Holy women, graceful givers: A prayer for the outcast ministers of God, and those excluded from God's priesthood

 VF 1 Holy woman graceful giver, 

“Magdalene and the other Mary,” track 12

Holy woman, graceful giver, prophet servant and believer,

Woman with the ointment jar,

Rose up near the time appointed broke the seal, Christ’s head annointed

For the coming fatal hour

Like the vessel we are broken; like the ointment we are token

Of God’s loving unto death;

Like the woman we are serving, like the scolders, ill deserving,

Such a rich forgiving faith.

In these jars is hidden treasure, costly fragrance, Christly pleasure,

Like the Christ first from the dead, broken for creation’s wholeness, 

Poured out for its coming fullness,

Prophet servant, hope and head.

Holy woman, costly treasure, with the jar of alabaster, 

Shows the hidden gift we are,

Therefore let us as Christ’s servants hold our sister in remembrance—

Woman with the ointment jar.

Mary Magdalene

Some traditions suggest the  woman  with the ointment jar Mary Magdalene.  Scripture is vague.  In John 20: 1-18 Mary Magdalene is clearly named as one who went to the tomb  with ointments for the body.  She was the first to see the risen Christ who called her by name, and sent her as the first Apostle to the others.

In calling Mary by name Jesus gave her power and credibility as an Apostle of the Word. The other disciples did believe her.  

Reflection

 

The holy woman in this hymn has no name.  She was  a trusted, faithful servant, who attended to the needs of Jesus: cleansing his feet, anointing his head, standing at the Cross, tending to the burial.  There are many nameless women in Scripture: the woman at the well; the woman caught in adultery; the widow with her mite; the woman demanding crumbs of grace, the widow of Zarapeth, among others.  Nameless women have taught us to listen, serve, and heal.

Have you been heard, healed, or served by a nameless woman?  How have you been helped?  How would the experience  have  been different if the woman had had a name? Or if you had known her name?

more credible?  What do you think Mary said to Peter?

About the music and text

This hymn text celebrates women in ministry.  Voices Found offers  an elegant musical setting by Robert A.  M. Ross, music director for my Lady Chapel Singer recording, “Magdalene and the other Mary.” He says “My sound concept when writing this hymn was shaped by the sound of the Bach Passion settings.  It should not be rushed but rather have a certain inexorable 

tread toward an inevitable conclusion, as does the Scripture story upon which this hymn is based.”  The solemnity of the music along with the text is appropriate for Holy Week and for services that celebrate lay or ordained ministry, profession of vows, or lifting up of other ministries of women. Susan Palo Cherwien (1953-2021), a prize winning hymn writer and author,  wrote the text for the 25th anniversary of the ordination of women  in the Lutheran Church of  America

 Listening and reflecting

As you listen to this powerful music  envision a great procession of God’s people: leaders  of many traditions, priests, bishops, pioneers,  women of faith?  Who would be in the procession?  Would the procession include nameless women? Which ones?

Think of healing you have received.  Who held the ointment jar for you?

How have you anointed a loved one?  Who? What would be in the jar today?

Holy Woman, graceful giver is number 1 in Voices Found.  An anthem arrangement is track 12 on the album Magdalene and the other Mary.  Performance suggestions are offered in the Leader's Guide to Voices Found available at www.churchpublishing.org.