The Silencing of the Poets

Poetry and song are the stuff of Christianity. The Psalms are sung daily by all the monastic orders and said by all priests and many lay people through-out the world. St David gave us inspired poetry for the petitioning and praising of God.

We believe God is worshipped in music and song. What is more beautiful than the Mass for Five Voices by Byrd or the Mozart Requiem? The list of glorious music created in the Church and for the Church is long and hardy. Monteverdi composed the Vespers to Our Lady which is highlighted here.

And, from the days of Caedmon, the lowly poet raised to greatness in history by a poem of praise, have  led us to Gregorian Chant and the beauty of so many settings of the Psalms.

The Muslims  in Mali have forbidden, "a hereditary caste of bards and storytellers found across West Africa and commonly known by their French name, griot. For centuries, griots have directed ceremonies, smoothed over disputes, and served as repositories of history and genealogy"

The hadith forbids music and instruments, according to Allah. This is a great mystery to me. 

One of the great sadnesses for this tribe of people who have had their history interrupted by a new law, sharia law, is the loss of their culture and particular histories. It would be as if the choirs of England would be prohibited, as well as the historians silenced, and the genealogies destroyed. 

This is the taking away of personal, individual identity, and the destruction of the family, which is united by a common history and common heritage. 

Pray for our brothers and sisters in Mali, where the poets have been silenced.