Voices Found

                                                                                  A sculpture  at the Hildegard Abbey in Bingen:  young Hildegard gazing over the Rhine Valley                                                                                  Kyrie   by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179,  is shown  below written in   neumes, the notation, of her time. It  is one of many chants the Abbess wrote for daily services in her monastery.  It is the first liturgical song for the Western  liturgy that we  know was composed by a wo...

                                                Voices Found # 65 Rejoice for martyrs strong, the daughters of your love: the nurses who tended your children  bringing comfort from above. Refrain: Lift up your heart, lift up your voice, rejoice, again I say rejoice, rejoice again, I say rejoice. Rejoice for Constance, nun, a Memphis martyr brave, and Sister Ruth and Sister Clare in service life they gave. Refrain: Lift up your heart, lift up your voice, rejoice, again I say rejoice, rejoice again, I say rejoice. Rejoice for charity! Rejoice for servanthood! Rejoice for saints who show us how to  love and work for good. Refrain: Lift up your heart, lift up your voice, rejoice, again I say rejoice, rejoice again, I say rejoice. Words: Lisa Neufeld Thomas Music:  Mayfair, Frances McCollin (1892-1960) I wrote "Rejoice for Martyrs Str...

                                        Phoebe, sarabethart.com   Voices Found: #21, Verse 5 O God of Phoebe and ministers all May we be joyful in answering your call. Give us the strength of your Spirit so near that we may share in your ministry here. Words: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette Music: Slane In five verses "God of the Women" celebrates seven Biblical women  who answered God's call: Sarah, Hannah, Ruth, Mary, Joanna, Susanna, and Phoebe.  Their names are found  in the following texts:  Genesis 12-23 1 Samuel 1-2 Matthew 28 Mark 14:9 and 16 Luke 8:1-3 and 24 John 20 Acts 1:14, and 2:1-21 and 9:2 Romans 16:1 On September 3 we celebrate Phoebe,  remembered as Mother of Deacons. The Voices Found Committee was delighted to offer Gillette's hymn to highlight Phoebe and other women leaders who are  named throughout the Scriptures.  In the words  ...

                                                                                  Magnificat!   Voices Found  # 152 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in you, O God my savior, for you have looked with favor on your lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: you, the Almighty, have done great things for me, and holy is your name. You have mercy on those who fear you from generation to generation. You have shown the strength of your arm and have scattered the proud in their conceit, Casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly. You have filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. You have come to the help of your servant Isreal, for you have remembered your promise of mercy, Th...

      The Virgin Mary and the other Apostles, Frances Angelico, The National Gallery, London                                                                   Voices Found #4, verse  5 When Mary heard the Lord had risen, Christ's disciples met to pray. Mary was among the faithful, bound in love on Jesus' Way. God, we see her, Christ's disciple, loving, learning, serving, too. Like her, may we hear and answer, "We, your servants, live for you." Words: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette  Music: EcceDeus, Alfred V. Fedak  "The Ballad of Mary,"  sings of  the Virgin's life from  Annunciation through Eastertide in five verses.  In  the last verse, which I highlight today, we sing of her continuing presence after the Resurrection praying with the disciples, calmly awaiting the Spirit. ...