Created especially with Pray As You Go’s global community in mind, the album grew out of a song writing retreat where artists spent several days praying, reflecting, writing and recording together. Alongside the album’s release, Pray As You Go has published a behind-the-scenes documentary giving listeners an insight into the creative process:
Music has been at the heart of Pray As You Go since its launch more than 20 years ago. From its daily reflections to its themed prayer series, carefully chosen music has long helped listeners enter into prayer, creating space for contemplation and encounter with God. Companion Songs continues that tradition by offering original songs written to support prayer beyond the daily meditation.
The collaboration builds on a friendship of almost a decade between Pray As You Go and The Porter’s Gate, whose music explores faith across every aspect of life. During the retreat, each day began with Ignatian prayer and reflection led by Emma Hudson, Director of Pray As You Go, helping to root the song writing in contemplation.
“The beautiful thing about the music of The Porter’s Gate is that it speaks into so many different parts of life,” Hudson says in the documentary. “In Ignatian spirituality, we speak of finding God in all things, and these songs speak into places of work, places of relationships, all kinds of things.”
The artists describe how those times of prayer shaped both the music and their faith. One musician recalls imagining “Jesus in the room” while recording, while another says the guided meditations rekindled a childlike sense of wonder, helping participants enter more deeply into the stories of the Gospel.
For the musicians, the songs are intended not simply to be heard but to become part of people’s own relationship with God. As one participant reflects, “The music that we make, the prayers that we pray, they’re actually not complete on their own, but they will be completed when the people who are listening… complete them themselves in their own experience of prayer.”
Pray As You Go is the Jesuit prayer app and digital ministry of Jesuits in Britain, helping hundreds of thousands of people around the world to pray each day through music, Scripture and reflection in the Ignatian tradition. Earlier this year, the ministry celebrated its 20th anniversary, marking two decades of accompanying a global community in prayer.
