Brother Isaiah's New Catholic Album 'Mysteries & Medicines' Surpasses 1 Million Streams Across Platforms
Father Isaiah Marie Hofmann, artistically known as Brother Isaiah, released his new album, "Mysteries and Medicines" in mid-July. The repentance and Eucharist-centered album has since hit over one million streams across various music streaming platforms.
The new upbeat album was a collaborative effort with producer J.J. Wright and friends. Father Isaiah, who was ordained to the priesthood in 2022, wrote the lyrics for the 10-song project. He said his priestly discernment inspired the songs and he considers the album "a total gift."
In an interview with ChurchPOP editor Jacqueline Burkepile, Father Isaiah said he wanted the album to be something listeners could pray with and dance to. Collaborating with Wright and other friends contributed to this effort.
"[It was] the fruit of many voices, the fruit of many ears, and fruit of many hearts," Father Isaiah said. "I noticed that with this project too, the sound developed as more people got involved."
One of Father Isaiah's favorite songs is "Mysteries and Medicines," which he considers the "heart of the album," because "God comes to us in mysteries."
"God comes to us in mysteries–the things we don't understand. Sometimes God comes to us very clearly, but I would say most of the time in life, he comes to us in mysteries," Father Isaiah says. "And what do we do with that?"
"...God also comes in those mysteries bearing medicine. He never allows anything that he's not going to use for our sanctification, for our conversion, for our freedom. And that's a mystery because he uses some wild things," Brother Isaiah continues.
"His Mysteries are always tied up with his medicines and his remedies for our life. And if our eyes are open and we're begging the grace, we can find Him, even in the storm cloud of life's mysteries," Father Isaiah encourages. "He's always working."
Father Isaiah also hopes the album helps encourage listeners to see God in life's difficulties because He "uses everything."
He hopes people "think twice before they write off that big difficulty of their life as absolutely not God's will for them."
"When the difficult circumstances come, or when a situation that looks so far from God comes into our life– disaster, disappointments, crushed dreams, crushed plans– when that comes, I think our first reaction is always, 'God cannot be in this,'" he said.
"I would love to encourage those who find themselves surrounded by his mystery just to keep looking, keep asking, to keep seeking, to keep knocking, and to not give up trying to find him in the midst of the circumstances."