Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity invite you to arise this Easter with two hope-filled hymns: Deep River, an African-American spiritual and Mary Lou Williams’ Our Father. May the blessings of Christ’s Resurrection be yours now and always!
Deep River
Deep river,
My home is over Jordan.
Deep river, Lord.
I want to cross over into campground.
Deep River,
My home is over Jordan.
Deep river, Lord,
I want to cross over into campground.
Oh, don’t you want to go,
To the Gospel feast;
That Promised Land,
Where all is peace?
Oh, deep river, Lord,
I want to cross over into campground.
The song was first mentioned in print in 1876, when it was published in the first edition of The Story of the Jubilee Singers: With Their Songs, by J. B. T. Marsh. By 1917, when [Harry T. Burleigh] completed the last of his several influential arrangements, the song had become very popular in recitals. It has been called “perhaps the best known and best-loved spiritual.”
Our Father by Mary Lou Williams
Our Father…thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven…
During these days of uncertainty and suffering and fear, we can surely hearken back to the feelings and realities of those first followers of Jesus during the days surrounding his Passion. This rendition of the timeless words of Jesus brings with it a known history of suffering and enslavement. This voice surely communicates a deep knowledge of hardship and injustice. This was and is the voice with which Jesus spoke and speaks. And yet, there is Easter, there is joy, there is hope knowing that we have a home waiting for us in heaven. – Sister Kathleen Murphy, OSF
Mary Lou Williams was a faith-filled Catholic with a musical talent that was ageless.
