The song of the women of Jerusalem
“Now every step is grace. Only you could start a fire on such an empty mountainside.”
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Sarah Hart wrote the song “Praying With a Broken Heart” in the midst of her grief after the death of her grandfather. The entire album Above Earth’s Lamentation is a journey through grief.
Sarah revealed in an interview, “I’m not ashamed to say I was very angry at God, and I really wrestled with him. I wondered, How could you let this happen? Why? Did you forget us?”
We have chosen this song for our Holy Week series because it’s also the song of the women of Jerusalem weeping for Jesus as he carries the cross. It’s the song of Mary Magdalene and of John at the cross; the song of Our Lady in that moment captured by Michelangelo in the Pietà.
It’s a song to accompany us in this week when the Church calls us to enter into Christ’s passion and follow him on the way of the cross.
So I pray with a broken heart
That’s where the healing starts
Sing the song of wayward child
“Be thou my vision”
I’m looking for another sign
Mercy in a sweet sunrise
Wanna be wherever you are
I’m praying with a broken heart
—Libby Reichert
