Beatus (2024) for chorus and organ was written for the 115th Annual Christmas Carol Services of The Memorial Church, Harvard University, December 2024.

Beatus

Blessed are they
Who seek only the counsel of GOD
In the quiet early hours
Where doubts and fears are free to roam
Where past and future ebb and flow
In the surf of the invisible sea
Where prayers are received in silence
Sorrow in stillness
And consciousness and nothingness are wed

Blessed are the souls
Who thirsting for goodness
Drink only from the altar’s cup
Who lusting for all earthly treasures
Meditate and fast alone in the sanctuary
Who swept away in the river of darkness
Follow the star of Christ to safety.

Matthew Galbraith (b. 1949)
© 2017, from Particle Man: Third Book of Poems