Agathos Dorea

“Lord, until I reach my home
I never ’spect to give the journey over
Until I reach my home”

~Negro Spiritual, Until I Reach My Home, 1861″

Originating in the late 1700’s, enslaved African Americans made it a practice to stay after the regular worship services in churches or “praise houses” to sing and pray for deliverance. During this time, they shared their sorrows, pains, hopes, and prayers through songs commonly referred to as sperichals (spirituals). Assembling by the hundreds, Congregants would listen to itinerant preachers and sing for hours in hopes that the louder they sang, the easier it would be for the Lord to find them.

Some African American religious singing–especially during the time of the Civil War–was referred to as Lamentations. Although it was symbolic of pain and suffering, in the truest sense, it implied the certainty that all suffering should be considered “but a momentary light affliction” with the ultimate result being deliverance by a faithful and loving God.