Recordings » A Garden Once Again (2010)

Text from The Lauds of Jacopone da Todi; tune Kathleen Deignan, CND (5.21.80)

The Earth and all the plants that grow
The trees and all the fruits they show
The very beasts my yoke that know
All in my homestead I unite.

The running waters lakes and seas
And all the fishes swimming free
The birds in windy air that be
These are the stuff of my delight.

Since to God’s will my spirit clings
I am possessor of all things.
So many feathers have my wings;
To heaven it is an easy flight.

Text and tune: Kathleen Deignan, CND (11.27.88)

O come to us, Sophia,
Wisdom of the depths of God.

We move into the darkness of winter
Beholding the vault of the velvet night,
Gaze at the stars, wait for the moon
To reveal the face of Sophia.

We wait in the barren forest
Where birdsong is hushed the creatures all stilled,
Wrapped in the silence, holding our breath
To attend the voice of Sophia.

We prepare the space for the new life
In the womb of the soul the depths of the heart,
Conceived in desire, nurtured in hope
We await the birth of Sophia.

We become the midwives of wisdom
Conspiring long to bring her forth;
In tears do we labor, in joy do we bear
And give praise for the gift of Sophia.

We rise in the dawning of Springtime
Beholding the dome of the radiant light
Welcome the rains, rejoice in the life
That reveals the face of Sophia.

We’re drawn to the blossoming garden
Where birdsong is sung, the Creatures rejoice.
Wrapped in the music, waking our hearts,
We attend the voice of Sophia.

We become the husbands of Wisdom
Fostering every sprout and seed
Pruning desire, nurturing hope
We sustain the growth of Sophia.

We prepare for the harvest of Wisdom
At green summer’s close and deep in the fall
Gleaning the vision, gathering the dream,
We shall reap the fruits of Sophia.


We learn the way of the wise ones
By walking the path of compassion and trust.
With prophets and sages and mystics and Christ
We become the soul of Sophia.

Text and tune: Kathleen Deignan CND (5.19.80)

O Daystar, rising in our hearts,
Bring us the light of the living God.

O morning dew, O mist divine,
Fresh from the hand of God,
Anoint our souls with your sweet grace,
and cause our thirsty spirit grow.

Sweet fragrance, which from earth does rise
Up to the clouds of heaven,
Enchant us with the scent of life
That we might breathe our praises too.

Creation song sung from field and city,
Chorus of love unending,
Be now this day our spirit’s power
To turn disharmony to praise.

Text based on Isaiah 52; tune Kathleen Deignan, CND (11.9.72)

For Stephen Rivers

How beautiful upon the mountain
Are the ones who bear the good news
Of peace and liberation,
And tell all the Earth: your God shall reign.

Listen, your sentinels raise their voices;
They shout for joy as one,
For they see Mercy face to face
As God returns to live with us.

Break into shouts of joy together
You ruins of Jerusalem.
For our God is consoling us,
Redeeming us again.

And Mercy’s strength is now revealed
In the sight of all the nations,
And all the ends of the earth shall see
The salvation of our God.

Text and tune Kathleen Deignan, CND (6.4.75)
Based on St. Patrick’s Lorica 433 AD at Tara

Morning! Wakened unto the heaven’s might
Brightness of fire, the Sun’s own light.
O it’s morning, and I arise.

Morning! Forces of flesh and spirit best
Render the soul and senses blest.
O it’s morning, and I arise.

Morning! Christ be about me, Christ within;
Christ be above me, Christ before and behind me
When I arise.

Text and tune Kathleen Deignan, CND based on Psalm 19 (8.22.79)

Sweeter than honey, more precious than gold,
The Word of the One is our joy.

The law of the One is perfection
And new life for the soul;
The decree of the One is most sue
And the simple grow wise.

The precepts of the One are all righteous,
Rejoicing the heart,
The command of the One is most clear,
Enlightening the eye.

The fear of the One is most pure,
Enduring forever;
The judgments of the One only truth
And all of them just.

Text and tune Kathleen Deignan, CND (11.12.83)

Loving source of all being,
Fruitful womb of all the living,
Show to us one more season of mercy.

Let us sense your compassion
For the creatures you have fashioned
With tenderness and with love.

Let us feel your great anguish
For the people who languish
In poverty and despair.

Put our hands to your labor
In the service of our neighbor
Whom you commit to our care.

Let us sense your deep wisdom
In the beauty that has come from
The depths of your mystic word.

Text and tune Kathleen Deignan, CND (11.22.73)
Inspired by the Comet Kohoutek; based on The First Letter of John

O shine on the world
Like bright burning stars,
You’re offering it
The word of life.

Let us live in God’s presence,
The source of light,
For to be with God
Is to be with one another.

O the night is over
And the real light is come,
But the one who hates another
Is still in darkness.

O Maker of Lights,
For you is this song;
From your loving heart


Comes every good thing.

Text: traditional Celtic Blessing; tune: Kathleen Deignan, CND (6.3.75)

O Thou who clothes the lilies
And feeds the birds of the sky,
Who leads the lambs to pasture
And the hart to the waterside,
Who multiplies loaves and fishes
And changes water to wine,
O come and share our table
As guest and giver to dine.

Amen, Amen, Amen.

Text and tune: Kathleen Deignan CND (5.4.74)

The season of glad song has come
And the flowers appear on the hillside,
The blossoming vines breathe their sweetness
And the Earth is a garden once again.

Creator, you bring us to Eden again,
Led by your spirit of Wisdom.
We long for the fruit of the new tree of life:
Jesus, Earth’s Immortal One.

O let us all praise him who looked like a gardener,
One sunrise that made us all free
When Magdalene sought him in flowers and tears:
Jesus, Earth’s Immortal One.

O let us return to that garden of promise,
Our homeland, for which we all yearn:
Drawn by that mercy that whispers our name:
Jesus, Earth’s Immortal One.

This is the springtime of God’s holy people,
Coming to life once again.
Let us all dance now and sing to the praise of
Jesus, Earth’s Immortal One.

O let us all praise God, the source of our loving
Who calls us to the wedding feast,
Invited by him who has given his heart:
Jesus, Earth’s Immortal One.

Text and tune: Kathleen Deignan, CND 5.2.89
For Father Thomas Berry

To the Gardener of the World be praise,
Blessing, honor and glory, Alleluia.

Greener of Earth,
Tender of trees of the fields and the grass.
Keeper of Forests,
Woodlands and wide-open plains: we attend.

Radiance on Waters,
Flowing in river and lake and the stream.
Caster of Currents
Running ‘neath oceans and seas: we attend.

Loom of Vitality
Vesting our earth in it blue breathing veil.
Weaver of Webs,
Latticing snowflakes and roots: we attend.

Text and tune Kathleen Deignan, CND 10.31.87
Chant of Dependent Co-Arising; A Song of Interbeing

The bird is in the air
The fish is in the water
The worm is in the earth
The moth is in the fire.

All things breathing
All things seething
All things teething
All things a’grieving

The fish is in the air
The worm is in the water
The moth is in the earth
The bird is in the fire.

All things flying
All things crying
All things sighing
All things a’dying

The worm is in the air
The moth is in the water
The bird is in the earth
The fish is in the fire.

All things gliding
All things guiding
All things hiding
All things abiding.

The moth is in the air
The bird is in the water
The fish is in the earth
The worm is in the fire.

All things finning
All things singing
All things winging
All things digging.

The worm is in the fish
The air is in the water
The moth is in the bird
The earth is in the fire.

All things tweeting
All things bleating
All things eating
All things a’fleeting.

The bird is in the fish
The earth is in the water
The worm is in the moth
The air is in the fire.

All things mooing
All things chewing
All things cooing
All things a’stewing

The air is in the earth
The worm is in bird, and
The moth is in the fish
The water’s in the fire.

All things leaping
All things creeping
All things sleeping
All things a’weeping

WHEN THEY PASS THROUGH THIS ARID VALLEY
THEY CHANGE IT TO A PLACE OF RUNNING SPRINGS

O LORD HOW I LOVE YOUR DWELLING PLACE
HOW MY HEART LONGS AND PINES TO BE NEAR YOU
EVEN THE TINY SPARROW FINDS A HOME WITH YOU THERE
AND THE SWALLOW NESTS HER YOUNG IN YOUR ALTARS
O HOW HAPPY ARE THEY WHO LIVE IN YOUR SIGHT
HOW THEY NEVER CEASE TO SING AND PRAISE YOU
HAPPY THE ONES WHO FIND THEIR STRENGTH IN YOU
THE PILGRIMS WHOM YOU LEAD TO THE HEIGHTS

THE VALLEY OF THE WEEPER IS UTTERLY CHANGED
WHEN YOUR PEOPLE FILL IT WITH YOUR PRAISES
LIKE EARLY RAINS THAT COME DOWN UPON THE EARTH
AND CLOTHED IT WITH YOUR GRACE AND YOUR JOY

Text and tune Kathleen Deignan, CND
For Father Thomas Berry 1980s

From the shores of heaven we have come
Unto our precious earthly home,
Where we are of the garden born.
All praise the Mystery who made us!

Flames of the fire-ball, dust of the stars,
The cosmic heat still searing our hearts
As we open to love and labor to live
In the memory of sacred communion.

Deep as the darkest space, brilliant as suns,
This life we bear holds wisdom that runs
Thru the secrets at rest in the depths of our souls
In the memory of sacred communion.

Wonder of greater things, radiance of small,
The one living thread is woven thru all
And the garment of splendor is wrapped round the source
Of our memory in sacred communion.

Text: adapted from traditional Gaelic Blessing;
Tune: Kathleen Deignan, CND 1.7.72

Peace I give to you my friend,
My peace is my gift to you.
Not as the world gives peace, my friend,
Is the peace I bequeath to you.

Peace of the quiet Earth to you,
The peace of the flowing air,
The peace of the dancing waves to you,
The peace of the shining star.

The peace of the sun of peace to you,
The peace of the sun of peace.
For peace is my gift to you, my friend,
My peace I bequeath to you.

Pax vobiscum.

Text and tune: Kathleen Deignan, CND 7.21.71
Inspired by Matthew 6:25-34

O look to the lilies of the field, see the birds of the air,
And in this know our Creator’s love, in this see God’s care.

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or wear,
For life is more than food and clothes: no the secret is not there.

Look at the birds of the air, they do not reap or sow,
But the One who creates will feed them well –
And we’re just as precious, you know.

See how the wildflowers grow: they do not spin or weave.
Yet not even royals are arrayed like these:
Just open your eyes and believe!

So seek first the realm of the Living One, and live only for today.
Then everything else will be given to you,
For that’s the Mystery’s holy way.

So sing God your praise, like the sparrows do,
And dance like flowers in a breeze,
And learn from them to be children of God
Who loves us even more than these.

Text and tune Kathleen Deignan, CND 6.24.74
Based on Job 38:7

Let all the morning stars sing together and all God’s creatures shout for joy,
The sun is risen now, alleluia! Alleluia for the day!

You’ve commanded the morning since day was begun
And cause the dawn to know its place.
You’ve entered into the life of the world:
Your loving care makes all things new.

Yours are the oceans, the skies and the earth;
Yours are the days and the seasons.
Yours is our waking and breathing and being:
Your loving care makes all things new.

Bless now we pray you the work of this day,
Our labors for you in this world.
Give us your spirit and vision to see:
Your loving care makes all things new.

Text and tune: Kathleen Deignan, CND 1996
For Bride, my Mother
Fantasy on the wedding invitation from the epilogue of the Book of Revelation

The Spirit and the Bride say “Come.”
Let all who hear their voices say “Come.”
Come to the wedding of Earth and Heaven –
Come to the Feast of Life.

Earth marries air, air marries fire, and fire marries the sea,
In the great consummation of all creation with the body of divinity.

Sun weds the moon, moon weds the stars, the stars wed the dark fields of empty space.

And all forms of being are bathed in the love light, the rapturous glow of the Hidden Face.

We are the fruit of God’s seed, sown in the womb of all becoming.
Our original face is the beauty and grace of the divine Beloved.

The great house is teeming with guests; there’s room for all at the feast.
Enrobed in our garments of jubilation, our wonder has no cease.

All beings partake of the feast; all taste of the bread of this communion;
So join in the dance, move in the trance of this ecstatic union.

Welcome – well, come! Welcome – well, come!

Text and tune Kathleen Deignan, CND 6.13.85

Star for which the world is waiting,
Christ, the bearer of God’s light,
Rises in the mystic heavens,
Setting ablaze the soul’s dark night.

Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine.
Et in terra pax hominibus
Bonae voluntatis.

Text: Based on the Easter Proclamation; tune Kathleen Deignan, CND 3.26.86

Exult all creation:
Jesus Christ is risen!

Rejoice O heavenly powers
Choirs of angels sing.
Sound aloud the trumpet,
The risen one is king.

Rejoice, O Earth, in splendor,
Radiant in the son.
Christ becomes our glory -
Darkness is undone.

Christ has paid our ransom,
His blood has set us free.
This is our paschal feasting,
Our night of liberty.

This is the night when Christians
Break through the bonds of sin,
So as to grow in new life
Into a holy kin.

This is the night when Jesus rose
Shining from the dead.
Begin the marriage banquet now
Heaven to earth is wed.

O happy fault of Adam
For which redemption’s won.
What wondrous love, O Father,
To give away your son.

Receive your church’s offering,
Our sacrifice of praise
And may this Easter candle
Turn darkness into day.