Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Not being Canadian, nor a Catholic, this 'Rosary dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe' was a challenge to listen to. Two years in the making, the Catholic singer/songwriter Mark Mallett believes "there is nothing like it in Christendom", being "a new way to pray the Rosary...and timely with the Holy Father's recent plea for Catholics to take up the Rosary once again." Whilst understanding that a catechism will be repetitive, nothing quite prepared me for the very repetitive nature of the content which stretched to a symmetrical 77 minutes for each of the discs. Laced throughout with the words of the Rosary prayer (that included around 200 Hail Mary's), the double CD follows the life of Jesus from the Annunciation to the Crowning in glory through the supposed eyes of his mother Mary, in spoken word and song. The style reminded me of John Michael Talbot in the '70s, and I liked the new musical renderings of 'The Creed' and 'Our Father' but all in all was unmoved by the concept, although I could imagine committed Catholics and maybe others who listen might be inspired.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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