Canticles

Jewish Canticles

Canticles from the Jewish scriptures in the prayers represent important moments of sacred history. Moses sings a victory song from Exodus 13 after crossing the Red Sea ( Saturday Morning, week 1). In his prayer from Deuteronomy 32 (Saturday Morning, week 2) he prepares his people for entering the promised land.
King David in his canticle from 1 Chronicles 29 (Monday Morning, week 1) recognizes God as king and father of his people, and promises to serve the. One who is the source of all power and dominion.

Many of the canticles, from the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habbakkuk, the Book of Tobit and the Book of Daniel, come from times the Jewish people faced exile or were in exile, yet they still maintained their faith and trust in God.

Jeremiah weeps over a desolate land after Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians (Friday Morning, 3) (Jer. 3 10-14. 14 17-21). The same prophet proclaims a return to the “garden land” God promised his people. (Thursday Morning, 1)

“In the land of my exile, I praise him, and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation,” blind Tobit says ( Tuesday Morning, 1). In the fiery furnace of Babylon, the three young men still find God in creation and praise him (Sunday Morning 1, Sunday Morning 2, Tuesday Morning, 4).

Exile is more than an historical reality; it’s found in human life in many forms– alienation, loss, shattered expectations among them.

Canticles of Isaiah

Canticles from Isaiah appear 10 mornings in the 4 week cycle, 5 from Isaiah 1-40, 5 from Pseudo-Isaiah from the time of exile in Babylon (Isaiah 41-66).
God is Savior, present even in a land of exile, Isaiah proclaims. He promises his people, all people, a future kingdom, a homecoming.
Isaiah’s universal call to salvation, found especially in its later chapters, made it the most frequently quoted book in the New Testament after the book of psalms. It’s often called “the 5th Gospel.”

Isaiah announces the mission of John the Baptist (Matthew 3,3). Jesus read a passage of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth to introduce his mission. (Luke 4: 17-19) It was an important source for preachers like Paul. It still invites us to hope in a promised future.

Canticles of Judith & Hannah

The canticles of Judith and Hannah are prayers of women from an earlier time who resemble Mary, the mother of Jesus. Judith was victorious over an army. Nothing is impossible for God, she tells us. Repeatedly the Book of Judith says that God accomplished great things, “at the hand of a woman.” (Monday Morning, 1).
Childless, looked down on, Hannah trusted God would give her a child. She became the mother of Samuel, who began the period of judges and kings that changed the course of Jewish history. “God raises the needy from the dust, from the ash heap he lifts up the poor. To seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage.” (Wednesday Morning, 2)

Drawn from the Jewish and Christian scriptures, the psalms, canticles, readings and prayers for beginning and end of the day are a basic school of biblical prayer pointing to the plan God revealed in the mystery of Christ. They offer a steady way to study the scriptures and the many literary forms found in them. They lead us into a world bigger than ourselves and a vision beyond what our minds can create.

Prayed day by day—the ordinary way we learn—morning and evening prayer can attune our minds and hearts to appreciate the treasures of wisdom and knowledge found in the Word of God.