And hold you in the palm of His hand
November 8, 2020 9:27 AM   Subscribe

The victory speech that President-Elect Joe Biden gave yesterday evening contained a poignant moment as he was ending when he recalled the hymn "On Eagle's Wings." a song that was important to his family and that was sung at his son Beau's funeral. Biden quoted the hymn's chorus: And He will raise you up on eagles' wings/ Bear you on the breath of dawn/ Make you to shine like the sun/ And hold you in the palm of His hand Biden is the second Catholic to be elected to the American presidency (after JFK) and "On Eagle's Wings" is widely considered a "Catholic hymn." In 2017, the Jesuit-published America magazine took a look at “'On Eagle’s Wings': The simple origin of the song that makes the world cry."

Drawing its lyrics primarily from Psalm 91 the song was written by the Rev. J. Michael Joncas, a Catholic priest from Minnesota, in the late 1970s . Father Joncas wrote the song in 1976 upon learning of the death of a friend's father and the hymn was performed at the funeral services. The hymn became a Catholic musical standard after North American Liturgical Resources, included it in Glory & Praise, its widely-used post-Vatican II hymnal. Its status solidified when, Oregon Catholic Press, one of the largest hymnal and worship aid publishers, acquired NALR in 1987.

"On Eagles Wings" was the top vote-getter in a survey of "Songs That Make a Difference" published by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians in 2006 (pdf). (Ironically, it was only third in a poll conducted around the same time by The Catholic Spirit, the newspaper of Father Joncas' home diocese.)

The popularity of “On Eagle’s Wings" has expanded beyond Catholic circles. For example, many became familiar when it was included in a nationally-televised memorial for the victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing. It has been embraced in Baptist circles and notable non-Catholics who had it performed at their funerals include businessman/politician H. Ross Perot. Broadway/West-End legend Michael Crawford widened its appeal by including it in his concerts. Pop singer Lana Del Rey, who was raised as a Catholic, released a video of her singing its chorus on her Instagram account shortly after Biden's victory speech. The hymn became a trending item on Twitter last evening as users recognized the hymn being quoted and they starting posting about the significance of a hymn sung at the funeral of family members and friends.
posted by Ranucci (40 comments total) 26 users marked this as a favorite
 
This sudden appearance of the hymn has song virused several current and ex Catholics I know.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:29 AM on November 8, 2020 [10 favorites]


They’ve updated the America article to include the Biden speech and a response from the composer:

“ Father Michael Joncas, the hymn's composer, told America: "To quote the President-elect, 'I was honored and humbled' to hear him quote 'On Eagle’s Wings' as he set out his initial vision for the country. I pray that the song can serve in some way to help the healing of our nation."
posted by corb at 10:05 AM on November 8, 2020 [10 favorites]


My mom's Catholic, and a big chunk of my childhood was attending Sunday mass every week where she was the music minister, and some degree of family participation in singing and playing hymns—mom playing campfire guitar, my dad's a bassist, my oldest sister would trade off cantoring and harmonizing with Mom. Eventually I ended up doing some singing and guitar as well though by that point more as a familial support thing as my atheism found its feet and I started growing into Dad's Judaism. By the time I was in my late teens and good enough a guitarist and singer to really help my mom out, it was often just the two of us and more of a doing my mom a favor thing than the "obviously you're expected to be there" vibe of early childhood. Strange throughline of growing up. Main energy to it was that doing something musical beats being bored stiff in a pew.

The stuff in the OCP hymnal was a pretty mixed bag in terms of song quality even as liturgical tunes go—I remember liking How Good You Are God vs. Yahweh Is My Shepard Now because it was my first real introduction to counterpoint—but On Eagles Wings was one of the reliable hits. Great chorus, big dynamics, and Mom and my cantor sister nailing the harmonies on it really had that goosebump energy when they were on.

I haven't thought about the song in years, maybe literal plural decades now. Hearing it come up in Biden's speech was a strange bolt out of the blue, suddenly remembering a vague amalgam of childhood Masses, the reverberation of my mom's voice in the old stone Portland church we attended when I was in grade school. I don't like the reflexive Christian notes played in US political speeches, so it was a pretty complicated set of feelings last night being brought back around to early liturgical memories like that, but I texted my mom to let her know it made me think of her and singing, and she texted back to say likewise.
posted by cortex at 10:07 AM on November 8, 2020 [10 favorites]


Yeah, I haven't been Catholic for *checks watch* the better part of two decades? And On Eagles Wings still slaps.
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 10:08 AM on November 8, 2020 [11 favorites]


My grandmother had me sing this at my grandfather's funeral. Thank you so much for this information.
posted by amtho at 10:13 AM on November 8, 2020 [2 favorites]


I was a music minister at several church for the better part of 20 years. On Eagles Wings was one of my favorite.

It was played at my mom's and maternal grandma's funeral (possibly my paternal grandparents too).

It came on Spotify just the other day at work and I almost broke out in tears.

I never knew Michael Joncas was a priest.
posted by kathrynm at 10:33 AM on November 8, 2020 [2 favorites]


Nice to have a small-c christian President again.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:41 AM on November 8, 2020 [8 favorites]


I cannot even imagine creating something to help a friend deal with loss and then have the President-elect quote it almost fifty years later to calm a tumultuous country. This week has been a week of easy tears, but reading Fr. Joncas's simple response was enough to make me start reaching for tissues.
posted by gwydapllew at 11:39 AM on November 8, 2020 [6 favorites]


Mod note: Comment removed - we're not saying everyone has to love the song but if all you have is drive-by snark maybe give this thread a pass?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:39 PM on November 8, 2020 [7 favorites]


I was raised Catholic and still go to Mass with my dad whenever I go visit him, and always feel a sense of happiness when they bring this song out. It really is a lovely sentiment.
posted by taterpie at 1:09 PM on November 8, 2020


I grew up Catholic in St Paul in the 70s & 80s, and at the time I had no idea how many of the "hey these are pretty good songs -- even for church music" songs were quite new.

Like, Roc O'Connor was our pastor for a while, who also wrote some popular liturgical songs, and it took a long time for me to put two and two together: until then he was just the hippy-ish priest with a good beard.

In retrospect we were in the middle of a big burst of real creativity, but you don't give much thought to the byline on the recessional at age nine when you just want to get home and take off the uncomfortable shoes.
posted by wenestvedt at 2:24 PM on November 8, 2020 [3 favorites]


I have been to enough Catholic funerals -- for family, friends' family, as a classmate's pall-bearer, for neighbors -- that certain liturgical songs have kind of been ruined for me now.

This one is, sadly, at the top of that list.

And it's too bad because it's a really good song with strong images and a good tune and everyone can sing it. But man, my tear ducts automatically go to ready mode when I hear it.
posted by wenestvedt at 2:28 PM on November 8, 2020 [1 favorite]


I grew up in a place without many Catholics, but a lot of Baptists, and always thought of it it as a Baptist hymn. Knowing the story of it is interesting!
posted by hydropsyche at 3:53 PM on November 8, 2020


Another lapsed Catholic here. Like MANY others, even though it was a Sunday regular, On Eagle's Wings is such a funeral song for me that I can't hear it without feeling sad. And I had no idea that I'm actually older than the hymn!
posted by kimberussell at 3:54 PM on November 8, 2020 [2 favorites]


On Eagle’s Wings was, for me, kind of overdone growing up as a Minnesota Catholic kid in the ‘90s, sort of in the same way that Canon in D is objectively a beautiful melody but years of weddings and junior high orchestra concerts can dull your ear to it. We were also a Saturday evening Mass family which meant we got the B squad cantor at our church and her warbly renditions of this hymn did the song no favors. Both of my grandmas had it at their funerals but for years I associated it with Eagle Scout award ceremonies (several cousins and friends earned the award), which were often held in churches and of course this song was always featured. I always preferred “Gather Us In” (also written by a Minnesotan!) which almost has a sea shanty tune to it and it’s easy to sing with a quick tempo so the congregation can really belt it out. This is probably more than I’ve thought about Catholic hymns in decades but count me in as someone who appreciates this song more now that Biden quoted it, and I had no idea it was Catholic ! I swore we stole this one from the Protestants.
posted by castlebravo at 4:10 PM on November 8, 2020 [5 favorites]


I was raised Catholic, in a very Catholic city, in the 80s and 90s--12 years of Catholic school, mass every Sunday, etc. I still feel conflicted about the church and its influence on my life over the years. Obviously, if I'm a reader here, I've found a lot of fault in the church's views and actions over the years, but on the other hand, I feel that the archdiocesan schools did a good job encouraging me to live with an open mind and a concern for the less fortunate. We were exposed to a lot of right wing ideas in school, and at the same time, we were placed into contact with people from The Catholic Worker Movement who sought help caring for the less fortunate of our community. Students, their families, and staff (as much as I could tell) were a pretty even split between left and right, probably with a few more on the left than the right. Religion class in the early years could be straight up indoctrination, but as we got older the focus shifted--one year in high school was spent learning extensively about the beliefs of other religions of the world, and not in a "this is why they're wrong" context. Most of the high school level classes were dialogue-based, and encouraged personal interpretation and reflection on religious themes.

What I remember about these people and the community around them is that, even though they'd built an entire religious school system that rivalled the size of the public school system, they lived their faith quietly, mostly privately, and with respect to the modern world and the secular institutions around them. Evolution was undisputed scientific fact. Genesis didn't literally happen. We had mass in school now and then, and we'd have dances where nobody batted an eye if the kids wanted to blast Metallica. We got drunk and high on the weekends, and when we got caught, we'd get grounded for a few days. This all felt normal.

I still remember the first time I encountered campus Christian organizations after I moved out of this town and into a part of the state where Catholicism was not the dominant form of Christianity. These people were pushy about getting you to come to their church and they wanted to know everything they could about your personal beliefs about religion so they could tear them down and replace them with their own. Telling them you were raised Catholic was a big mistake, as they'd never leave you alone after that. They had creepy fucking lame-ass Christian versions of every form of media that they consumed exclusively. Christian rock. Christian movies. Christian inspirational fiction. I quickly learned that when you went to see live music, the person with the most punk or metal or emo-looking clothing, hair, piercings and tattoos was there to try to get you to come to their next church group meeting. I remember thinking, "Why can't these Jesus fuckos believe what they want and just leave me the fuck alone?" I think of these people every time I'm reminded of the overwhelming Christian support for Donald Trump in this country.

So, it really hit me hard when Joe quoted On Eagles Wings last night. First, it reminded me of every funeral I'd ever gone to as a kid. But then, I saw a guy that would have fit in like a great uncle at any of those funerals, or at a family wedding, birthday party, whatever. And damnit, it felt good.
posted by TrialByMedia at 5:23 PM on November 8, 2020 [14 favorites]


"I never knew Michael Joncas was a priest."

And a Notre Dame grad! It's always so weird when MetaFilter has a liturgy post, since that was my masters' degree and typically I only get to nerd out with a very tiny group of nerds about liturgy. It's nice but also a little freaky when you guys, my larger nerd family, pay attention to my hyperspecific area of nerdery.

"I swore we stole this one from the Protestants"

Honestly, the English-language Protestant hymnal is objectively better than the English-language Catholic hymnal (all those Charles Wesley bangers!), so it was a fair assumption.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:22 PM on November 8, 2020 [7 favorites]


I am pretty sure the local TV station used to use that hymn to close out their broadcast day, just before the test pattern came on.
posted by caddis at 6:39 PM on November 8, 2020


Just discovered that @EaglesWingsBot, a Twitter account that retweets all mentions of “On Eagles Wings” exists and has nearly 200 followers.
posted by Ranucci at 8:42 PM on November 8, 2020 [1 favorite]


my tear ducts automatically go to ready mode when I hear it.

Same here.

I was at a funeral yesterday, and just seeing on the program made me tear up. And then hearing it read last night got me.
posted by jgirl at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2020 [1 favorite]


"On Eagles Wings" is ok, but the best Catholic hymn is "Peace Prayer", and anyone who doesn't think so can fight me.
posted by Reverend John at 5:55 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]


Rev., I think you maaaaay have misunderstood this....
posted by wenestvedt at 6:29 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]


TrialByMedia, the Catholic Workers were/are amazing.

And yeah, your description sounds a lot like my Catholic education. I was taught by hippies at a college Montessori school, a Kindergarten teacher who dropped out to be a state legislator, three years with the Sisters of the Convent of the Visitation, three years of public schools, an all-boys private Catholic middle school (attached to an all-boys catholic military school!), a Catholic high school (Brothers of the Christian Schools and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet), then two years of secular college and two years at a Jesuit college -- with tons of lay teachers along the way.

As you said, a blend of right- and left-leaning, but more toward the liberal and loving. I wish more self-described Christians in this country could live their values so well as did the people who educated me.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:38 AM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I haven't been Catholic for *checks watch* the better part of two decades? And On Eagles Wings still slaps.

1000% this. By 5th grade our family was not practicing at all, but I still went to Catholic grammar school, high school, and college. So the '60s and '70s Catholic songbook is deep in there. Every time I go to a funeral or a wedding the first thing I do is scan the music. When you search out the songs on YouTube it's mostly parish cantors and youth choruses.

A good singer-songwriter type with a guitar would clean up if they made an album of coffeehouse-style covers of the Catholic hymnal "greatest hits" (like this Denison Witmer cover of the "Prayer of St. Francis"). "Be Not Afraid," "Though the Mountains May Fall," "One Bread, One Body," "Gift of Finest Wheat," "Here I am, Lord," "Gather Us In". Even the Wednesday-morning-stations-of-the-cross staple "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord" still gets me.

Every '80s Catholic school kid would know every word.
posted by AgentRocket at 7:45 AM on November 9, 2020 [8 favorites]


On Eagle's Wings
Michael Joncas
You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord
Who abide in His shadow for life
Say to the Lord, "My refuge, my rock in whom I trust!"
And He will raise you up on eagles' wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand
The snare of the fowler will never capture you
And famine will bring you no fear
Under His wings your refuge, His faithfulness your shield
And He will raise you up on eagles' wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand
You need not fear the terror of the night
Nor the arrow that flies by day
Though thousands fall about you, near you it shall not come
And He will raise you up on eagles' wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand
For to His angels He's given a command
To guard you in all of your ways
Upon their hands they will bear you up
Lest you dash your foot against a stone
And He will raise you up on eagles' wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand
And hold you, hold you in the palm of His hand
posted by Oyéah at 8:49 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]


I'm struck by the differences, you know? If a Prime Minister was elected to Canada and they placed this much emphasis on faith in their acceptance speech, I'd find it troubling. In the context of the past 4 years in US politics, Biden's speech does strike a presidential note. It's the presence of a religious god in US politics that I find striking.. While it's a relief to have the one personality dispatched from office and we can hope that things can't possibly get worse moving forward, it's also less than ideal to have this emphasis on g/God. And I say this as a weekly church-goer.. The older I get, the less I can make sense of the heavily gendered pronouns, the focus on a Lord and His Son, etc.
posted by elkevelvet at 9:39 AM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]


this remains one of the few catholic hymns from my childhood that i occasionally listen to--the other being dan schutte's "here i am, lord". i had thought the third was also catholic, but it turns out it was lutheran instead: marty haugen's "gather us in"
posted by i used to be someone else at 9:52 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]


elkevelvet: In the context of the past 4 years in US politics, Biden's speech does strike a presidential note.

In professing his faith Biden has admitted there is a higher power than himself; the notion would never cross Trump's mind. It demonstrates humility, another facility which Trump entirely lacks.

*shrug* Religious faith (or even just religious practice) certainly isn't a requirement for office, but to me it indicates a mindset of looking beyond one's own wants. Of course there are other ways that candidates can demonstrate this -- e.g., public service, explicit philosophy, or clear policy planks.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:29 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]


Oof...this song caused my mom to break out into ugly, UGLY tears at mass every time they played it for YEARS. I guess it was played at my grandfather's funeral. Seeing my Catholic school chums happily reminiscing on it on FB this past week has brought back some "fun" memories.
posted by medeine at 10:42 AM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]


It's the presence of a religious god in US politics that I find striking.. While it's a relief to have the one personality dispatched from office and we can hope that things can't possibly get worse moving forward, it's also less than ideal to have this emphasis on g/God.

I think when balanced against his other words which is that he would work to be a president for everyone, I feel it's okay. I am a (Jewish) non-believer, but after knowing Biden for a lot of his political career, it's clear (to me) that while he is a man of faith and that is an important part of his life, he also acknowledges that there are a lot of different types of people in America. But faith is important to a really large part of America, for better or worse, and I think those words will resonate with a lot of people. It felt a little odd, to me, to have him END on that note, but I knew he wasn't going to be the perfect president (for me) when I voted for him. Contrast this to Pence's faith which he really does believe should apply to everyone (and its views are restrictive and unpleasant) and I think this is a better direction.
posted by jessamyn at 10:43 AM on November 9, 2020 [6 favorites]


I love this song and I'll never get sick of it. It's odd for me to hear it labelled Catholic and associated so closely with funerals. We sang this song all the time in my Lutheran church. It was just in the rotation. My grandma died the same day and at the same age as RBG and she did not want to talk about her funeral or other arrangements in any way except to say that she really wanted this song sung and none of us had any objection to that! I've had small and large bouts with depression over the years and this song (and church in general) has always lifted me up at least a little bit. It's so good.

My dad was at boarding school with Michael Joncas at Nazareth Hall Prep Seminary in St. Paul. I haven't heard much about his time at that school but he does talk about Fr. Joncas fondly.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 11:12 AM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]


Even the melody alone can make me cry.

I miss the St. Louis Jesuits stuff we used to sing in the 80s. I don't know why if fell out of favor in my parish.
posted by jgirl at 12:07 PM on November 9, 2020 [2 favorites]


jgirl, did the Hillsong Music stuff from Australia push it out?
posted by wenestvedt at 12:29 PM on November 9, 2020


And I've just gone down a rabbit hole on You Tube of listening to some of my favorite liturgical songs. When I was in grad school during the late 90s, I had a ton of Haugen, Haas, etc tapes in my car. They kept me sane during some of the hardest years of my life.

I actually went to a David Haas concert/workshop one weekend during college. It was amazing. Haas was probably my favorite of the bunch.
posted by kathrynm at 4:56 PM on November 9, 2020


I actually went to a David Haas concert/workshop one weekend during college. It was amazing. Haas was probably my favorite of the bunch.

The Catholic hymnal publisher dropped David Haas's songs this summer amid allegations of "spiritual manipulation" and "sexual battery." According to the New York Times, 38 different women made complaints, following a similar pattern. (That number has grown to 44 since.)
posted by AgentRocket at 5:57 PM on November 9, 2020 [1 favorite]


"A good singer-songwriter type with a guitar would clean up if they made an album of coffeehouse-style covers of the Catholic hymnal "greatest hits""

I miiiiiight have a couple friends from college who've released these, lemme check with my peeps. But also the Notre Dame folk choir releases albums every couple of years with various post-Vatican-II music (albeit generally full choir, not solo), if that's your jam.

I do think Biden's Catholicism is more a Josiah Bartlett West Wing-style Catholicism -- something that's profoundly important to him and that he wants to feel able to talk about publicly, but he's clearly a man who appreciates and respects people of other faiths and no faiths in the US -- he's participated routinely in celebrations of Passover, Diwali, Eid al Fitr, and other holidays, over many years in public life, and he also seems totally comfortable discussing morality and ethics on a NON-religious basis. Like, he gets it that not everybody subscribes to religion (or to the same religion) and he's not going to sell you on a law based on "GOD WANTS YOU TO." He's totally capable of saying "This is the right thing to do" and giving reasons, without needing to invoke God as the reason why.

At the same time, the rise of fundamentalist evangelical Christianity within the GOP and American government and the American media landscape generally has felt INCREDIBLY dangerous to me, and I 100% completely get why a religious-but-pluralistic person like Biden (or Josiah Bartlett) who felt comforting and forward-thinking in the 90s feels a little terrifying today. Even I find myself frequently being like, "Yo, politicians, can we just NOT? Can we just ... Utilitarianism this up, without mentioning God? Thanks, cool, yeah."
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:08 PM on November 9, 2020 [5 favorites]


Damn. I had not heard that about Haas. I've not been involved in music for a couple of years now. I'll have to take a look at that article.
posted by kathrynm at 8:37 AM on November 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


Yes, all the church music programs I'm aware of have promised to no longer do Haas hymns. Protestant, too: We have 3 of his hymns in the newest Presbyterian hymnal, Glory to God. And I imagine he will be dropped from hymnals when new editions come out.
posted by hydropsyche at 12:16 PM on November 10, 2020


I'm wondering if the music director at my parish knows about this. Not that we sing right now....
posted by kathrynm at 4:14 PM on November 10, 2020 [1 favorite]


Gonna have to send this to Deacon Paul, who runs music at our parish. My teen aged plays guitar with him: they have an amaaaaazing setup, and the kid wants to bring it all home.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:00 PM on November 10, 2020


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