The Story Behind On Eagle's Wings
"On Eagle's Wings" is a devotional Hymn created by Michael Joncas. Joncas penned the song in the late 1970s. It was recorded in 1979, with Douglas Hall as a producer, distributed by North American Liturgy Resources and later acquired by New Dawn Music, a subsidiary of Oregon Catholic Press. It has become celebrated as a thoughtful Hymn at Catholic masses as well as at Mainline Protestant services.
It is now performed during services of many Christian denominations, including Pentecostal churches, and was performed at many of the funerals of victims of September 11. It is often played either at the beginning or the ending of a Roman Catholic funeral Mass. It has been performed at many internationally broadcast papal Masses, was selected as part of the 2007 funeral Mass for Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy, also broadcast internationally.
Fr. Joncas has stated that his choice for the title would be "On Eagle's Wings," meaning that the wings belong to a single eagle as a comparison for God, but he said he could make a case for the plural "On Eagles' Wings," since many wings would be needed to lift up the many people in covenant with God.
