Recordings » Bride Spirit (1999)
Title: Bride Spirit: Songs of the Beloved
Artist: Kathleen Deignan, Anima Schola
Year: 1999
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Musician(s): Claudia Chapman, Ed Legutko, Gina Sader-Rubenstein, Gregory Hauck, Greta Sibley, Kathleen Deignan, Marion Najamy, Mary Anne McFadden, Paul Avgerinos, Sandra Rivera
This collection celebrates the Bride Spirit sung in a variety of voices and musical idioms. The sweet lyricism of Celtic prayers from the Carmina Gadelica alternates with the smoldering passion of Teresa of Avila’s prayer, pulsing to fiery rhythms of flamenco. The wise insight of Thomas Merton is sung in contemporary chant. The spirit of the Bride is evoked in the intimate whispers of the Hebrew psalmist, in the love song of the Canticle of Canticles, and in the comic wedding theme of the Book of Revelation. This collection draws from the depths of the Christian mystical tradition and from Sister Kathleen’s own poetry to create an album of haunting contemplative depth, enriched by stellar array of voices and the musical artistry of Paul Avgerinos this collection of sacred love songs celebrates the bridal soul and echoes the eternal invitation of the Spirit and the Bride: “Come to the banquet of deep communion, come to the feast of life.” -Kathleen Deignan, CND
| # |
Track |
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| 01. |
Oblation |
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| 02. |
Season of Glad Song |
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| 03. |
I Am Thine |
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| 04. |
Nada |
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| 05. |
Song of the Beloved |
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| 06. |
Soul Afire |
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| 07. |
Queen's Song |
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| 08. |
The Spirit and the Bride |
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| 09. |
Sophia is Gift |
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| 10. |
Ave Maria |
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Adapted from a prayer in the Carmina Gadelica III 44-45
vocals: Deignan, Sibley; guitar: Deignan; percussion: Najamy; keyboards: Avgerinos
I am giving thee worship with my whole living,
I am giving thee consent with my whole willing.
O God of all gods, I am giving Thee my soul.
I am giving thee praise with my whole singing,
I am giving thee honor with my whole saying.
O God of all gods, I am giving Thee my soul.
I am giving thee love with my whole emotion,
I am giving thee kneeling with my whole devotion.
O God of all gods, I am giving Thee my soul.
I am giving thee affection with my whole sensation,
I am giving thee my existence with my whole intention.
O God of all gods I am giving Thee my soul.
Inspired by a fragment of the Songs of Songs.
vocals: Deignan, Sibley; Guitar: Sibley; keyboards: Avgerinos
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 our risen Lord.
Let us begin now the soul’s jubilation, our union with the source of love,
Embodied by him who has given his flesh: Jesus our risen Lord.
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 our risen Lord.
Let us return to that garden of promise, our homeland for which we all yearn,
Drawn by that mercy who whispers our name: Jesus our risen Lord.
Adapted from a prayer of Alistair Maclean, Carmina Gadelica
vocals: Deignan, Hauck, Legutko, Mc Fadden, Sader-Rubenstein; Sibley; percussion: Najamy and Sader-Rubenstein;
recorder: Chapman; keyboards: Avgerinos
Tho’ the days be laden and my tasks seem tall, an my heart be weary and my strength feel small,
A song keeps singing in my heart for I known that I am Thine.
I am part of Thee; Thou art kin to me. And all my times and all my cares,
and all my desires are in Thy hand. And I know that I am Thine.
I am serene because I know that Thou lovest me. Because Thou lovest me,
naught can move me from the peace in which Thou holds me. And I know that I am Thine.
I am serene because I know that Thou lovest me. Because Thou lovest me,
Thou hast blest me and all goodness comes unto me. And I know that I am Thine.
Teresa of Avila’s Bookmark – c 1582
vocal: Deignan; guitar and keyboards: Avgerinos; percussion: Najamy; flamenco footwork and castanets: Rivera
Let nothing disturb thee, let nothing affright thee.
Nada te turbe, nada te spante,
All things are passing, God alone abides.
Todo se pasa, Dios no se muda,
Patient endurance attaineth to all things.
La paciencia, todo la alacanza;
Who God possesses nothing shall want.
Quine a Dios tiene nada le falta.
God alone is everything, God alone suffieths.
Solo Dios basta. Solo Dios basta.
Psalm 104 adapted from a translation of Huub Oosterhuis *
vocal: Deignan; keyboards: Avgerinos
As long as I am I will sing to you, a song to my God, while I live.
I hope that this song will bring joy to you, I’m happy myself with You, Lord.
I want to call you by your name O God, as truly as I live.
My Lord and my God you are great indeed clothed with your splendor and your majesty.
O blessed, blessed be the Holy One, all through the world, let our praises ring.
I want to call you by your name, O God, The Holy One, as truly as I live.
traditional Gaelic aire; text: Deignan
vocal: Deignan; keyboards: Avgerinos
Soul afire in God’s presence, heart that smolders in God’s flame,
Life transforming in the yearning, hearing whispered a new name:
“Be you peace, now, be you mercy, be my love and care for earth.”
So the Spirit in God’s wisdom brings us to the second birth.
Tho’ we suffer into healing, tho’ we die to live anew,
Yet our soul and spirit prosper ever seeking what is true.
In our blindness we have vision, in our weakness power shown;
By the way of contradiction is God’s deepest wisdom known.
Through the dark night of the spirit, through the nights of flesh and soul,
We are taken into mystery, and our brokenness made whole.
In the knowing of unknowing shall the mind be filled with light;
Thus illumined and unfettered we behold with deeper sight.
Feast of joy and feast of pleasure, banquet of the bridal heart-
In the rapture of communion she will learn the Lover’s Art.
Herald now the sweet espousals; let the wedding anthem start:
She will marry every creature in the One Beloved’s heart.
Inspired by a prayer from the Carmina Gadelica, to Annie’s tune
vocal: Deignan; keyboards: Avgerinos
Queen of the angels and Queen of the heavens, Queen of the galaxy, Queen of the earth;
Queen of the Milky Way, Queen of the Blessing Way, Queen of the Pollen Way, Queen of rebirth.
O shining Mother of gentleness and holiness, O radiant emblem of justice and of peace,
O living mirror reflecting back our human face veiled in the radiance of beauty born of grace.
Maiden of sweetness and maiden of faithfulness, maiden of watchfulness, wakefulness, light;
Mother all grieving and Mother lamenting, Mother consoling, restoring our sight.
Star of the morning, star of the watching, star of the ocean, star of the day;
Womb of salvation and our liberation, channel of healing, our guide on the way.
Body of fruitfulness, body of welcomness, body most sensuous, flesh of delight;
Lady of eros, and Lady of pathos, Lady of mythos, illumine our sight.
Woman of history and woman of mystery, woman of destiny loving our race;
You are our mirror and you are our mentor, you are our midwife, O icon of grace.
Fantasy on the wedding invitation from the epilogue of the Book of Revelation
vocals: Deignan, Mc Fadden, Sibley; Percussion: Najamy, Sader-Rubenstein; Recorder: Chapman
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!
Adapted from an excerpt of the poem Hagia Sophia by Thomas Merton, from Collected Poems, by Thomas Merton: Copyright c 1963 by The Trustees of the Merton Legacy Trust. Used by permission of The Merton Legacy Trust and New directions Publishing Corporation.
vocals: Deignan, Sibley; percussion: Najamy
Sophia is Gift, is Spirit, Donum Dei. *
God-given, God’s own self as Gift, Donum Dei.
God as all and God reduced to Nothing.
Exinanivit semitipsum.**
* Gift of God
** He emptied himself
Inspired by a prayer from the Carmina Gadelica, for Cait Deignan
vocals: Deignan, McFadden, Sibley, Hauck; Guitar: Deignan; Percussion: Najamy, Sader-Rubenstein; keyboards: Avgerinos
You are the fruit of the royal vineyard; you are the fruit of the boundless sea.
O longed for guest of the Visitation, come bless our homeland with your peace.
O garden of virtues, O mansion of gladness, Mother of sadness and clemency,
We sing our prayer to thee: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum benedicta tu.
You are the love song of all lovers; you are the garden of delight.
You are the fullness of earth’s desire; you are the radiance in the night.
O vessel of fullness, O chalice of wisdom, wellspring of health for all humankind,
Caress our heart and mind: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu.
You are the clear light of the heavens; you are the moonshine of the skies.
You wear a crown studded with the starlight; you are the radiance in our eyes.
O river of mercy, o wellspring of justice, fountain of grace, which renews ours, lives,
Come live with us: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus.
