A Voice of Flowing Light
Voices Found # 56
God of flowing light, gleaming golden ray,
wheeling host at night, dazzling sun by day
Refrain:
guide us to the joy of your heart's romance.
Lead us as we join your lilting dance.
God of flowing streams, moist distilling dew
source of greening dreams, life made fresh and new
Refrain
God of flowing flame, fierce refiners fire,
burning to reclaim passion's pure desire.
Refrain
God of flowing breath, living wind that frees
soaring over death, pulsing spirit's breeze:
Refrain
God of Flowing grace, holy love imparts
to your arms' embrace, raptured yielding hearts:
Refrain
Words: Mary Louise Bringle (after Mechtild von Magdeburg, ca. 1210 -ca. 1282)
Music: CCW Sparks; arr. Robert A. M/ Ross
About a century after Hildegard of Bingen was singing and preaching in the Rhineland, Mechtilde von Magdeburg began writing her revelations of God in Magdeburg, a city in central Germany on the Elbe River. She proclaimed her visions of Divine Light in in a book titled Das Fliessende Licht Der Gottheit or The Flowing Light of Divinity. Unlike Hildegard, whose treatises were were written in Latin, Mechtilde wrote in Low German. She is the first mystic to write in the vernacular instead of Latin, then the proper language of the Church. Perhaps her use of the familiar language is why she was self-described as an "unruly woman." She demonstrated that her native tongue was best for prayer, as Jesus used the common language in teaching disciples how to pray. Mechtilde's pioneering use of the German vernacular helped prepare the way for other reformers: Julian of Norwich (b. 1342) who wrote in early English, Martin Luther (1483-1546) who translated Scripture and liturgy into German, and Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) who translated the Book of Common Prayer into English.
Mechtilde is celebrated as a mystic in the Episcopal Church on, May 28. She is honored as a mystic in other communions on different dates. While there is no surviving musical notation for her poetic texts it is thought that her words were sung with improvised melodies. Whether they were sung in her time or not, they have inspired many later composers to create musical settings. "God of flowing light, "by Mary Louise Bringle is a powerful example which highlights Mechtilde's understanding of God as the Source of Light
Meditation:
In Year B, the Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church designates Genesis 1:1-5, Proper 1, to begin the season after Pentecost. This translation of Scripture uses contemporary English for accuracy and accessibility. Thus we hear: God made Light.
Genesis 1:1-5
When beginning he, God, created the heavens and the earth, earth was shapeless and formless and bleakness covered the face of the deep, while the spirit of God, she, fluttered over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; so God separated the light from the bleakness. Then God called the light Day, and the bleakness God called Night. And there was evening and morning, day one. ( tr. Gafney)
Reflection:
Celtic Morning Prayer
Voices Found # 27
I will kindle my fire in the morn of the day,
in the presence of holy angels.
Without malice or jealousy, envy or fear,
without terror of anyone under the sun,
but the Holy Beloved to shield me.
O Holy One, kindle thou here in my heart,
a flame of pure love for my neighbor,
to my foe, to my friend, to my kindred all,
to the brave, to the knave, to the thrall.
O child of the loveliest Mary,
from the lowliest thing, to the Holy Name, the beloved of all.
(Knave: unprincipled, crafty person. Thrall: one who is in bondage)
For more information about Celtic Morning Prayer see my blog post "Morning Song."
Words: Carmina Gadelica, alt.
Music: Mary Truly Ermey
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