August 10th is a rather loaded day. Officially, it is the feast of St Lawrence the Deacon. However, the feast I celebrate on this day is not Lawrence’s (enough people in the Church are doing that), but the feast day of my sister who died early on the morning this day from complications of Crohn’s disease. When Mary Ruth died, mom and dad, my brother, Bill, Ruthie and I, and our daughters Meg and Beth, and Mary Ruth’s best friend, Dr. Bob Conlin were present. Bob Conlin cradled her head in his lap as she died.
I have written much about my sister in the past. Till the time I met Ruthie, Mary was one of my best friends. Ruthie and Mary were sisters to one another.
Mary Ruth excelled in everything she did. She was an outstanding occupational therapist. She was a wonderful Aunt to my children. As I have written before, she never let her illness get in the way of anything.
On this feast day of my sister, I present three prayer songs I composed for my sister, Mary Ruth. As you listen to these recordings, you can hear the progression of my composing skills over the years.
This first song, Psalm Offering 5 Opus 1, was composed for my sister in 1973. She was 18 years old at the time. It is a short piece of music, a waltz, composed in the key of G minor.
This second song, Psalm Offering 3 Opus 4, was composed for my sister as a birthday present in 1988. It is in the key of F major. It was a handwritten score that I gave Mary back then. Over the years, I lost my own handwritten score. In 2016, going through a tote in which I kept notes and bits and pieces of music I composed, I came across a partial copy of her song. I was overjoyed because I thought I had lost it forever. With the help of a cassette tape recording I made of the song, I was able to reconstruct her song, and then saved it for posterity. The recording is the reconstructed score of her song.
Lastly, this third song, is a piano reimagined composition of a psalm I composed for Mary in 1990. The Psalm, Psalm 31, “Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit” is sung in the Good Friday service of the Lord’s Passion. I recomposed this song for Mary in 2018.
