What Chloe Really Means To Me
The following is a very personal story. A couple of people in the CW Forum family have heard it already, but most have not. I've been meaning to post it for some time, and I finally found enough inspiration to do so when I promised DonP that I would tell him the real reason why Chloe is so special to me. This story has nothing to do with music. It has everything to do with caring.
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After I had experienced the euphoria of finding Chloe's music, I wanted to learn more about her, as she was now my very favorite singer. A few web searches finally uncovered the Celtic Woman website, which had biographies of the ladies. I began to read Chloe's biography.
Now I must cast back some years. Some nine years ago, during my first year of teaching, one of my students, named Derek, improved incredibly under my direction. As his last class session ended, I walked near him as he was getting out of his chair to leave. He extended his hand to me and said, "Mr. Taylor, you changed my life." I just stopped and said "No, Derek. You did, but I'm glad I was there to see it." He gave me the most satisfied smile that I have ever seen.
That evening, though, the enormity of it began to strike me. I sat at the edge of my bed and cried. I couldn't help it. I felt like I was a part of something much bigger than myself; it was the most spiritual moment of my life. In a personal sense, I felt that any and all failures and failings in my life had been vindicated. In the months and years to come I told many people about what had he had said to me, but no one seemed to see it in the same light as I did. After a while I began to believe no one else in this entire world ever could.
Over the years I often thought about Derek, especially when I wondered why I was going to the trouble of staying in the teaching profession when there were other things that I could do. Each time that I recalled that day, a tear came into my eye, and I felt humbled, and knew that this was a more than worthy path to follow.
So, as I read the last paragraph of Chloe's biography, it was mentioned that she received many letters from childen, including one girl who had experienced a difficult childhood but had been inspired by Chloe's music to join the choir. The girl's mother had written to say that Chloe had changed her daughter's life. When I read this, I stopped reading, and forgot for the moment about Chloe and thought of Derek, so many years earlier, and those words he had told me. And as I remembered, a tear again rolled down my cheek. I thought to myself, "I know what it means to make such a difference, and I guess Chloe does too." Then I looked back again at the last two sentences of Chloe's biography, which I will never forget as long as I live: "That’s when the hard work and blood, sweat and tears don’t matter. When you know that you’ve done that for one person’s life, it brings you to tears."
As I read it, I wiped the tears from my own eyes and said aloud "Her, too!" I couldn't believe it, I literally stared at my computer monitor for several seconds. Not only had she experienced the same situation as I had, but she had had the exact same reaction as I had. I had always known that many other people have changed the lives of others, but I had begun to believe that I was the only one who had ever been personally humbled by it - I had believed that I was the only one who viewed it as more than just 'all in a day's work.' Now I knew that at least one other person in this world had felt exactly the same as I had. That night, Chloe Agnew ceased to be just my favorite singer; she became the one celebrity in this world that I might someday care to meet, someone who is a real human being, someone who really is, deep down inside, just like me.
Thank you for indulging me, and allowing me to bare a part of my soul.
Translation For "Panis Angelicus" Sung By Chloe
With impending release of the Christmas CD - and with "Panis Angelicus" on it - I wanted to know exactly what the lyrics for that song were, in English, as I had never heard the song at all until I heard it on Chloe's CD "Walking In the Air." Since I didn't see a translation in any posts on here, I was ready to pull out my old Latin Grammar Book, which I hadn't used in decades, when I decided to check at Wikipedia first. Here are the lyrics, in Latin and in English.
IN LATIN:
Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
Dat panis caelicus
figuris terminum:
O res mirabilis!
manducat Dominum
Pauper, servus, et humilis.
Te trina Deitas
unaque poscimus:
Sic nos tu visita,
sicut te colimus;
Per tuas semitas
duc nos quo tendimus,
Ad lucem quam inhabitas.
Amen.
IN ENGLISH:
Bread of Angels,
become the bread of men;
The Bread of heaven
ends all prefigurations:
What wonder!
who consumes the Lord
but a poor and humble servant.
We beg of You,
God, One in Three
that you visit us,
as we worship You.
By your ways,
lead us who seek
the light in which You dwell.
Amen.
They also had a short history of the song at the link below.
www.wikipedia.com/Panis_Angelicus
Translation For "Sigma" Sung By Chloe
The following is a translation of "Sigma". A big thank you to Alanna and one of her friends for providing this to us.
I search for the sign
That will set my soul free
My heart must be pure
So that I can find peace
My grief cannot last forever
My love will be fulfilled
I pray a sign will help me
Be all that I can be
I search for the sign
That will set my soul free
My soul must be pure
So that I can find peace
The wind is your voice
The rain is your tears
You burning heart
And spirit is my salvation
I search for the sign
That sets my soul free
My heart must be pure
So that I can find peace
The wind is your voice
The rain is your tears
You burning heart
And spirit set me free
Set me free...