A Spiritual is a African-American song with a religious text. Traditionally monophonic and a capella, these songs are antecedents of the blues. They began on Southern slaveplantations as work songs[?], sometimes with hidden messages of rebellion and escape from the slaves' owners.
... at his request, he was permitted to travel to Molokai to help the lepers who had virtually nothing to keep them warm or fed. After twelve years of ministering to the ...