My Songs

 

My music is truly my prayer life and the musical expression of the inner workings of the Holy Spirit in bringing me closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ in good times and in bad. The verses of my songs almost always reflect the questions, doubts, struggles, and joyful discoveries on the living out of my Faith. The Refrains are the “faith-response” to what has been voiced in the verses. Most often, the Refrain acknowledges from Whom the gift of Faith and Grace comes and offers a heartfelt response of gratitude with a continual recognition of the need for repentance in the seeking after a deeper holiness of life.

 
My Image

This newly released album was a project that began in 1991 and has finally been realized in 2002. The songs are all original material that is more like an overview of prayers that arose in and through real-life experiences and then put to music. The inside cover gives a short introduction to each song and places the lyrics into the setting from which the inspiration came.

 

A Little Bit of Background

The earliest written song at the age of 10 is on this album but the rest of the songs are the diary of an adult faith seeking to understand God’s Will more fully in the midst of all that life throws at us. To hear this music is to allow yourself to feel the joys, sorrows, triumphs, failures, challenges, hopes, doubts, etc., that come into every life. The song-writer moves through those questions and feelings into the passionately sung conviction of faith and total trust in God’s love and providential care. This album is truly a personal diary or journal of prayer that is offered to the honor and glory of God and to His people that it may be a source of inspiration and the deepening of the faith of anyone who listens.

 

Christina grew up in a very musical home and began playing by ear as early as age four and became the Organist/Choir Director of Holy Rosary Church, Miami, at age 14. At Barry University, Miami, she majored in music and theology (B.A. and M.A.) and has been a teacher and musician since 1969 in many schools and churches throughout the U.S. Music continues to be an important part of expressing her spiritual journey. Keyboard, guitar, and all harmony performed by Christina.

 
EACH PURCHASE HELPS WITH PAST EXPENSES AND CONTRIBUTES TOWARD THE DREAM OF A SECOND ALBUM.

You may contact Tina by   e-mail  mailto:tinasylviamaria@bellsouth.net

 

Notes on the Songs

Click on selections that appear in blue to hear the song. All of this music is copyrighted, so please ask my permission if you wish to use the music. Thank you!

1. Under His Wings – July 4, 1989 While on retreat, the prayers that I was saying daily came back in a song with the themes of confession, adoration, surrender to God’s Will, and faith.

2. Angel Dreams – June 30, 1986 I awoke on this morning with the melody so clearly sounding in my head from the dream I had the night before. I believe that in our waking moments of prayer, we can see visions like these also..

3. Only You, Lord, Can Know – August 15, 1992 As a very strong-willed person, this song arose from an inner struggle to surrender control to the Lord in all aspects of my life and peace comes in recognizing that He alone knows my heart and gives me the grace to live in His Will.

4. No Matter What – November 14, 1992 One’s inner prayer life admits the doubt of one’s own strength to cope with life’s difficulties. The verses speak of my own admission that I do not have the answers except in and through faith in my Lord. The refrain invites God to look through all my defenses and see my deep love for Him and my knowledge of His love for me no matter what might happen.

5. Open the Door (Rev. 3:20) – February 24, 1978 I was praying for my youngest sister, Susan and this song was and is for her.

6. What To Say – April 17, 1994 I found myself singing the realization that a faithful prayer life leads to confession, repentance, surrender, and obedience to the Shepherd and King, Who is the only way to really be “OK” in this life.

 

 7. Dedicated To You – June 22, 1986 An honest prayer, asking the Lord for spiritual renewal during one of my soul’s wilderness times; this is a request for the same empowerment and anointing given to the saints, apostles, and prophets with a desire and firm commitment to continue dedicated to Him.

8. Covenant Written On My Soul – August 6, 1987 No one can foresee what crises in life will rise up to challenge our faith. A personal tragedy brought me to my knees and to the piano. There I cried out for assurance of the Lord’s promise that He is with me and to grant me the sign of His promise of hope and love across the storm of my troubled soul.

9. Miracles and Sonshine – October 15, 1981 Working as a teacher in a parochial school, I wrote this song for children as a way to help them be drawn closer to the mystery of the Presence of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion and the grace to live for Him everyday.

10. From My Heart To Yours, O Lord – January 1, 1998 Hindsight is a great gift. In looking back over my life, I can see God’s hand reaching into my trials and infusing His grace into them. Romans 8:28 is a truth that lives deep in my heart and brings out this love-song to my Lord.

11. Thoughts - Spring, 1961 This is my first song written when I was 10 years old. Two children around that age (Yuri and Alyssa Zambryski, my Godchildren) recorded this song that came out from my little heart out of a sense of God’s presence in His creation on a beautiful Spring day in Miami, Florida.

12. Keep Believing – August 25, 1968 Seventeen years old and about to begin college, a whole new world was in front of me. I felt secure in this new adventure because I had known of God’s personal and tender care of me as intimately as that of a devoted mother and father. This song is dedicated to Esmeralda and Henry, my parents, who mirrored that Divine Love through their love and support for me.

13. Hear My Prayer – February 2, 1965 Shortly after the Cuban Freedom Flights, Cubans and Americans with their customs and languages struggled for identity and control as their two cultures collided at my high school. I being fully Cuban but born in America, was rejected by both groups. This prayer-song, while reflecting the isolation and anger I felt, turns to God for consolation.

 

    14. In You, Lord, I Rest – July 14, 1992 Running around so busy with so many seemingly important things to do is a guarantee that our relationships, prayer life, work, etc., will suffer. This is a prayer asking God to grab me and hold me still and long enough to receive His balance in my life.

    15. Two Souls in the Night – May 26, 1987 This song is dedicated to my husband and best friend, Bert. God granted a miracle that year that freed us from a spiritually imprisoning ordeal so that we could more deeply love Him and each other.

    16. Another Crossroad – Spring, 1976 Robert Frost’s “two roads diverged in a yellow wood…and it has made all the difference,” is a quote from his poem that has always inspired me and echoes in the words of this song. We all know times when we stand at a crossroad in life filled with a whirlwind of excitement, fear, and all the emotions that go with stepping out in faith into a new adventure in life.

    17. Reflections – May 10, 1993 A poster with the picture of a Dalmatian puppy reads: “I may not be spotless, but I’m forgiven”, refers to living in the spiritual reality of being both a sinner and a redeemed child of God. Grace gives us the courage to look at “the sinner” and be inspired to learn about and work toward a deeper holiness of life.

    18. Healing and Peace – September 18, 1999 Betrayal by trusted, close and Christian friends is one of the most difficult injuries to bear. Forgiveness is the only path to healing, but a stabbed back and a broken heart take time to mend. Only with God’s help can wholeness be restored.

    19. What I Know – August 27, 1991 The refrain expresses my deepest desire to follow only Jesus Christ and not the voices of misguided social values or of corrupted liberal ethics which seem easier to live by and which offer worldly acceptance.

    20. How To Live – November 16, 1991 St. Paul speaks of the struggle for sanctity in Romans 7. This seems to be a reoccurring theme in my prayer life and music: God’s grace revealing to me the places in my thinking, speaking, and living that need improvement along with the assurance that this same revelation holds the promise of His power to accomplish yet more steps toward a deeper walk with Him.

 

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