Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sr. Renee Mirkes shares comments on her original composition Bread from Heaven. To read about what prayer inspired the music, click here.
Listen to the hymn with a pdf of the lyrics: bread from heaven Click here for the download: bread from heaven
I was inspired by the rich musical texture of polyphonic music from the Middle Ages (think Palestrina) where several independent melodies (poly) are intended to be sung together (phonic) producing a surround sound of whirling vocal lines whose words/melodies all blend beautifully into a scintillating musical unity.
To my mind, polyphonic music is a metaphor for the community life of a Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity. Each Sister lives out her consecration to Jesus in her singular way yet joins her distinctive life and love in harmony with that of every other Sister producing communal life, life in common, life in Christ.
Lacking the genius of a composer like Palestrina who probably heard all the melodies of his magnificent polyphonic motets in his head at once (toute suite), I crafted each melody individually and then tweaked each so it harmonized with every other, measure by measure.
On the recording I sing each of the four melodies alone and then join that melody with the melody/ies following it, so that, after singing the fourth melody (feast on your undivided love, Oh, feast on your undivided love), all four melodies are heard together making for harmonic unity.
I have used this music as a communion meditation during the celebration of the Eucharist that begins every day of Saint Paul VI Institute’s bi-annual educational conference for healthcare providers who are studying the women’s health science of NaProTechnology.
Invitation: Please feel free to use Bread from Heaven for any choir of which you may be a member or in any kind of an appropriate religious service in which you participate.