Music Monday: What a Marian Hymn taught a Latter-day Saint

November 18, 2019

Music Monday: What a Marian Hymn taught a Latter-day Saint

"Maria. Maria."

So begins one of the famous pieces by one of the "holy minimalist" composers, Polish Henryk Gorecki.

And so it ends:

"Maria. Maria. Maria. Maria."

The piece's name is Totus Tuus: "Totally yours." A devotion based off ancient Polish chant, this piece was written in commemoration of Pope John Paul II's third pilgrimage to his native Poland, and has as its title the Pope's apostolic motto:

Totus tuus(1): "Totally Yours."

I am not Catholic by any stretch of the imagination. I do not believe basic Catholic concepts such as Trinitarianism nor do I feel any veneration of Mary. And yet, I found this piece affected me deeply. Those first two phrases, "Maria! Maria!" Sung with such a heartfelt outpouring of passion enthralled me the moment I encountered this piece.

What could a Marian hymn dedicated to an entirely differing theological perspective offer me, a Latter-day Saint?

We, my friends, are a human race too divided. Catholic, Latter-day Saint, such divisions matter, and perhaps more than necessary. Certainly, our concepts of who our God is and what He desires are markedly different, and that is essential to understanding the distinctions in our cultural worldviews; and yet, are we not more the same than we are different? Two faith communities forging by shadowed moonlight a path, across the face of a darkened, sorrowful Earth, the same conditions facing everyone, Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist and atheist and those who are coming and going from each tradition. Do we not face the abyss together, with quarter-knowledge of what the abyss is? Do we not all who can conceive of faith possess bodies, and must by experience learn their operation and non-operation, their comings and goings of feeling, their perception and non-perception? How then, truly, are we different? Communities of rich distinction facing the abyss together, sometimes not so gently going into that good night.

O then, what excuse do I have, if I were to clean-cut away the words of another human being who is presumably making best-practice according to her perspective and knowledge?

So. Mary. What glittering branch of inspiration could a Marian hymn so far removed from my own theological background offer me, in my own deep faith?

The meaning of Totus Tuus, and contextual Catholic veneration of Mary from which it derives, is explained by Friar Billy Swan this way(2):

"'Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt…I am totally yours and all that I have is yours.' With these words, St. Louis not only expresses his love for Mary but his desire to belong completely to God like her and with her. Louis believed that this Marian spirituality of 'Totus tuus…totally yours' is “the most perfect of all devotions” because 'it conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ' (St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to Mary)."

This outpouring of devotion resonates. I have made sacrifices to stay true to what I believe, out of love for the being I call God.

Friar Swan continues: "In the spiritual life, our greatest desire is precisely the same: to give everything we have with all the love we have to God, out of love for him. What God asks of us is expressed beautifully and simply in his Word: 'My child, give me your heart' (Proverbs 23:26). Not some of your heart. All of it. In the Gospels, we are told that the Apostles 'left everything' and followed him (cf. Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:11). In order to follow Christ, they did not leave some things but everything."

So Mary, the symbol of totus tuus, the embodiment of sacrificial love and devotion, carries meaning for me, in my own life.

I do not venerate the Virgin Mary, and nor do I plan to. But I take inspiration from the words of those who do, because they have a common meaning that applies across both our worlds: love and devotion given the Being we call Lord.

Thus it is with wisdom. Friar Swan goes on to quote from Shaw. In this last meeting of General Conference, Uchtdorf made a parable from the text of Lord of the Rings. I have found inspiration from sources that diverge widely, from modern science to modern art, from ancient plainchant to video game soundtracks, from the Righteous Among Nations to the words of the Buddha, from ancestors and from the abundant giving displayed by neighbors, friends and mentors who span the entire spectrum of humanity: differing races, cultures, faiths, sexual orientations, levels of ability or station in life.

In the words of Joseph Smith(3):

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” —Articles of Faith 1:13

And in the words of modern church leader Dieter F. Uchtdorf(4):

"Isn’t it a remarkable feeling to belong to a Church that embraces truth—no matter the source—and teaches that there is much more to come, that God “will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God”? As a result, we are humble about the truth we have. We understand our knowledge is a work in progress, that the leaf we have before us is simply one microscopic snapshot—part of an infinitely vast forest of fascinating knowledge."

Those who wish to make meaning in this shadowed world must realize that every spark matters, every ember counts, every flame can ignite a fire, and every speck of warmth can comfort and bless.

Ave, maris stella.