A poetic moment

Dear friends,
The following is something I wrote awhile back. After reading a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, I was struck by the poetry of the words and also their thoughtfulness. About the same time, I was listening to some Gregorian chant and early Renaissance polyphonic music from a music history course I took in college, and thought I would like to try setting a text to music that imitated chant. In Gregorian chant, and similarly in the tradition of Psalm recitation tones used by the Episcopal church, the text is the main focus; the music serves to make the words clearly heard (in the vast acoustics of old cathedrals, this was a necessity) and also to lend them some feeling and variation. I love the beauty of Church Latin, and would have liked to set a Latin text, but my grasp of the language is not strong enough to translate into it and rhyme it to my satisfaction. Also, I wanted to make it immediately accessible to all of you, so I used my skills with the English language to render it as best I was able, though with a hint of Old King James.
This poem is the result of those efforts, and though it may yet be further edited, I feel it is one of my better works and may be worthy of putting here. It is quite simply the prayer of a common Believer who wishes to be reminded of God’s attributes throughout daily life, and who desires to see them revealed in all circumstances. I chose visual imagery that was significant to me, and used those images to illustrate the comparisons or contrasts in each verse. Each verse focuses on a different attribute of God, and the refrain after each is a reminder that it is the Holy Spirit who guides us and reveals these things.
I could not include the music here, for obvious reasons, but perhaps you will hear the text to music of your own if you let the meter and musicality of the language carry you.


Prayer of a Common Saint

Hear this my humble prayer
O Holy Trinity,
I am but a common saint
requesting this of Thee,
that Thou who walked in mortal flesh
and speaks to mortal hearts
who spins our earthly sphere
and numbers all the stars
may grant Thy Spirit to guide
and teach my soul to see,
Thy attributes reveal
however life may be.
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence!

When with the multitudes I seek after Thy face
or in the solitude of some sequestered place,
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence
and teach my spirit of Thy great truths.

When I speak Thy name in prayer and daily lift my plea
or sing aloud Thy praise for all to hear and see,
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence
and teach my spirit of Thy great faithfulness.

When with a contrite heart I pour out all my sins
or weep in shame for all the guilt I hold within,
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence
and teach my spirit of Thy great mercy.

When in great sorrowing I cry aloud Thy name
or suffer silent tears and live with hidden pain,
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence
and teach my spirit of Thy great love.

When turmoil swift descends and shatters precious dreams
or when Thy blessings sweet lead me beside still streams,
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence
and teach my spirit of Thy great peace.

When watched by saints of old from walls of colored glass
or watched by mountains high colored by snow and grass,
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence
and teach my spirit of Thy great timelessness.

When in cathedrals grand I kneel in awe of Thee
or stand so small beside an ancient redwood tree,
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence
and teach my spirit of Thy great glory.

When the wicked are brought low and the righteous freely stand
or the endless sea comes in to crash upon the sand,
Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence
and teach my spirit of Thy great power.

Hear this my prayer O God
whisper to my heart of fear,
No outcast may I be
from Thy presence ever near.

Holy Spirit bless me with Thy presence,
Amen.