Changing Church: Rev. Dr. Laura M. Grimes, Roman Catholic Priest and Hymn Writer

Rev. Dr. Laura M. Grimes is a feminist theologian, Roman Catholic priest, professor, hymn writer, and liturgist as well as a wife and mother of four children. Ordained in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, she is the author of Sophia’s Psalter, Sophia’s Book of Hours, Advent Meditations, Sophia’s Rosary, Sophia’s Hymnal, Wisdom’s Friends: Gertrud of Helfta’s Conversational Theology (http://lauramgrimes.blogspot.com/2011/12/sophias-psalter.html), and several blogs (http://stjuniatheapostle.blogspot.com/; http://heartsongweddings.blogspot.com/). Here are several of her hymn texts:

Crown Her with Many Crowns

Crown her with many crowns, Sophia, Queen of all,

Whose justice spreads from east to west at her life-giving call;

Who brings all things to birth through love that knows no end,

And came in Christ to dwell on earth, our Mother, Lover, Friend.

 

Crown her with many crowns, Sophia, Queen of peace,

Who heals our wounds, transforms our hearts, brings freedom and release;

Who calls us to come home to love that knows no end,

Yet waits with patience while we roam, our Mother, Lover, Friend.

 

Crown her with many crowns, Sophia, Queen of truth,

Who speaks to all through Christ her Son, in midlife, age, and youth;

Who cries out for her poor with love that knows no end,

And comes in strangers at our door, our Mother, Lover, Friend.

 

Crown her with many crowns, Sophia, Queen of night,

Who folds us close in sweet embrace, her face so dark and bright;

Who silently draws near in love that knows no end,

And meets us in our doubt and fear, our Mother, Lover, Friend.

 

Crown her with many crowns, Sophia, Queen of love,

Who breathes her Spirit through the spheres, a fiery gentle dove;

Who fills our hearts with mirth and love that knows no end,

That we might tend her sacred earth, our Mother, Lover, Friend.

 

Words  © 2012 Laura M. Grimes. Used with permission. Tune: DIADEMATA (“Crown Him With Many Crowns”).

Wisdom’s Praises

Wisdom, we praise you, Creator of all,

Granting your law as a life-giving call;

Parting the Red Sea with powerful hand,

Leading through desert to new promised land.

 

Wisdom, we praise you, enfleshed at our door,

Welcoming children and feeding the poor;

Teaching your people, awaiting your hour,

Dying in birth pangs and rising in power.

 

Wisdom, we praise you, O sweet fragrant breath,

Transforming evil and conquering death;

Dancing in beauty, your love never ends,

Making us prophets and calling us friends.

 

Wisdom, we praise you, our great One in Three:

Mother of mercy as deep as the sea,

Christ, gentle servant of greatest and least,

Spirit who calls us to the joy of the feast.

 

Words  © 2008 Laura M. Grimes. Used with permission. Tune: SLANE (“Be Thou My Vision”).

Rev. Dr. Grimes is one of the General Editors of the Divine Feminine Version of the New Testament (http://godde.wordpress.com/the-divine-feminine-version-dfv-of-the-new-testament/). Dr. Grimes received her M.A. and Ph.D. in historical and systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame. Along with Dr. Ann Marie Caron, she is currently  translating Mechtild of Hackeborn’s Book of Special Grace for the Paulist Press Classics of Western Spirituality series. Laura completed her training in spiritual direction at Shalom Prayer Center in Mt. Angel, Oregon, and her formation in Ignatian spirituality at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Detroit, Michigan. She leads retreats and groups on a variety of topics including “Discovering the Divine Feminine” and “Mother’s Comfort,” a unique prochoice/prolife friendly program for healing of pregnancy loss, termination, and stillbirth.