Voices Found: WLWC Second Sunday after Christmas C, VF 51, 54
Voices Found #51
Loving Spirit, loving Spirit,
you have chosen me to be;
you have drawn me to your wonder,
you have set your sign on me.
Like a mother you enfold me,
hold my life within your own,
feed me with your very body,
form me of your flesh and bone.
Like a father you protect me,
teach me the discerning eye,
hoist me up upon your shoulder,
let me see the world from high.
Words: Shirley Erena Murray (1931-2020)
Music: Omni die, melody from Gross Catolisch Gesangbuch, (1631)
Luke 3:21-23 is a lesson for the Second Sunday after Christmas, Year C in the Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church
Now when all the women and men were baptized (by John the Baptist), and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens opened! And the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus bodily, like a dove. And a voice came from the heavens, "You are my Child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. "
Now Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. He was the child of [Mary and]as was thought, of Joseph the child of Heli. Luke 3:21-23, tr. Gafney
Reflection
At baptism the Holy Spirit descended as a dove upon Jesus and named him her Child, the Beloved. In "Loving Spirit," we celebrate that Spirit's power to cleanse and anoint us today. As mothers and fathers we name our own children when we present them for baptism. In Murray's hymn we praise the Spirit who enfolds us as Mother; guards and guides us as Father.
In the 12th century Hildegard of Bingen was the first to sing of the Creatrix, our Mother Creator. While Hildegard is well known for her visions of the the Feminine Divine, we must not forget that she also wrote poignantly of our much needed Great Father, the Guide and Protector.
Antiphon 1 O Magne Pater
O magne Pater,
in magna necesitate sumus.
Nunc igitur obsecramus, obscreamus te per Verbum tuum
per quod nos constituisti
plenos quibus indignemus.
Nunc placent tibi, Pater,
quia te decet,
ut aspicias in nos per auditorium tuum, et non deficiamus,
et ne nomen tuum in nobis obscuretur
et per ipsum nomen tuum dignare nos adiuvare.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
O Father great,
in great necessity we are.
Thus we now beg, we beg of you
according to your Word.
through whom you once
established us
full of all that we lack.
Now may it please you, Father,
as it behooves you--look upon
us
with your kindly aid,
lest we should fail again
and, lost, forget your name.
tr. Nathaniel M. Campbell
International Society of Hildegard of Bingen
A Meditation on the Dove:
Voices Found # 54
Laus tibi spiritus,
(Praise to you Holy Spirit)
O Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
reach through the lattice of your love,
and train us toward the life above.
Laus tibi spiritus.
Words and Music: Mary Louise Bringle after Hildegard of Bingen
Breathing Prayer
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