| Cathleen Falsani

A DUBLIN EVENSONG

This afternoon, my second to last in Ireland, I attended a Choral Evensong service at Dublin’s Church of Ireland cathedral, Christ Church. The church, first built in 1038 by Sitric Silkenbeard, the Viking king of Dublin, is the oldest in the city (though St. Patrick’s cathedral nearby is supposedly the oldest Christian site in all of Ireland, built on the site where St. Patrick is said to have baptized his first converts in the 5th century).

The service was sung by the cathedral’s famed choir as well as its cathedral girl’s choir and their voices were transcendently gorgeous.

What a treat to sit and reflect on the words of God and on the blessings of God’s creation in the voices of the choir.

But for me, the best part of the service was during communal prayer when the vicar prayed for all us sinners, for peace, and then offered a beautiful prayer for artists — those who are vessels for, who transmit, who reflect back God’s beauty to others in pictures, music, song, and words. As I knelt on the unbelievably cold, hard tiles of the cathedral floor (ouch — how do those pilgrims who climb mountains on their knees do it?!) I was incredibly grateful to be lifted in prayer as I strike out as a writer of books, a weaver of words, a pilgrim with a pen (OK, a laptop.)

I think the vicar’s prayer was extemporaneous as it wasn’t printed in the program, but the one below reminds me of it. So I offer it for all of you.

Grace and stuff,
God Girl

A Prayer for Artists

Bless the creators, O God of creation,
who by their gifts make the world
a more joyful and beautiful realm.
Through their labors
they teach us to see more clearly
the truth around us.
In their inspiration
they call forth wonder and awe
in our own living.
In their hope and vision
they remind us
that life is holy.
Bless all who create in your image,
O God of creation.
Pour your Spirit upon them
that their hearts may sing
and their works be fulfilling.
Amen.