Latin so much at the seminary, c’mon people, don’t you know it’s a dead language.” When I checked my facebook a couple of hours later I was surprised to see a plethora of comments on this certain status of mine. Of course, my friend wrote this in jest (the jest that only Steubenville graduates usually appreciate), knowing that most people would see the irony of such a statement gracing my status. I named my CD “Ad Orientem” for crying out loud. Most people know that I have nothing against Latin, especially in the liturgy. Yet, the ordeal sparked a thought, “Why do we use Latin?” “Why ought we pray in this dead language?”
The answer came a few days later. Periodically, here at Notre Dame seminary, we have the Mass completely in Latin. This was such a day. I found myself, at some point, struggling to follow along. I began to be frustrated with the whole process, and asked myself, once again, “Why are we doing this?” And then, the thought popped into my head. Liturgy is supposed to be frustrating. I’m not supposed to get the Mass.
I know this sounds pretty backwards for a man who’s life will consist in getting people “to” Mass, but, in reality, it’s not. I realized that my job will not be to get people “to” Mass, but to get them “in Mass”; in heaven. If there is one thing that I can attest to is that I am not yet in heaven, nor do I completely comprehend heaven. Put simply, a celebration of Mass that is completely comprehendible, adorned with no mystery, is not seemingly heavenly. If Mass looks like everything else we do then we’re missing the point. Somewhere down the line, possibly because of the “American mindset” of being in control, we decided that in order to get something out of the Mass, we must completely comprehend it, which usually meant leaving behind anything that is mysterious or anything that veils. We hate not being in control; not understanding what’s going on. Well everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die!
In the end, I realized that it was ok to be uncomfortable, to not know everything that is going on. I’m not supposed to fully comprehend the Mass because there is a mystery occurring that truly is incomprehensible on this side of heaven. So the next time you’re at Mass, and you get distracted, lost, or confused, just pray to be more open to the realities of heaven, where there will be no more tears or sorrow, and probably no missals either.
Speaker: Chad Judice, author of "Waiting for Eli"
For reservations call: Julie @ (225) 749-8260 or Elaine @ (225) 667-7239
