Our Kind of Spirituals, No. 61: Patti Smith and Kronos Quartet, “Mercy Is”

This song of Patti Smith’s for Darren Aronofsky’s rendering of the Noah story was nominated for a Grammy Award, and when Patti Smith was asked how she was celebrating, she replied:

"I’m preparing to sing in the Vatican Christmas concert that’s televised in Italy. I’ll be rehearsing with the Vatican orchestra. That’s how I’ll be celebrating."

Last year, she sang “O Holy Night.” This year, maybe – but not likely – she’ll sing this song, recorded here with the Kronos Quartet.

It would be apt. Mercy is – is emerging as – the theme of Pope Francis’ pontificate, and Smith’s imagery of mercy as a manner of healing is akin to his image of the church as a field hospital. The image of the father as a healer is as apt as it is surprising.

“The sky is high / The earth is green / And cool below your feet

“So swiftly now beneath the bow / Your father waits for thee / To wrap you in his healing hands

“As the night sky weeps …”

Does the pope know about this? That used to be the joke when something took place at the Vatican that seemed at odds with the ethos of the place.

Once, that would have been the joke about a Patti Smith performance at the Vatican.

But Patti Smith performing at the Vatican this year: I hope the pope knows about this. I hope he will be there.