Kaitlyn Ferry – Art & Theology

LOOK: The Weight of the Word #2 by Daniel Bonnell

Bonnell, Daniel_Weight of the Word II — Daniel Bonnell (American, 1955–), *The Weight of the Word #2*, 2020. Mixed media on grocery bag paper, 10 × 8 in. (25.4 × 20.3 cm).

LISTEN: “In These Long, Last Days” by Sister Sinjin, on Incarnation (2016; reissued 2019)

In these long, last days
She has borne creation’s Crown;
Heavy, sore, afraid,
The weight of love is bearing down.

Refrain:
We will wait. Even so,
Come, Lord, come.
We will wait. Even so,
Come, Lord, come.

In these long, last days
We must bear the weight of sin,
Broken, torn, alone,
Till you bring your peace to reign. [Refrain]

Bridge:
Don’t forget us, Lord,
Don’t forget us, Lord,
While we wait. (×3) [Refrain ×2]

Sister Sinjin was founded in 2016 by three young moms wanting to record an Advent album: Elise Erikson Barrett, Elizabeth Duffy, and Kaitlyn Ferry. Barrett left the group to focus on her work in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and Duffy and Ferry recorded two more albums. This September the duo announced a name change to A Bright Abyss to reflect the evolution of their vocational identities (they are both now psychotherapists) and music, a genre they call “psychoanalytic folk.”

The lyrics of “In These Long, Last Days,” one of seven original songs on Sister Sinjin’s debut album, were written by Barrett; the music and additional lyrics, by Ferry. The first stanza refers to Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus—her carrying that bundle of Word-made-flesh inside her, eagerly awaiting the birth.

As Mary waited for the Messiah’s first coming, feeling the signs of its nearness in her body, so we await his second, and with it the rebirth of heaven on earth. We do so bearing the weight not of presence but of absence. God is with us in the Spirit, in word and sacrament, and through Christ’s ecclesial body—but the incarnate Christ, the God-man, physically ascended back into the divine realm. “Come back!” we exclaim during Advent, yearning for the return he promised. “Don’t forget us.”

Until that day, we will wait. Even so, come, Lord, come.

LOOK: Pregnant Madonna, 9th century, fresco, crypt of Santa Prassede, Rome

The Madonna del Parto (Our Lady of Parturition) is an iconic depiction of the Virgin Mary as pregnant, usually pointing to or cradling her belly, where God is being made flesh. The ninth-century fresco in the crypt of Santa Prassede in Rome is the earliest known depiction of a visibly pregnant Mary. I believe she is flanked by saints Praxedes (Italian Prassede) and Pudentiana (Italian Pudenziana), sisters and martyrs, since the painting is from a chamber that contains their relics. In the most famous Madonna del Parto image, however—by Piero della Francesca, ca. 1457—Mary is attended by two angels.

LISTEN: “In the Virgin’s Womb” by Kaitlyn Ferry | Performed by Sister Sinjin (Kaitlyn Ferry, Elizabeth Duffy, and Elise Erikson Barrett), on Incarnation (2016, re-released 2019)

In the Virgin’s womb He lay;
God made flesh, the mortal babe.
In her body she has held
That which heav’n cannot contain.
In the Virgin’s womb He lay;
Born to die, His flesh a grave.
In her arms she has held
He whom death could not hold down.