The Mariastein Pilgrimage Song was written in 1991 for the gathering of Christians in Mariastein for the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation.
Silja Walter (1919-2011), a nun and poetess at the Benedictine convent of Fahr, wrote the lyrics, while the married couple Alfred and Janina Kasprzok composed the melody.
Text: Silja Walter
Music: Alfred and Janina Kasprzok, 1991
Text of the Mariastein pilgrim song
We drive in droves
over the hills
with clouds and winds
that move with us
we seek you, God
Kyrie elei
The fields, the forests
in the morning light
The yearning in our hearts
who does not carry it
after you, our God
Kyrie eleis
We look at your house
in the blue twilight
Living water
flows out, shining
your salvation our God
Kyrie eleis
Come, let us go and see
what is happening to us
who is it that draws us all
to itself with power
the Lord our God
Kyrie eleis
Times are marching
with us into your tent
Confessors and witnesses
from all over the world
for you are our God
Kyrie eleis
They ask in the midst
of our flock
may the kingdom come
that is and that was
that comes from God
Kyrie eleis
We know we must
turn from the night
and towards the splendour
for which we were made
to you, our God
Kyrie eleis
We know
our sins, Lord
you know how poor
and lost we are
before you, our God.
Kyrie eleis
We sing, we bring
the joy, the burden
of the nations of humanity
you love where it hates
because you are God
Kyrie eleis
We flee to the heart of the world
where it beats in the stone
that heals and holds it.
O Three-in-One God
Kyrie eleis