On World Invocation Day, 1952, Eleanor Roosevelt, a pioneering force in the passage of the Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations, and wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, recorded a brief message which included the Great Invocation. The message was recorded by Mrs Roosevelt at the United Nations.

“We are living today in a troubled world. In many parts of the world people have a sense of discouragement as to whether they will ever solve their difficulties and it seems to me that those of us who feel that a spiritual leadership is necessary in the world are looking for ways in which to express what we feel. Someone sent me the other day an invocation, its called the Great Invocation, and it seems to me to express the aspirations held by many people throughout the world so I’m going to read it to you on this program.”

This Great Invocation composition reflects, amplifies and emanates the qualities and objectives embodied in the words. Divinely inspired and intermingled with a variety of tones, shades and textures, it expresses unity and the One Life that pervades one and all. It plunges the listener (and, even more so, the one who invokes) into the innermost depths, where words transform into living, breathing forms that touch and elevate the heart and mind, and where the soul is the master of the call. The music carries the voiced appeal through the spheres on currents of soul intents and purposes. Like the ripples created by a stone cast into the still waters of a lake, it permeates the spheres with a non-apologetic command and an unwavering anticipation for an imminent deluge from the shores of the Divine and, likewise, an augmented response from the shores of humanity.  The extensive use of percussions adds a powerful grounding effect; demonstrating faith that the call has already been heeded and satisfied.

Listen to broadcast
World Invocation Day 1952 broadcast – 2 minutes

Eleanor Roosevelt speaks about Prayer
The World Invocation Day statement by Eleanor Roosevelt is part of a longer broadcast in which Mrs Roosevelt speaks about prayer and the importance of thinking deeply about religious beliefs. This audio file includes the World Invocation Day statement.
On Prayer and World Invocation Day – 6 minutes

free download of First Movement for friends of Lucis Trust

The musician and composer, Jaz Coleman, has kindly dedicated his latest composition, Magna Invocatio, to the Lucis Trust. Recorded by the St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra and Choir, Magna Invocatio, consists of 15 movements, 5 with choir. The first movement, The Absolute Descent of Light, is a choral fanfare featuring the first verse of the Great Invocation sung in Latin. Jaz Coleman has offered to make this movement available, without charge, to friends of the Lucis Trust.

Buy or Listen to the full CD at
https://jazcolemankillingjoke.lnk.to/

In the sleevenotes of the CD describing his various sources of inspiration for the work Magna Invocatio, Jaz notes:

• The all-important Aquarian themes of the brotherhood and sisterhood of man have not been adequately addressed or developed in any meaningful way since Beethoven utilized the genius of Schiller’s masterpiece Ode to Joy in the glorious 9th symphony. Consequently, I chose a large instrumentation.

• Additionally, the music had to reach out to people who do not normally listen to orchestral music; to these ends, neo-romanticism seemed appropriate (i.e. to emphasize the post-modernist use of resolving dissonance and perpetual melody).

• Another consideration was that of a vastly reduced attention span in the 21st century. The laws that applied to the popularization of Wagner’s Ring cycle would not work in the modern age because of this affliction, therefore the work had to consist of 13 digestible epics (5 of which would be with choir!).

• My sincere and perhaps naïve aspiration with the entire work was to lift the listener up and away from the traumas of our world to another dimension, a more desirable reality where positivity and possibility, agape and interconnectedness take precedence. The end goal was always to bring magic into the listener’s life in some meaningful way.

While this is a classical composition it draws on earlier arrangements and some of the more melodic and uplifting songs from Coleman’s punk rock group Killing Joke. In addition to the Latin translation of the Great Invocation, the work includes text from a Rosicrucian prayer (May our minds be open to the highest); an ancient Sumerian prayer; and the song Into the Unknown.

Arrangement, vocals and music by Dora Stavrou. Engineering and mastering by Andy Stewart at The Mill. Dora is a Cypriot-born singer songwriter based in Melbourne, Australia.

This Great Invocation composition reflects, amplifies and emanates the qualities and objectives embodied in the words. Divinely inspired and intermingled with a variety of tones, shades and textures, it expresses unity and the One Life that pervades one and all. It plunges the listener (and, even more so, the one who invokes) into the innermost depths, where words transform into living, breathing forms that touch and elevate the heart and mind, and where the soul is the master of the call. The music carries the voiced appeal through the spheres on currents of soul intents and purposes. Like the ripples created by a stone cast into the still waters of a lake, it permeates the spheres with a non-apologetic command and an unwavering anticipation for an imminent deluge from the shores of the Divine and, likewise, an augmented response from the shores of humanity.  The extensive use of percussions adds a powerful grounding effect; demonstrating faith that the call has already been heeded and satisfied.