I have had the audacity to write a musical setting for the ordinaries of the Mass. It is a very small kind of composition- a very simple Mass. I was thinking of how little and simple it was- it doesn't even have a Gloria yet, and it can't possibly compare to any of the great works by any of the great composers - why should it ever be sung to God? It is too insignificant, too imperfect, though I like it very much. And I felt sad to have composed a work that would never be sung in its intended place.
But then, I suddenly thought of Christ sitting in the temple near the treasury, and how everyone was giving so many riches, and one little widow quietly placed her two copper coins among all the great gifts of the others. The coins were completely swallowed up by the vastness of the other gifts, but Our Lord saw it still. And He said: 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living.' (Mark 12:41)
My compositions are my little coins. God gave me some little talent, and I want to give it back to Him with love, small though it be. That is why I wanted to call this Mass the "Mass of the Widow's Coins", Missa Nummi Viduae, because although others can give more and greater things, I give the little I have to Him, and hope He is pleased at my attempts.
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