Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Kira Andrea via phone call on September 3rd, 2025. Some of the questions/answers have been rearranged, edited, and paraphrased to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
Journey of Music and Faith
You’ve had incredible success in the mainstream music world, from America’s Got Talent to TV placements and charting songs. What led you from that path to writing and performing music specifically for the Church?
We lived in Los Angeles for about five years. We started in secular rock bands playing in clubs. We moved back home in 2011/2012 (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio), had our daughter and we were asked to play for the Life Teen Mass at our local parish. I had cantored at Mass since I was 13.
We were also involved as Core Team members for our parish youth group. We started learning more contemporary Christian music and ended up writing our own psalm for each Sunday Mass. Eventually this snowballed and developed into Mercy Divine. We initially meant for this to be a hub for our music – a place to post our original psalms, hymns, and Mass settings. My husband and I had strayed away from our faith for a time, but Our Lady of Fatima and the Divine Mercy devotion led us to experience a powerful reversion.
I had not thought about Mercy Divine as a ministry initially until it started to grow. In 2022, I started the Instagram page for Mercy Divine just hoping to share a little about our music and love for our Catholic faith.
Psalm-Inspired Creativity
You’ve written over 150 songs based on the psalms and hymns. How do you approach setting Scripture to music?
For me the hardest part of writing songs is writing the lyrics. So with the psalms, the text is right there. If the psalm is one of praise or lament, that helps direct me with the tone/melody. Having the text there just makes it so much easier.
We also have written songs based on the hymns and prayers of Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas.
What do you hope people experience when they pray through your songs at Mass?
I hope that our music will help lift their hearts and minds to God. Music is very powerful. And in secular music, often there’s messages in the songs that are leading people away from God.
“Let them see You, not me,” this was a prayer Jim Caviezel prayed during the filming of the Passion of the Christ, and this is the same prayer I pray often regarding my ministry and music. We are just instruments to be used by God. Saint Mother Teresa once said, “I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.” So in all my work I hope my songs point to God and lead others to Him.
Family as Inspiration
Your single “Rain” was inspired by the birth of your daughter. How has parenthood deepened your songwriting and your approach to ministry?
I think it is such a life changing thing to be responsible for another soul, so it absolutely changes everything. It forces you to have to die to self daily. It’s also the greatest blessing! With songwriting, it helps me to be more honest and more real. You barely have any time with parenting, so you have to be more focused when doing the work.
Youth Ministry through Music
Leading music at youth Masses can be both joyful and challenging. What have you learned from working with teens in your parish, and how has it shaped your mission as musicians?
Working with teens was rewarding because we had just come back to our faith and we were on fire. It was a great opportunity to witness to the teens. When my husband and I had a reversion, we felt compelled to share our story. You just want to share the Good News with everyone. With teens it’s so important to let them know they are loved and their identity is in Christ (not in their grades, sports, activities etc). It was amazing to see the teens connect with the music and grow in their relationship with God.
We play for the Novus Ordo, but we try to incorporate more Latin hymns and chants into the Mass. I have noticed the teens being open and desiring more beauty and tradition in the Church (i.e. veiling, stunned by the beauty/reverence). The more traditional the community, the more young people I have noticed at Mass. There’s a sense of gravity at these parishes where reverence is displayed more.
Artistry Meets Liturgy
Coming from the commercial music industry, how do you balance professional artistry with the humility and reverence that liturgical music requires?
I would say that with our music over the years, (starting out in rock bands) we began to see the songs that were getting attention were the ones that had less angsty lyrics and were more positive or uplifting.
Towards our last album, most of our songs had a Catholic message. The Day the Light Went Out was about the Crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus. I think the difference is being open to whatever the Lord is trying to speak through me.
Recently, I wrote a song called “Thy Will Be Done” when my son was very sick in the hospital. It was a scary experience (he had meningitis). I was praying so hard, begging God to save my son during that time, and the song came to life through my prayer. Holiness is answering the call of God. Music is like that when you feel a call and immediately sit down to write, the song can come to you, almost out of nowhere.
Sometimes I am working on a song and nothing is coming to me. And then I stop and pray to God and – there it is! It’s humbling realizing it’s all God. Everything belongs to Him – even the songs I write – or rather the songs He writes through me.
Looking Ahead
You’re working on a new Christian album and debut single. What can listeners expect from this project, and how do you see your music continuing to serve both the Church and the wider world?
Our first release was about Mary. In a general sense, I felt that if I did Christian music it was going to be cheesy or fake. Having spent so many years in secular music, I was used to hiding the faith aspect of my life. So the two pillars of our faith are the Eucharist and Mary. Saint John Bosco had an amazing vision about these two pillars. We started with Mary, and now we are working on songs we wrote about the Eucharist.
We have been recording the new album bit by bit, and a lot of the songs are centered on the Eucharist. I want to share the beauty and power of Jesus’ love in the Eucharist. One of the songs is “Late Have I Loved You” which is based on Saint Augustine’s Confessions. I hope our songs can help people deepen their faith and enter more deeply into the Mass and prayer.
Where can my audience find more about your work?
About Mercy Divine
Mercy Divine is Catholic music to draw you closer to Jesus, His Divine Mercy, Mary, the Angels and saints, and all that is our beautiful faith
