Inside the Creation of 'On Eagle's Wings': Archival Notes and Father Joncas' Musical Legacy

Inside the Creation of 'On Eagle's Wings': Archival Notes and Father Joncas' Musical Legacy

When Father Michael Joncas sat down at an upright piano in the late 1970s, he was trying to comfort a grieving friend whose father had just died of a sudden heart attack. He did not intend to write an international anthem of resilience. Yet five decades later, the piece stands as one of the most widely performed liturgical works in modern history, sung across Catholic parishes, Protestant services, state funerals, and national memorials. As detailed in the recent National Catholic Reporter Report marking the hymn's 50-year journey, the composition continues to transcend confessional boundaries because of its raw emotional architecture and scriptural grounding.

The hymn’s endurance owes much to its unusual blend of folk-era acoustic simplicity and classical choral depth. From Vatican liturgies to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing memorial service and the 2020 presidential victory speech of Joe Biden, the song frequently surfaces during moments of collective trauma. Looking through the archival drafts reveals how a modest seminary setting birthed an enduring anchor of modern church music.

📌 Key Takeaways:

• The Core Origin: Father Michael Joncas drafted the piece in 1976 after the sudden death of his friend Douglas Hall’s father, drawing direct inspiration from Psalm 91 and Exodus 19:4.
• Musical Shift: Moving away from standard rhymed hymnody, the composition uses asymmetrical verse meters, modal cadences, and expansive vocal leaps that challenge typical congregational singing yet enhance communal resonance.
• Archival Continuity: As the hymn reaches its 50th anniversary milestone, liturgical archives reveal how early vocal arrangements evolved from informal guitar lead sheets into complex choral octavos worldwide.

A Dormitory Piano and the Grief That Sparked a Classic

The origins of the hymn trace back to a specific evening at the Saint Paul Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Joncas, then a young seminarian with a deep passion for liturgical reform, received word that the father of his close friend Douglas Hall had suffered a fatal heart attack. Hall and Joncas had worked together on campus ministry projects, and Joncas felt compelled to offer something beyond standard pastoral platitudes.

He turned to the ancient scriptures assigned for protective vigils, particularly Psalm 91. Rather than drafting an abstract theological essay, Joncas framed the sacred text through personal vulnerability. He wrote the melody quickly, testing the vocal line against an acoustic guitar and a worn upright piano. The opening refrain took shape around the imagery of divine shelter: the promise that God would raise the believer up on eagle's wings and hold them in the palm of a divine hand.

The piece was sung the following morning at the funeral Mass. Those present remembered an immediate emotional stillness falling over the chapel. Joncas initially viewed the composition as a private pastoral gift, not a publishing candidate. He tucked the sheet music into a folder of parish arrangements, unaware that visiting musicians would soon carry handwritten copies across the Upper Midwest.

Untangling the Scriptural Roots of Exodus and Psalm 91

The staying power of the song rests in its rigorous biblical vocabulary. While many contemporary Christian worship songs rely on repetitive phrases, Joncas stitched together two distinct passages of the Hebrew Bible into a cohesive theological narrative. The structural anchor comes from the Latin liturgical tradition of chanting Psalm 91 during Compline, the night prayer that prepares the faithful for sleep and faces the fear of death.

The refrain pulls its defining metaphor directly from Scriptural origin Exodus 19:4, where God reminds the Israelites, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." Joncas combined that imagery with verse 4 of Psalm 91: "He will conceal you with his wings; you will not fear the terror of the night." This synthesis turned an ancient covenant promise into an intimate assurance of spiritual comfort in grief.

The verses carry a rhythmic structure modeled on Hebrew parallelism rather than European rhyming schemes. By preserving the irregular cadence of the psalm verses, Joncas avoided the sing-song quality common in 1970s church folk music. The text avoids sentimental escapism, acknowledging "the snare of the fowler" and "the arrow that flies by day" before offering the promise of deliverance.

The Evolution of Choral Arrangements and Lead Sheets

As parishes across the United States adopted the hymn, the original acoustic guitar arrangement proved insufficient for larger church choirs. Liturgical publishers soon contracted Joncas and professional arrangers to expand the simple melody into multi-part choral octavos. The piece transitioned from an informal guitar-strummed tune into a staple of Catholic liturgical music and mainstream denominational hymnals, including those of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, and the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The harmonic progression relies on an alternating tonic-to-subdominant movement, often pivoting between D major, G major, and Em7 before climbing toward an expansive bridge. The vocal range of the refrain spans an octave and a fourth, requiring congregations to produce a strong, confident chest voice on the lower phrases before floating into a head-voice climax on the words "make you to shine like the sun."

Music directors frequently debate the difficulty of the verse pacing. Because the cantor carries irregular verses while the congregation waits for the familiar refrain, pacing requires careful conducting. When sung too slowly, the refrain drags under its own weight. When taken at the brisk pace Joncas originally intended, the melody retains its buoyant, folk-dance momentum.

Why Memorials and National Tragedies Lean on This Hymn

The transition of "On Eagle's Wings" from parish hymnals to secular civic rituals occurred during moments of national mourning. During the memorial services following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the song was performed repeatedly to unify a devastated community. Its lack of sectarian language made it an accessible vehicle for public grief. The text mentions God and angels, but it avoids complex dogmatic formulations, allowing people of varied religious backgrounds to project their own sorrow and hope into the words.

The hymn lyrics meaning connects grief directly to safety rather than resignation. Many traditional funeral hymns, such as "Dies Irae" or even older Protestant staples like "Abide with Me," focus on judgment, sin, or twilight shadows. Joncas reversed that emotional focus. His hymn emphasizes flight, light, and maternal protection, depicting a divine presence that catches the falling spirit before it strikes the stone.

This dynamic reappeared in November 2020 when President-elect Joe Biden referenced the song in his national victory address, noting that it had sustained his family following the death of his son Beau Biden. The sudden mention introduced the work to millions of global viewers unfamiliar with post-Vatican II liturgical composition, sending the sheet music and chords back to the top of digital worship music download lists.

Father Joncas and the Broader Post-Vatican II Music Movement

The historical context of the song cannot be separated from the liturgical upheavals of the late 20th century. Following the Second Vatican Council's mandate for full, conscious, and active participation by the laity, Catholic churches shifted rapidly from Latin Gregorian chant to vernacular hymnody. This transition produced significant tension between traditionalists who valued organ polyphony and reformers who embraced contemporary instrumentation.

Joncas occupied a rare middle ground in this debate. Holding advanced degrees in liturgical studies from the University of Notre Dame and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome, he understood the structural theology of choral prayer. He did not advocate for throwing out choral heritage. Instead, he argued that vernacular songs must meet high compositional standards while remaining accessible to an untrained assembly.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, Joncas returned to this compositional wellspring. He wrote a new companion hymn titled "Shelter Me," designed to comfort those isolated in hospital wards and shuttered homes. Like its 1976 predecessor, the new piece drew heavily on protective psalms, reinforcing his lifelong focus on turning scriptural prayer into a source of immediate emotional solace.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What inspired Father Michael Joncas to compose "On Eagle's Wings"?
A1: Father Joncas wrote the hymn in 1976 after the sudden death of Douglas Hall's father. Hall was a close friend from seminary, and Joncas composed the melody overnight to provide personal pastoral comfort to the grieving family ahead of the funeral Mass.

Q2: Is "On Eagle's Wings" strictly a Catholic hymn?
A2: No. Although composed by a Catholic priest for a Catholic liturgy, the song has been incorporated into mainstream hymnals across Protestant denominations, including United Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopal churches. It is widely used at ecumenical and civic memorial events.

Q3: Why do some church musicians find the song difficult for congregations?
A3: The hymn features an expansive vocal range in the refrain that spans an octave and a fourth. Furthermore, the verses use irregular, psalm-like meter rather than rhymed poetic stanzas, requiring an experienced cantor to lead the narrative sections while the assembly sings the recurring chorus.

The Endurance of Song Across Fifty Years of Solace

Longevity in church music is notoriously unpredictable. Thousands of liturgical songs published in the wake of 1970s acoustic folk revivals disappeared from circulation within a decade, dated by thin arrangements or sentimental prose. Father Michael Joncas’ composition avoided that fate by tying itself directly to the poetic weight of ancient biblical literature.

Fifty years after its first performance at an unheralded funeral Mass in Saint Paul, the hymn maintains an unshakeable presence across church services and civic rituals. By taking the vulnerability of personal loss and lifting it through the steady promises of Psalm 91, the piece continues to fulfill its original purpose: giving communities the words and melody to grieve without losing hope.