The Holy Songs

Their origins and meaning

The holy songs depict the entire history of True Parents' suffering and victory.

True Father wrote the lyrics while in meditation and deep prayer, order that the members could sing songs that return praise and glory to God.

True Father was imprisoned in Daedong Detention Center in Pyongyang on August 11, 1946, and after suffering there for 100 days he was released on November 21, on the verge of death. It was at a meeting with his members after that, early in 1947, that he wrote “Song of the Victors,” the first holy song.

Early in November 1950, about three weeks after his October 14 release from Hungnam Prison made him a free man, he wrote the lyrics of “New Song of Inspiration” and “Blessing of Glory.” In “New Song of Inspiration,” the word “new” appears no fewer than 13 times, exhibiting Father's overflowing resolution for a new beginning. “Blessing of Glory” stirs enthusiasm and hope for building a new world and beginning a new history.

True Father wrote “Suffering Heart” in the mud hut in Beomnaetgol, Busan, in 1951, while he was living as a refugee, and he wrote the words to Garden of Restoration and “Grace of the Holy Garden” in his third house, in Sujeong-dong, in 1953.

He next wrote “Song of the Divine Principle Warriors” for the participants in the first Korean Missionaries Workshop, held on February 17, 1959, and he went on to write “Unified Soldiers” to encourage the members sent out to all parts of Korea for 40 days of witnessing in 1961.

In particular, through “Suffering Heart” he expressed how Satan's forces challenged and hunted him during his refugee life in Busan.

This song also expresses the heart of followers who have escaped sin and are on the path to salvation. “Garden of Restoration” depicts True Father's determination and resolution for the course of restoration at the time of the Sujeong-dong Church in Busan, and how he could not step away from it despite the hardships he had to undergo. “

The grace of the Holy Garden displays his resolution to praise and return glory to God with a heart of gladness at all times and to repay Him for the wondrous grace He bestows.

The holy song collection also includes songs written by members and songs from other sources that the members enjoyed singing. The songs written and composed by the members are “My Promise,” “Suffering and New Life,” “Song of the Young People,” “My Cross,” “Pledge,” “Song of the Banquet,” “Day of Glory,” “Song of the Heavenly Soldiers,” “My Offering,” “Shining Fatherland,” “Heart of the Father,” “The Principle Youth March,” “Song of Sunday School Children,” “March of the New Age,” “Light in the East,” “Call to Sacrifice,” “Unite Into One,”

“Song of Unification Warriors,” “The Father's Dwelling Place,” “The Lord Has Come,” “Song of the Farm” and “The Lord is My Everything.” The songs from other sources are “Song of the Garden,” “He Has Called Me,” “O My Little Lambs,” “Song of the Spring Breeze,” “The Lonely Valley,” “Restored Flock,” “A Desire of My Heart,” and “Spring Song of Eden.” On October 4, 1956, the songs composed by True Father and the members were compiled and published as the first collection of our holy songs.

1. “Unified Soldiers,” which is one of the holy songs of the Unification Church, speaks first of the heart.

The song begins with “strong bond of heart is the force bringing the world into life.” It is not the strong bond of truth that brings the world to life. Whether a person lives or dies depends on God's love, the source of life. Truth is only a guide.

It is like the bridge to a relationship with substance, and it is the mediator that transmits the heart. In the phrase, “strong bond of the heart is the force bringing the world into life,” the heart referred to is the heart of God.

It is not God's heart of resentment which He has harbored in His bosom until now over having to restore this fallen world through indemnity; instead, it is a heart of bitter sorrow that needs to be resolved.

To resolve His sorrow, we first need to know the nature of that sorrow, which lies in the fact that He has been unable to find an individual whom He could truly love, or find such a family, tribe, people, nation, world, or cosmos. (014-181, 1964/10/03)

2. What would be God's first wish? Since individuals whom God is trying to find are bound under conditions of bitter sorrow, they have to be liberated. They have to say, “I will resolve the bitter sorrow that I have caused, so please accept me.” In the same way, a family can be liberated, and a tribe, people, nation, and world can be liberated. This is God's desire.

However, we cannot unite without going through the heart of God, which brings us together as one.

Human power alone is not enough to achieve this. From the viewpoint of God's heart, this world is one.

As the lyrics A, “Joined in a kinship of love, all shall live as one.” God's heart is our original connection.

Our connections are not the connections of this fallen world. Our original connection is this heart, through which we join together as one. The next line of the song is, “Here in the home of our hearts we'll share evermore.”

By joining as one through the connection of our original nature, we can give and receive forevermore. At the place where we eternally give and receive, centering on the heart of original nature, our homeland comes into being for the first time. Only after that does the word “happiness” appear. (014-182, 1964/10/03)

3. The Korean people have to go forward with the heart of restoration. When light shines on the entire world, everyone in the world can become brothers and sisters, attend to the parents of goodness eternally, and realize a united world. The first verse of “Unified Soldiers” is about the heart.

Everyone will dwell in our original homeland, where we can give and receive eternally through the connection of the heart. What is good about one's homeland is that one's parents and family members are there.

The important thing here is the heart. The path to every kind of happiness, that is, the foundation of happiness, has been laid down in our original homeland.

The second verse is about character. We should be “true people of boundless domain (who) magnify their light.” Fallen people have lost this. What it means is that when a person's character shines forth, their light is magnified soundlessly.

By being true people of boundless domain who magnify their light, we become glorious beacons of truth over all things of creation.

By doing so, we assume our original form, bursting with life. Such a person becomes a subjective being of value. That person, in their very own self, flourishes as the hope for all ages and generations. In short, he or she thrives in the context of the universe, as the hope for all ages and generations.

The third verse speaks of the world of truth. In the line, “based on the order of God we'll build truthfulness,” “order” refers to the world of truth. We need to build truthfulness based on the order of God; that establishes the truthfulness humanity needs. Truthfulness is eternal. Next, come the lines, “One constant value that gives pledge of eternity.

The highest standard of truth is raised above.” A person who has raised such a standard possesses unchanging value. This standard will “decorate far distant days of radiant goodness.” In other words, it will decorate every day with goodness, days that last forever and ever.

Verse 4 says, “Awhich New culture dawns in the East glorious beyond our dreams; Mankind transformed in its light shall be one family. Ever to serve and attend our True Parent's own.

Undoubtedly, the world shall be one world of victory.” In light of this, the heart makes character, and truth is also necessary. Only after that can there be glory in a world of oneness. To win this glory, you need to march forward.
(026-203, 1969/10/25)

4. I wrote the lyrics to “Song of the Victors.” The 4th verse speaks of the goodness of everything God has created. The words were written when I started working for God's Will. I was truly moved when I heard it being sung at this gathering.

On this first morning of the first year, in this plaza of Cheon Il Guk, the new kingdom of heaven, the history is flowering.

The dream I had was not a fabrication. I dreamed it on behalf of God. For that reason, it will be realized without fail. (364-096, 2002/01/01)

5. In “Blessing of Glory,” the story of suffering comes before the words of glory. This is because I know that suffering serves as the basis that supports everything. To unite the physical world and the heavenly world, I repeated the words, “I will attend Him.”

A person who has lived such a life cannot hear this song without tears. I wrote it after being released from prison. I had gone east all alone, and now I was heading back west, back to Pyongyang, thinking that Blessings would be waiting. Yet instead I was opposed.

I tried to accomplish everything I desired and longed to do. It was all futile. I needed to go on by myself. Because I need to walk a path of salvation for the United States and the United Nations, I came here, and I am busy as I labor to conclude that work. (547-251, 2006/12/03)

6. I wrote “Blessing of Glory” with devotion. It was after I was released from Hungnam Prison and was trying to take care of members in Pyongyang. This song clearly describes my situation and position at the time. Only when you have passed through such a process can that song become yours.

That is the way you should live. It is not someone else's song. It is your song, and at the same time, it is your family's song. But it is more your clan's song than your family's song, and more your country's song, and even more your world's song.

Only by passing through such a process can you become liberated princes and princesses who can go to the eternal world, attend True Parents, and live together in joy and happiness. You need to go through such a process.
(579-145, 2007/10/29)

7. Many are the times that I miss the days when I became enraptured while singing “Song of the Garden” and wept tears, saying, “Even this piece of furniture is my friend.” “Song of the Garden” refers to a garden, or some such environment, where a couple, a husband, and wife, live together.

It describes the way you should live. Each one should become the Lord and the object partner of the Lord; everyone's favorite flowers are in fragrant blossoms, and butterflies and bees come together in harmony.

Thousands of beings come together in harmony. If you live in a neighborhood as a married couple and no one there remembers you, you owe a debt to that neighborhood. (569-221, 2007/07/25)

8. Members of the Unification Church, regardless of where they are, are delighted when they hear “Song of the Garden.” They long to go to the place where the song is being sung. When they go to that place and join in the singing, they experience all at once feelings of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure.

We should be grateful for the lyrics, and even more grateful for the song.
(332-208, 2000/09/22)

True Parents' Favorite Songs

In all kinds of meetings, True Parents lightened the atmosphere by singing or calling one or more members to sing. The songs “Sarang Hae” and “Ommaya, Nunaya” are songs that True Parents sang with each other or with members at church holiday celebrations and other gatherings.

True Parents also enjoy singing songs whose lyrics speak of yearning for the hometown, such as “Kagopa” “Go-Hyangwhich Mujeong,” and “Hyangsu,” which evoke feelings about the salvation of human beings who have lost their original homeland.

They also like songs of spring, such as “Bom Cheonyeo” and Song of April. It new life and hope, like plants that survive the cold winter and sprout forth in spring.

As he presided over the ocean providence in Cheong Hae Garden, Yeosu, True Father sang. Fu-rubato “Sailors' Song” together with Japanese members, and he also sang Japanese songs like “Fu-rubato” and “Akatombo” in chorus with the members.

He liked “Hollo Arirang,” a song about Dokdo that expresses the lonely path of the providence, and “Thousand-Year Rock,” which expresses unchanging loyalty.

As he approached his Holy Ascension, the True Father would have his grandchildren sit on his lap or at the table, and he would sing “Windflower” with them, smiling broadly. He also sang “Eight Scenes of Korea” and “In Praise of the Fatherland” out of his yearning for the kingdom of God. “

9. “Arirang Alone” is a song about the island Dokdo. Another way to read “Dokdo” is with the Chinese characters Dok meaning loneliness, and Do meaning path. The song relates how this rocky island's small facade fares through a stormy night. The clear waters of Mt. Baekdu and Mt. Seorak flow to the East Sea.

They find their way to where the sun rises. Then people take a boat to Dokdo, where they cast an anchor and greet the morning sun. All members of the Unification Church should know this song. Dokdo is not lonely, but in the song, the island refers to Eve. Dokdo is where Eve cultivates herself morally.

Women should hold their children close to their hearts and teach them this song about Dokdo. It is a song that cannot be sung without tears, for it is very profound. (399-211, 2002/12/23)

10. The song “Thousand-Year Rock” reminds me of the days I spent in Danbury. I was not lonely in prison; I was not estranged from others. Sunlight maintains its sovereignty with bright light at all places and at all times, night, or day. You should think of Danbury when you sing this song.

Verse two is about the evening when night approaches. When night comes, the place where I live and breathe is illuminated.

This means that even if you go to a world of darkness you should represent the path of the Will, and even if you are in prison you should cast the light of the kingdom of heaven. This is how I established the name, “saint of the prison.”

The last part of the song says that there is nothing I miss in this world; now I know everything, I have experienced everything, and I have found everything. But as the days come and go on the path, stand straight, or you will fall away.

You need to think about that. If you act as you please, you will fall away. I am telling you to find the right way and follow it to establish and own the kingdom of heaven desired by God. (515-185, 2006/02/25)

11. The song “Kagopa” is about going over the hill of Arirang and finding the path on which one can love one's hometown and one's country. It means going over the 12 hills of Arirang. That is the path of the Unification Church, the course of restoration.

We sing this song because it describes the course of restoration, liberating the fatherland by missing one's hometown and looking for one's original homeland.

What matters is not what the song is about, but rather how we can absorb its contents.

At night, you miss the day, and after daybreak, the day comes. On the path of God's Principle, we are persecuted so that we can restore everything in the enemy's world. That is why persecution is not a bad thing.

For a person who voluntarily endures persecution, a valley awaits after the hill, and the higher the hill, the deeper the valley. In that valley, a spring of water flows and grows bigger, until by and by it becomes a great river whose current flows across the country from east to west and brings life to all parts of it.

Where that river flows, it creates boundless and open plains. That earnest heart that left and is returning to the hometown is an indicator of the heart of the Unification Church, as it finds its way with the heart of restoration.
(419-248, 2003/10/04)

12. There is a song called “Man of the Wilderness.” If you are a man, it can be great to leave everything behind and run across the wilderness. You should try living like that at some time or other.

When your wife is out on the frontline witnessing, and you visit her carrying a backpack with food and money in it, you feel splendid. You meet under a shady tree with sorrowful hearts and speak to one another about what each of you has gone through.

You say, “How hard you have worked! Let us sit here!” You thank her for working so hard in such a lonely place. You express how she has overcome difficulties while supporting you. This creates, right then and there, a bond of love that will last 1,000 years. (076-193, 1975/02/09)

13. In the song “Shining Korea” there is a poetic and musical refrain that goes, “Ding dong.”

We could say that the Unification Church is a “ding-dong church.” That has a nice meaning; it signifies that the church stays in rhythm whether it goes up or down. The Unification Church is quite an interesting church.

All kinds of people, young and old, come together, speak with one another, and understand and sympathize with each other. They harmonize because the walls are not high. I feel that it is a good place, a place where people can make friends and close acquaintances.

A happy environment is one in which you meet someone for the first time and feel no distance, no barrier between you. What if our whole life, in which we build our circle of influence and practice our faith, were like that?

Many leaders would come into being, people who can influence others wherever they go and leave behind fond memories. That is the hope based upon which I, too, who continuing this work. (612-293, 2009/05/31)

14. The content of “Eight Scenes of Korea” is excellent, for it contains the philosophy of patriotism.

People across the world whoThe grace believe in the Unification Church can gain knowledge of Korea through this song, and based upon that they will inherit Korea's ideas and traditions.

With that in place, they can adopt the ideal of benefiting all humankind, an ideal unique to the white-clad people of Korea, and become subjects who uphold the Will of God.

Since this song contains the essence of such ideas, I inquired into who had written it. I discovered that it was my great-uncle, who was a pastor. He wrote the lyrics and taught them to my father. (576-280, 2007/10/02)

15. Let us sing “Song of Unification” loudly and with a heart to achieve unification through our devotion, our energy, and our effort. We need to follow a path to restore North Korea and South Korea.

Communism, however, has built a global structure and is persistently taking root. We need to tread on a thorny path until we can subjugate communism and expel it from the Korean Peninsula.

We have to revive this country as quickly as possible. Our families should unite, both internally and externally, and in solidarity unify North and South Korea, forming one self-reliant nation.

We are fighting against Satan, the enemy of the world. That is why we have to go through an internal revival. An external revival takes place automatically based on an internal revival. When you love God, love True Parents, love your tribe, and love your family, you experience a revival. (043-176, 1971/04/29)