Pilgrim Music

In the modern world, beauty is an endangered energy source: we must be careful to water our souls with it as much as we water our houseplants—actually, much more careful. But don’t believe me; experiential knowledge of soul-watering music is much better. Sacred and secular music remind us that only lovers sing, as St. Augustine says. Modern masters of lust scream and shout their rock songs, but medieval peasants sing of beauty, salvation, and death to their mother. In all ages, the love songs, whether to God or human beloveds, have been the most composed and performed of all musical genres.