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| Image by Ian Capper |
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A GREETING
I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit.
(Psalm 77:6)
A READING
My beloved speaks and says to me:
‘Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away;
for now the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away.
(Songs 2:10-13)
MUSIC
Sung in Irish, the lyrics in English are found below.
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength.
(Isaiah 42:1)
A SONG LYRIC
I will find Solace
A short while
Amongst my people
On a sea island
Walking the stone beach
Morning and evening
From Monday to Saturday
In the west at home
I will find solace
A short while
Amongst my people
From heart sorrow
From mind worry
From joyless loneliness
From hurtful talk
In the west at home
- "Faoiseamh a Gheobhadsa (I Will Find Solace),"
poem written by Máirtín Ó Direáin, adapted and sung in today's music
by Zoë Conway and John Mc Intyre.
VERSE OF THE DAY
Restore us to yourself, O God, that we may be restored.
(Lamentations 5:21a)
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The festival of Beltane comes in the late spring, situated in the Celtic wheel of the year on May 1st, halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It represents the most fertile time of the year, when new seeds and buds are flowering and first coming to the fullness of life. Today’s reading from Songs captures the spirit of this season, when new life is no longer fragile as in the early days of spring but now ready to be fertile and abundant. The tree associated with Beltane is the oak, one of the sturdiest and strongest of trees, with the capacity for great endurance. Beltane is the season in which we can see or imagine the fruitfulness of creation at its most promising. It is when we make bold plans and truly believe we can realize them.
Beltane is aslo associated in the Catholic Celtic traditions with the ‘month of Mary.’ As the mother of Jesus, she helps to bring about new creation. Mary is sometimes referred to as the “greenest branch,” an image first coined by the twelfth-century mystic Hildegard of Bingen. Beltane is a time of ‘greening,’ of renewal and dreaming.
It was at this time of year that the earliest Celtic monks voyaged out to be in new places and establish new communities of faith. The many islands that populate the coastal regions of Ireland, Scotland and Wales became landing places for these journeys and where some of the earliest communities grew. Bardsey Island, off the coast of northwest Wales was one such destination. It attracted those Christians who had been persecuted in northern Europe; it became an oasis. Eventually, it developed a cultural identity of being a holy place to die and be laid to rest. It is now called the island of “20,000 saints,” for this reason.
In today’s music, Zoë Conway and John Mc Intyre sing a song based on a poem by Irish poet Máirtín Ó Direáin that dreams of a place where the soul can be at peace and at rest. The poet (and the singer) imagine “solace,” on a “sea island” that feels like home. The song reminds us that when we are feeling ‘out of season’ with our lives, praying with nature is a good way to restore us to who we are.
Although right now we are at the furthest point on the calendar away from Beltane, where do you find ‘solace’ in your Advent journey? How much can you rest in the stillness and beauty of nature, as a way of untying the knots of busyness that distracts us from God’s presence?
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| Image by Eric Delcroix |
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LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. Thank you and peace be with you!