Walking with JS Bach’s Passion through Passion week
In this challenging time of a world altering pandemic we will enter this year’s passion week in a cloud of fear and uncertainty while clinging to hope. But the mystery of inwardly walking through passion week has also always been an invitation to tend to our sorrows, revisit our fears and ponder our shadows. Thus, as it seems contradictory for many, it is not the avoidance but the tender care for our sorrows which will lead us to Easter, the revival of what has been dead to new life.
JS Bach’s Passion is not just a musical masterpiece which has moved our heart countless times. It also holds the potential to console us in times of trouble. A leading German trauma expert found that Bach’s music has the potential to not only comfort the listener but to strengthen our self healing potential and resilience.
Thus this online retreat, born of “sheltering in place”, invites you to both: a time to tend to your sorrows, and to be consoled by the Divine power of Bach’s Passion as it has moved people’s heart across the world.
For this we invite you to walk with us from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, through the valley of your tears or loneliness or despair or sorrows, towards new life and the blossoming of spring.
To walk with us all you need to do is to subscribe to our daily email consolations. Each day, you will receive a brief meditation on an Aria, recitative or chorus in the Passion, a link, to listen and meditate on the piece yourself, as well as some tender guidance to visit your places of sorrow without getting lost in them. This will not be a music lesson, but rather an invitation to face your own passion journey with all senses, facilitated by lyrics and music which transcend time.
A GIFT FOR YOU
This online retreat is a gift for all who need it in troubled times. It will work on a “pay what you can” basis, we offer our gift, and you can give a gift back in turn. Your gift will help us pay for the logistics of daily e-newsletter services, and help sustain our ministry. Or, you can also offer a gift in turn to helping organizations or local helpers at the forefront of this international crisis. But all are welcome, regardless of their ability to donate. Let us know your choice on your subscription form. And do let others know about this opportunity, too.
In order to make your offering for this retreat just click below. For more information on how you can support our ministry or if you would like to send a check instead click here. Thank you so much!
ABOUT YOUR RETREAT LEADERs
Almut Furchert Ph.D, is a philosopher of religion who has also trained in psychology and psychotherapy in Germany. She has published in the intersection of psychology, philosophy and spirituality on both continents. She is also an amateur musician, and has sung for many years in the Munich Bach Choir. She will lead you into a depth experiences of lyrics and music to find consolation while walking through your personal passion week.
Almut is supported by her husband Chuck Huff, PhD, who will help with translations, content advice and sitting their baby…
Erbarme Dich Allah - رُحْماكَ يا الله - Johann Sebastian Bach Fadia El Hage | oboe d'amore: Bart Schneemann رُحْماكَ رُحْماكَ يا الله جَرَّى بُكائي المريرِ ج...
Did you know that there is an Arabic version of Bach’s original German Passion? Sarband is a German early music ensemble with musicians from 7 nations, focusing on musical connections between Orient & Occident; Jewish, Christian & Muslim music. “Sarband confronts Bach’s passions with the disastrous present-day situation in Jesus’ native land, the Middle East, but also with the conflicts between the Arabic world and the West, between believers and those who believe differently, between the future-oriented and the tradition-minded. All over the world, regardless of their origins or religions, people are suffering on account of these conflicts. (more…)”
This piece is a beautiful Alto Aria from St Matthew passion:
Have mercy,
My God, for my tears’ sake; Look hither,
Heart and eyes weep before thee Bitterly.
Erbarme dich,
Mein Gott, um meiner Zähren willen! Schaue hier,
Herz und Auge weint vor dir Bitterlich.