The work was first performed on 9 October 2007 by the composer at Notre Dame in Paris, recorded there and published by Gérard Billaudot [fr].

Ad te clamamus (To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve) is an exclamation, hammering and wild.

Ad te suspiramus (To thee do we send forth our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears) appears dark and relentless.

[5] The composer wrote in his program notes for the US premiere of Christians in "moments of deep faith, joy, doubt, incomprehension, despair, rebellion, hope, bliss and beatitude", expressed in the reflections of the invocation to Mary.

[3] The reviewer of a performance on 7 November in St. Bonifatius, Wiesbaden, interpreted by Gabriel Dessauer, described the work as surprisingly retrospect ("erstaunlich rückwärtsgewandt") and noted that it made the listener feel the complete cosmos of humanity, including the cruelty and violence, from which to be freed the prayer requests ("den gesamten Kosmos des Menschlichen nachempfinden ließ, einschließlich der Grausamkeit und Gewalt, aus der in diesem Gebet um Errettung gebeten wird").