Father Albert Gutberlet, LC is originally from Germany and has recently released a musical album that can assist us in prayer and is available on digital platforms.
The Desire to Compose
As a child, he attended a summer camp and witnessed a young person playing the guitar very well and singing many popular songs of the time. His desire to learn to play and sing was almost immediate.
When he achieved it, he played the songs he liked the most. Over time, he discovered more chords and melodies that led him to write his first song at the age of 11.
“I pestered my parents a lot to get my first guitar.”
Music and Inspiration
Before joining the Legion of Christ, Father Albert was actively involved in prayer groups where he began writing religious songs. Upon entering the novitiate, he wrote his first song as a legionary inspired by the theme of vocation.
He recalls that one of his favorite songs is the one he wrote after visiting the house of Saint Maria Goretti in Italy. After finishing the tour and the explanation given about the martyrdom of the young girl, he was so impacted and moved that he immediately started writing the song titled: L’amore più forte (The Stronger Love).
He also wrote songs inspired by Our Lady of Sorrows and other stories he read about characters and saints that motivated him in his spiritual journey. From these personal encounters with stories, ideas and lyrics would emerge.
Music and Evangelization
Saint John Paul II quoted several times the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky with the phrase: “Beauty will save the world.” With this phrase, Father Albert explains that truth is closely linked to beauty, and it is a fact that one of the ways for people to come to know the truth of our faith is through beauty.
“In the parable of the prodigal son, what first touches us is the beauty of the father’s love for his children.”
Through that beauty, we learn very profound things about God and ourselves. It helps us understand the truths of the faith, not only with our minds but also with our hearts.
In his own experience, he has found a great treasure of songs and church music, from monks and great composers to modern times with very professional productions that lead us to encounter the very truth that is Christ.
He recalls testimonies of people who share how they have come to a real encounter with the Lord through religious music, often with better results than the highest theology courses, because in the end, the beauty of music is what remains in the soul.
Music and Prayer
For Father Albert, listening to or singing a religious song can become a moment of prayer. So much so that, in his new material released on June 1st, he shares his own prayer experience.
In his previous songs, he wrote about stories that impacted him; now he has found inspiration in his dialogues with God and the Blessed Virgin. He has put into songs those words and moments that, throughout his life as a priest, have been guided by the Spirit in personal encounters with Christ.
Father Albert shares that we must not forget that, in a hyperconnected world, with less time for tranquility, in a busy and noisy environment; silence in prayer also plays an important role. He recommends finding moments of silence.
“It is the other part of prayer, where we listen to God.”
And songs can become support for the part of speaking with God from an inspired heart.
Father Albert titles his most recent album “Un momento más” (“One More Moment”), which is the name of a song he wrote while in prayer before the Eucharist. “That’s when I came up with that phrase: ‘Allow me to stay a little longer!’”
The new album contains a series of songs in Spanish and some in English that can help those who listen to them at certain moments during prayer.
There are petition songs, about things everyone needs to ask for every day: Lord, have mercy or Come Holy Spirit, which is never too much to repeat constantly.
Other musical pieces speak about our relationship with Christ. Friendship, love, and marveling at how good the Lord is, saying “I love you” in different ways.
The theme of the cross is also present in this album; the song “Ocean of your love” includes a prayer that Father Albert prays during moments when discouragement, fatigue, or sadness seem to take over.
A whole material for different moments that can help elevate the soul of whoever listens to it.
Starting June 1st, the album “Un momento más” can be listened to on major digital platforms:
