Symphony no. 8

Come, Creator Spirit,
To dwell in the heart of your faithful ones!
Replenish with heavenly Grace
The souls of your creatures! 

You are named the Comforter,
A gift from the highest God,
Living fountain, fire and love,
Spiritual anointment. 

Therefore, strengthen our feeble bodies
With divine power!
Enlighten our senses,
Infuse your love into our hearts! 

Drive away the enemy
And give us everlasting peace!
Guide us on our pathway,
So that we may shun all perils! 

You, sevenfold tribute of the Father.
The finger in his hand, 
Reveal to us the Father and the Son!
Let us have faith in you forever,
The Spirit that from both of you emanates! 

Grant us the joys of heaven,
Bestow on us your offering of Grace!
Settle matters where conflict prevails,
And bring peace there! 

Let God the Father be praised
And his resurrected Son
And the comforting Spirit
In all eternity!

HOLY ANCHORITES - CHORUS AND ECHO 
Forests are swaying near,
Rocks press upon,
Roots cling to them,
Tree trunks move closer,
Wave on wave splash,
The deepest cave gives shelter;
Lions silently prowl,
Tame, surrounding us,
Honoring the sacred place,
Refuge of Love and Grace.  

PATER ECSTATICUS (hovering up and down) 
Eternal, ecstatic fire,
Glowing bond of love,
Seething pain of the breast,
Sparkling divine ecstasy.
Arrows, transpierce me,
Lances, subdue me,
Bludgeons, beat me down,
Lightning, fall upon me,
That now, futility
Volatilizes all things, even
The splendor of the most enduring
Essence of Eternal Love. 
 
PATER PROFUNDIS (lower region) 
As at my feet rocky abyss,
Rest on abysses deep below,
As like thousand beaming streams flow,
To a dreadful plunge, the foaming torrent,
As by its own impulsion driven,
The tree trunk is born up into the air,
So is almighty Love,
That forms and preserves all things.
Around me sounds a savage roaring,
As if forest and rocky ground heaved!
And yet in gentle pouring flows,
Abundant water down the gorge,
Called, as it were, to irrigate the vales;
Lightning struck ablaze,
To cleanse and ameliorate the air,
That carried poisonous fumes in its bosom:
They are Love's heralds proclaiming,
What ever-creating us enfold.
May then, likewise, my inner Self inflame,
Where the Spirit, confused and cold,
Torments and bounds itself through blunted senses,
As by the sharpest pain of fetters.
O God! Soothe my bewildered thoughts,
Bring light to my needy heart! 
 
ANGELS
 (hovering in the higher atmosphere, 
 bearing Faust's immortal soul)
Now the noble member
Of the spiritual world is saved from evil:
Whoever constantly aspires and perseveres,
Him can we redeem;
And if he fully merges in the
Love high above,
The sacred congregation will meet him
With the most heartfelt welcome. 
 
CHORUS OF THE BLESSED BOYS
 (circling the highest summits)  
Hands entwined
Joyously in a circle,
Rejoice and sing
With the holiest feeling therein!
Divinely enlightened,
You may trust;
The one whom you worship,
And thus him you shall behold.  
 
THE YOUNGER ANGELS 
Those roses from the hands
Of loving holy penitent women,
Helped us to make the fight victorious
And to accomplish the lofty work,
To capture this soul's treasure as a prize.
Evil ones retreated, as we strewed,
Devils fled, when we encountered them.
Instead of the wonted pangs of Hell
They felt the torments of Love;
Even he, old Satan-Master
Was pierced with keenest pain.
Rejoice! The work's completed.  
 
THE MORE PERFECT ANGELS (Chorus with alto solo) 
We still have an Earth's residue
Difficult to bear,
And even if it were asbestos
It is not pure.
When the powerful force of the Spirit
Has seized up to itself
Every element together,
No angel could break apart
Twin-natures formed into one
The inner cores of both;
Eternal Love alone
May separate them. 
 
THE YOUNGER ANGELS 
I noticed just now,
Mist-like, on rocky heights,
A Spiritual Life
Moving nearer.
I see a multitude
Of blissful boys approaching,
Free from earthly burdens,
Assembled in a circle,
Who joyously relish
In the new springtime bloom
Of the upper world.
Let it be the beginning
Of ever increasing benefits
As their companion!  
 
THE BLESSED BOYS 
Joyously, we now welcome
Him in a state of chrysalis;
And thus, we receive
Angelic pledge.
Let the flakes of earth detach,
That cling around him!
As yet he is fair and great
From Divine Life. 
 
DOCTOR MARIANUS
 (in the highest, purest cell) 
Here the view is free,
The Spirit lifted;
There, women march,
Soaring upward;
The Glorious One therein
With a crown of stars,
The Heavenly Queen,
I see it in her splendour!
Highest ruler of the world,
Let me behold your Mystery
In the azure, widespread
Celestial canopy!
Assent to what, grave and tenderly,
Moves man's breast
And, with holy delight of love,
Bears to greet thee!
Our courage will be indomitable,
At thy sublime command;
All at once, our ardour is mitigated,
When thou appease us. 
 
DOCTOR MARIANUS & CHORUS 
Virgin, in the most graceful sense,
Mother, of honours worthy,
To us, elected Queen,
In God's image. 
 
CHORUS 
You, the untouched,
It is not denied,
That the ones led astray, easily
Trusting, come to you.
Captured in their weakness,
It is hard to rescue them.
Who could, by his own strength
Cut the chains of lust?
May not the foot quickly slip
On slanting, polished ground?  
 
CHORUS OF WOMEN PENITENT (and a Penitent) 
You that hover in the heights
Of eternal realms,
Listen to our pleading,
You, merciful!
Incomparable Maiden! 
 
MAGNA PECCATRIX 
By the love that at the feet
Of your Son, glorified by God,
Let tears like balsam flow,
In spite of the Pharisee's derision;
By the vessel that so copiously
Shed down a pleasant scent;
By the locks that so softly
Dried the sacred limbs - 
 
MULIER SAMARITANA 
By the well, to which
Old Abraham once led the flock;
By the jar, that to refresh and moisten
The Saviour's lips could touch;
By the pure, copious fountain,
That now hence gushes forth,
Overflowing, ever clear,
Irrigates the whole world - 

MARIA AEGYPTIACA (Acta Sanctorum) 
By the sacred place,
Where the Lord was descended;
By the arm, which from the portal,
Warning, pushed me back;
By the forty years' penance,
That I, faithfully spent in the desert;
By the holy, farewell sentence,
Which I wrote in the sand --
 
THE THREE 
You, that to gravely sinful women
Your proximity not denies;
And their repentance benefits
In the eternity heightens,
Grant as well to this benevolent soul,
Who only once forgot,
Who, unsuspectingly, erred
Your judicious forgiveness!  
 
A PENITENT (also called Gretchen, approaching) 
Approach, approach,
You Incomparable,
You, full of radiance,
Your countenance favours my bliss!
The once beloved,
No longer afflicted,
He is coming back. 
 
THE BLESSED BOYS (approaching in circling movement) 
He already rises above us
With his mighty limbs,
The wages of faithful care
He will profusely return.
Early, we were set free
From the living community,
Yet he has learned:
And he will teach us. 
 
A PENITENT 
Surrounded by a lofty choir of spirits,
The newcomer is hardly aware of himself,
He has no notion of the New Life,
So, as yet, he becomes like the Holy Host.
See, how he is set free
From the old enfolding of earthly bonds. 
Out of ethereal garments
The early force of youth appears!
Allow me to instruct him,
He is still dazzled by the New Day's light. 
 
MATER GLORIOSA & CHORUS 
Come! Elevate yourself to higher spheres!
If he perceives you, he shall follow you. 
 
DOCTOR MARIANUS (praying in her presence) 
All you, frail penitents,
Look up to the redeeming sight,
That gratefully re-creates you
To a blessed fate!
That every best sense
Be ready at your service;
Virgin, Mother, Queen
Goddess, keep being merciful! 
 
CHORUS MYSTICUS 
All things transitory
Are only symbols;
What is insufficient,
Here becomes an event;
The indescribable
Here is accomplished;
The eternal feminine
Pulls us upwards.