Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity highlight Ireland’s Vox Hiberniae who contemplate the history of the Irish Church through the lives of the Saints with Harp, Voice and Strings.
(For subtitles for Irish texts, click the Subtitles/[CC] box onscreen) 00:00 Skellig (Loreena McKennitt) 05:23 St. Patrick’s Breastplate (John O’Keeffe) 07:37 Colmcille the Scribe (Seamus Heaney) 08:28 A Bhríd, a Mhuire na nGael/ Brigid, Mary of the Gael (Mary MacDonnell) 10:43 The Prayer of Brendan the Navigator 11:25 Iomann Bhréanainn Naofa/Hymn of St. Brendan (Traditional) 13:33 An Raibh tú ar an gCarraig?/Were you at the Rock? (Traditional) 16:14 Ó Raghallaigh’s Grave (Traditional – arr. Ronan McDonagh) 19:55 A Rí na Glóire/King of Glory (Traditional) 23:18 Ps 91: I Will Proclaim Your Love in the Morning (Ronan McDonagh) For Ronan McDonagh’s music visit https://www.fuaimlaoi.com For Loreena McKennitt’s music visit https://loreena-mckennitt-shop.myshop… VOX HIBERNIAE: Teresa O’Donnell (Harp) Naomi Dunleavy-O’Shea (Violin) Kerrie O’Connor (Voice) Camera: Maria Henderson Sound: Jon Henderson Location: Carmelite Monastery of St. Joseph, Kilmacud, Dublin, Ireland
About Vox Hiberniae
Vox Hiberniae draw on a variety of composers and genres to reflect musically on the shaping of the Irish Church by the saints, men and women who established Christianity in Ireland, who gave their lives for their faith or who in more recent times inspire us by their lived example. They are joined by the Carmelite community of sisters from the Monastery of St Joseph in Kilmacud who intersperse the musical pieces with readings drawing us into the story of Christianity in Ireland. Loreena McKennitt’s Skellig draws us into the Kilmacud Carmelite monastery where the Carmelite sisters have committed to a life of prayer, contemplation and solitude sought out by previous generations in places such as Skellig Michael. Ireland’s three Patrons are represented by John O Keeffe’s setting of St. Patrick’s Breastplate, Seamus Heaney’s translation of Colmcille the Scribe and Mary MacDonnell’s homage to St Brigid in a Bhríd, a Mhuire na nGael. A text in honour of St Brendan the navigator by Bishop Diarmaid Ó Súilleabháin and Canon Pádraig Ó Fiannachta set to a Scottish air is included, often sung in the parish of an Clóchan at the foot of Mount Brandon. An Raibh tú ar an gCarraig and Ó Raghallaigh’s Grave reflect the sacrifice of St Oliver Plunkett and the Irish Martyrs canonised at the start of this century. The traditional, chant-like A Rí na Glóire honours the tradition of all these saints and the continuation of their legacy embodied today in the monastic life of Carmelite community of Kilmacud. We conclude with Ronan McDonagh’s setting of Psalm 91 as St Charles of Mount Argus’ admiration of the psalms of King David reminds us that our prayer of the psalms is an unbroken thread back to St Patrick.
“Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.” – St. Patrick
Photo: All Saints, Brudenell Road, Tooting – Stained glass window by John Salmon, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
