Tuning our Spirit to the Music of Heaven

The life of St. Brendan the Navigator is instructive as we begin the season of Advent. St. Brendan is known for undertaking a seven-year-long journey across the sea to find “the place of his resurrection.” The following prayer, attributed to him, could help guide us through our Advent journey:

Help me to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways
and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know
that my times, even now, are in Your hand.
Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,
and somehow, make my obedience count for You. 

During Advent, those of us who pray at the Mount have the opportunity to tune our spirits to the music of heaven with beautiful songs and chants. For example, at evening prayer on Saturday, the vigil of the first Sunday of Advent, we carried four candles in solemn procession from the four corners of the chapel and placed them in our Advent wreath as we sang, “Lord, let us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.” Our four-week-long Advent journey of stillness and prayer, repentance and waiting, has begun. At its conclusion we shall celebrate with renewed wonder the marvel of seeing God’s face in a manger in Bethlehem, the starting point of our onward journey with Jesus to the place of our resurrection.