By Joe Pisani

​Sister Maire Close has been making music since she was 14, first with her tin whistle and accordion in her brother’s band in Northern Ireland … and recently by giving praise and glory to God with her guitar and singing.

​A member of Koinonia John the Baptist, she has six albums in English and Spanish available on Spotify; her music can also be found on YouTube, including her latest releases, “He Has Risen” in English and “El Sembrador” in Spanish.

​“Through my music, I want people to have a similar experience to me of the presence of Jesus in their life,” she says. “I want them to open themselves to the Lord and to prayer so they can step into a divine experience that will produce something new in their lives. Everybody is looking for something better in life, and there’s nothing greater than an encounter with the Lord.”

​One of the first members of Koinonia at Our Lady of Good Counsel Chapel in Bridgeport, Sister has been working in Brooklyn for the past ten months. 

​She is a singer-songwriter. You might say Jesus in her co-writer, but she’d be quick to point out, “Jesus does the writing.” You see, her music and lyrics come to her during prayer and flow from the Spirit.

​“I don’t sit down and decide to write a song,” she says. “When I’m praying, the Lord begins to speak and gives me melodies and words.” During those periods, she keeps her Bible and guitar nearby — not to mention her cellphone so she can record what the Lord inspires her to write.

​“People can feel the presence of the Lord in the music because the divine power is manifested whenever I sing,” she says. “All the credit goes to Jesus. He has given me a gift to play music and to sing — and thank God because I never really was a singer. It’s like a river that goes out from me to touch people with physical manifestations of God’s power as well as spiritual manifestations.”

​On one occasion, she was praying with the Book of the Ezekiel. “As I prayed, I had this powerful experience of the glory of the Lord,” and she told Jesus, ‘Everything I do comes from you’ but I want to write you a song.’” The result was “You Are Beautiful,” which she says is the only song she, herself, has written. 

​From 8-years-old, she knew she was called to music.

​“My sister and I had a picture of Mary Queen of Heaven in our bedroom, with angels holding her white mantle in the back,” she recalls. “In front were six little angels playing musical instruments. I remember looking at this picture and pointing to the little angels and saying to Mary, ‘I don’t want to be one of those behind you. I want to be one of them in the front.’”

​Years later, when she lived in Los Angeles, a woman from Venezuela told Sister the Lord would use her to heal hearts. 

​“I knew the Lord was doing something,” she recalled, “because people were starting to tell me about the effect my singing had on them during healing Masses.” 

​Many people cry as she sings, and Sister says, “The Lord is healing them.”

​Others have told her, “When you are there with your guitar, I hear choirs singing with you.” 

​Twelve years ago, she was in the garden on a beautiful autumn afternoon.

​“While I was praying, I looked up to the heavens, and I heard a man behind me say, ‘You have received the anointing of the Fifth Choir of Angels.’” She looked over her shoulder, but there was no one there; however, she knew this was a message from the Lord.

​“I said, ‘Lord, what is the anointing? What is the Fifth Choir of Angels?’” she recalled. “Of course, the Lord didn’t answer because he doesn’t answer our prayers immediately.”

​After some research, she learned the Fifth Choir is the Virtues, known for miracles and grace, along with courage and strength.

​“The Virtues manifest God’s power on Earth, and when I sing, people are healed because this is a manifestation of the glory of the Lord,” she said. 

​In one case, a woman seriously injured in a car accident was healed by the song “Fill Me Up.” She told Sister: “As soon as I heard that song, I kept playing it and playing it because I could feel the presence of the Lord bringing me physical healing.”

​Sister’s label Koinonic Sonic offers “inspiring encounters and powerful prayer through divinely inspired worship music.” Her discography includes “For His Glory,” “Y Mas Ahora,” and “In the Current.” Her latest albums were produced by Enrique Naranjo, a member of Koinonia in Mexico, who has received awards for his work.

​She recently asked the Lord to give her music appealing to young people, and her new album contains a song titled “Bright Morning Star Maranatha” sung by Vanessa Berry, a young woman with Koinonia in Minnesota.

​“The youth need to be brought to an encounter with Jesus,” Sister says. “So I want to give them a language they understand and a melody that catches their hearts.”

​For more information about Sister Maire’s music, visit https://linktr.ee/koinonicsonic

or go to her YouTube channel Koinonicsonic.