Writing hit songs

What makes a hit song - a "standard" song - that is sung for years? Do you know a hit when you hear it? I think hit songs have at least this quality in common: the lyrics are not contrived. They are straight out of the heart of the writer. They express some yearning of every human heart.

Did you know that Mary of Nazareth, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, was a hit songwriter? She wrote a song that has been sung for almost two thousand years. Granted, she borrowed a little from Hannah, the mother of Samuel the Prophet (1 Samuel 2:1-10). But these are Mary's own words, out of Mary's own heart. Next Sunday, on The Fourth Sunday of Advent, we will use this text at Holy Cross:

Canticle 15
The Song of Mary
Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.



In peace,
Linda+
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Vicar, Holy Cross Church Episcopal
Billings, Montana
406-208-7314
www.holycrosschurchbillings.org
photos:
top: Madonna and Child at
Monastery of the Holy Spirit
Conyers, Georgia - March 2008
lower right:
Statue of Mary near the church
at Mepkin Abbey
Monck's Corner, South Carolina
January 2008