BIRDSONG VESPERS
Inspired by the life of St Francis, Birdsong Vespers is an inclusive outdoor worship service that welcomes the evening with song and prayer.
The next BirdSong Vespers will be 5pm on Saturday May 2nd 2026.
Under the cherry tree, Genesis Spiritual Life & Conference Center, 53 Mill Street, Westfield
Birdsong order of service
INVOCATION: Come Holy Guest by Janet Lund (adapted)
Veni Spiritus, Sancte Spiritus. x2
Come, holy guest within these walls;
this threshold pass to dwell with us.
Come, immortal one, be a fire within.
Rest, sacred flame, in we who bear your name.
Veni Spiritus, Sancte Spiritus. X2
Come, holy influence, make us wise;
shine and illuminate our lives.
Come, immortal light, chase the dark from sight.
Stay, holy flame, in we who bear your name.
Veni Spiritus, Sancte Spiritus. X 2
Come, our creator spirit, come,
create communion here with us.
Come, great spirit, come! Find in us your home.
With burning love, empower us once again.
Veni Spiritus, Sancte Spiritus. X 2
SUNG LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Humbly by Laurence Cole
1. Humbly we walk here humbly we sing here
Humbly we bless this land
2. Humbly and with gratitude
Remembering the ancient ones, we bless this land
Humee Hum Brahm Hum by Kevin James
We are We and we are One x 2
Humee Hum Brahm Hum x 2
We are We and we are One x 2
Ishk Allah Mabood Allah (Arabic translation: “God is love, lover and beloved”) X2
Da pacem cordium by Taize
Da pacem cordium.
Da pacem.
Translation: Give peace to every heart
POEM/PRAYER/CHANT to share?
Eyes open, heart open by Alana Levandoski
Keep you eyes open and you heart open also
Keep your heart open but your eyes open too
God bless you and keep you in the heat of the day
God bless you and keep you in the night time too.
The heart is not a holding place Sufi chant
The heart is not a holding place.
My heart is not a holding place.
Thy spirit is golden. My spirit is golden.
And I am free to fly
POEM/PRAYER/CHANT to share?
The peace of wild things — Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Arms of love by Alexa Sunshine Rose
Come now child, lay it down
Just breathe Just be
Come be cradled in the arms of love
Just breathe, just be.