Tag: Advent

A Canticle for Advent: Give Him My Heart

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fencenorth

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give Him my heart.
~Christina Rossetti 1872

7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthinians 9:7-8

In bleak weather, as so many of us are experiencing today, it is a chore to do chores and a chore to be cheerful.  The arctic winds are moaning everywhere around the farm, the earth now hard as iron, all water like stone.
Yet to this misery He chose to come, knowing He was to be hurt, to bleed, to join us in pain.

How can I hold back my heart from One like this?   It is all I have of any value to Him.  It is what He came for, to take back with Him.

A Canticle for Advent: Boundless Grace of Face

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The Holy Night by Carlo Maratta
The Holy Night by Carlo Maratta

My love and tender one are you
My sweet and lovely son are you
You are my love and darling you
Unworthy, I of you

Haleluia, haleluia, haleluia, haleluia.

Your mild and gentle eyes proclaim
The loving heart with which you came
A tiny tender hapless bairn
With boundless grace of face

Haleluia, haleluia, haleluia, haleluia.

King of Kings, most holy one
Gone the sun eternal one
You are my god and helpless son
High ruler of mankind

Haleluia, haleluia, haleluia, haleluia.

My love and tender one are you
My sweet and lovely son are you
You are my love and darling you
Unworthy, I of you

Haleluia, haleluia, haleluia, haleluia.
~Traditional Gaelic carol Taladh Chriosda (Christ Child Lullaby) from the Hebrides

Another translation:

My love, my pride, my treasure oh
My wonder new and pleasure oh
My son, my beauty, ever You
Who am I to bear You here?2. The cause of talk and tale am I
The cause of greatest fame am I
The cause of proudest care on high
To have for mine, the King of all.3. And though You are the King of all
They sent You to the manger stall
Where at Your feet they all shall fall
And glorify my child, the King.		 4. There shone a star above three kings
To guide them to the King of kings
They held You in their humble arms
And knelt before You until dawn.5. They gave You myrrh and gave You gold
Frankincense and gifts untold
They traveled far these gifts to bring
And glorify their new born King. 

19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
~Luke 2:19

This lullaby sings of the paradox of this special child: at once God and helpless baby.  Mary bore a Son bearing boundless grace for her and us all.
Unworthy, we of You.  Yet You came and will come again.

A Canticle for Advent: Dewdrops are Shining

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thistledowndrizzle

Hail the blest morn, See the Great Mediator
Down from the regions of glory descend
Shepherds go worship the Babe in the manger,
Lo, for His guard the bright angels attend.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

  1. Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
    Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
    Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
    Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!
  2. Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
    Odors of Edom and offerings divine?
    Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
    Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?
  3. Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
    Vainly with gifts would His favor secure;
    Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
    Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
    ~Reginald Heber 1811

 

 

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:9-11

Advent is the expectancy of receiving God on earth, the unimaginable gift to Man that keeps on giving.
Yet in the anticipation of receiving that ultimate gift, we tend to forget that we ourselves bring something to lay down at the manger.
It isn’t gilded containers of rich and rare spices.
It is our own hearts,  offered with humble prayer of gratitude and adoration.
We give our gift knowing that in the giving, our lives will never be the same again.
Who else would accept such a gift and hand over His heart and life in return?

A Canticle for Advent: The Day-Star Waking

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1002556_581472858054_326807933_n

1. Whence is the goodly fragrance flowing,
Stealing our senses all away,
never the like did come a-blowing,
Shepherds, in flow’ry fields of May,
Whence is that goodly fragrance flowing,
Stealing our senses all away.

2. What is that light so brilliant,
breaking Here in the night across our eyes.
Never so bright, the day-star waking,
Started to climb the morning skies!
What is that light so brilliant, breaking,
Here in the night across our eyes.

3. Bethlehem! there in manger lying,
Find your Redeemer haste away,
Run ye with eager footsteps vieing!
Worship the Saviour born today.
Bethlehem! there in manger lying,
Find your Redeemer haste away.
~ Traditional French Carol

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
Matthew 2: 10

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
Luke 2: 8-9

Stealing our senses.  Overwhelmed by the songs of glory.  Like the scent of a flowery field of fragrance in the middle of May, or the brightest light breaking apart the darkest night.Running, not walking, to meet the Redeemer.  This is what it was like for the shepherds and the magi.  This is what it is still like for us.  Our Day-Star awakens and we, our senses stolen by glory,  are overjoyed.

A Canticle for Advent: Dawning Ray

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1. A Babe is born, all of a Maid
To bring salvation unto us:
No more are we to sing afraid,
Veni, Creator Spiritus

2. Bethlehem, That blessed place,
The Child of bliss then born He was;
He aye to serve God give us grace,
O Lux beata Trinitas.

3. There came three kings out of the East,
To worship there that King so free
With gold and myrrh and frankincense,
A solis ortus cardine.

4. The shepherds heard an Angel cry,
O merry song that night sang he,
Why are ye all so sore aghast,
Jam lucis orto sidere?

5. The Angel came down with a cry,
A fair and joyful song sang he,
And in the worship of that Child,
Gloria Tibi Domine.
~15th century carol

 

The Latin phrases in this old hymn are:

I came as Creator
O light of Holy Trinity
to the focus of birth
dawning ray
Glory to you, O God

May we this day focus on the light of this Birth, this Creator arising from the created, this dawning of glory on earth.

 

 

A Canticle for Advent: Kind and Good

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tonynose

1. Jesus our brother, kind and good
Was humbly born in a stable rude
And the friendly beasts around Him stood,
Jesus our brother, kind and good.

2. “I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown,
“I carried His mother up hill and down;
I carried her safely to Bethlehem town.”
“I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown.

3. “I,” said the cow all white and red
“I gave Him my manger for His bed;
I gave him my hay to pillow his head.”
“I,” said the cow all white and red.

4. “I,” said the sheep with curly horn,
“I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm;
He wore my coat on Christmas morn.”
“I,” said the sheep with curly horn.

5. “I,” said the dove from the rafters high,
“I cooed Him to sleep so He would not cry;
We cooed him to sleep, my mate and I.”
“I,” said the dove from the rafters high.

6. Thus every beast by some good spell,
In the stable dark was glad to tell
Of the gift he gave Immanuel,
The gift he gave Immanuel.
~12th century carol

She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:7

I know a fair amount about animals and their feed troughs, having daily encounters with them in our barn.   This is “stable rude” –no fanfare and no grandiosity, just basic sustenance– every day needs fulfilled in the most simple and plain way. Our wooden troughs are so old, they have been filled with fodder thousands of times over the decades. The wood has been worn smooth and shiny from years of being sanded by cows’ rough tongues, and over the last two decades, our horses’ smoother tongues, as they lick up every last morsel, extracting every bit of flavor and nourishment from what has been offered there. No matter how tired, how hungry, there is comfort offered at those troughs. The horses know it, anticipate it, depend on it, thrive because of it.

The shepherds in the hills that night were starving too. They had so little, yet became the first invited to the feast at the trough. They must have been overwhelmed, having never known such plenty before. Overcome with the immensity of what was laid before them, they certainly could not contain themselves, and told everyone they could about what they had seen.

His mother listened to the excitement of the visiting shepherds and that she “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”. Whenever I’m getting caught up in the frenetic overblown commercialism of modern Christmas, I go out to the barn and look at our rough hewn feed troughs and think about what courage it took to entrust an infant to such a bed. She knew in her heart, indeed she had been told, that her son was to feed the hungry souls of human kind and He became fodder Himself.

Now I am at the trough, starving, sometimes stamping in impatience, often anxious and weary, at times hopeless and helpless. He was placed there for good reason: a kind and good treasure to be shared plain and simple, nurture without end for all.

 

These daily Advent reflections are each devoted to one Christmas carol (or canticle) to prepare us for God dwelling among us– then, now and forever more.

A Canticle for Advent: Come and See

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Gerrit van Honthorst "L'adoration des bergers"
Gerrit van Honthorst “L’adoration des bergers”

Sing we now of Christmas
Sing we all Noel
Of the Lord and Savior
We the tidings tell
Sing we Noel
For Christ our Lord is born
Sing we Noel
For Christ our Lord is born
Angels from on high
May shepherds come and see
He’s born in Bethleham
A blessed family
Glory to God
For Christ our King is born
Glory to God
For Christ our King is born
Sing we now of Christmas

Sing we all Noel
Sing we now of Christmas
Sing we all Noel
Sing we all Noel
~Noël Nou­ve­let, 15th Cen­tu­ry French mel­o­dy

 

I grew up knowing this bittersweet melody as an Easter hymn, “Now the Green Blade Riseth” and later was surprised to find it was actually a Christmas carol.
I find the Easter words even more meaningful, and the imagery fits for Advent as well, as we wait expectantly for the call back to life again from the fields of our dead hearts.

Love is come again.  Indeed.

 

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
~John Crum 1928

A Canticle for Advent: Ponder Nothing Earthly-Minded

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photo by Julie Garrett
photo by Julie Garrett

1 Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly minded,
for with blessing in his hand
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.

2 King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
in the body and the blood,
he will give to all the faithful
his own self for heavenly food.

3 Rank on rank the host of heaven
spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,
that the powers of hell may vanish
as the shadows clear away

4 At his feet the six-winged seraph,
cherubim, with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry,
“Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia, Lord most high!”
~from the Liturgy of St. James, 4th century

 

The Lord is in his holy temple;
    let all the earth be silent before him.
Habakkuk 2:20

 

This ancient hymn is one of the most profound of Advent, demanding our silence as we ponder and honor these words that transcend all earthly bounds of our eyes, ears and voices.
How can we be anything but awe-struck silent as we consider Christ our God to earth descendeth?  We should be trembling; we should be standing mute in our shoes, amazed.
So we follow the lead of the angel host as they bring us the incredible news: Glory to God!  Alleluia!
There is nothing earthly minded in their song.
Earth will never be the same since He came,
He died,
He rose
and He readies us to join Him.

 


	


				
	






	
	

		
A Canticle for Advent: Turn Our Darkness Into Light
	


	
					

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sunset121


O come, O come, Emmanuel,

 and ransom captive Israel,

 that mourns in lonely exile here

 until the Son of God appear.

 Refrain:

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.


 O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free

 thine own from Satan’s tyranny;

 from depths of hell thy people save,

 and give them victory over the grave. 


 O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer

 our spirits by thine advent here;

 dispel the shadows of the night,

 and turn our darkness into light. 


 O come, thou Key of David, come,

 and open wide our heavenly home;

 make safe the way that leads on high,

 and close the path to misery.




 O come, O come, great Lord of might,

 who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height

 in ancient times once gave the law

 in cloud and majesty and awe.




 O come, thou Root of Jesse’s tree,

 an ensign of thy people be;

 before thee rulers silent fall;

 all peoples on thy mercy call.




 O come, Desire of nations, bind

 in one the hearts of all mankind;

 bid thou our sad divisions cease,

 and be thyself our King of Peace.

12tth Century (Latin)










Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14


“The Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”

declares the Lord.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 59:20


This haunting hymn from the 12th century is often among the first hymns sung in worship during the Advent season.  It is plaintive in its plainness of plea, calling Jesus by His many names.  In coming to us,  He will change our hearts and our world, turning our darkness into light, dispelling the shadows forever.


These daily Advent reflections are each devoted to one Christmas carol (or canticle) to prepare us for God dwelling among us– then, now and forever more.

	


				
	






	
	

		
A Canticle for Advent: Let No Tongue on Earth Be Silent
	


	
					

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photo by Josh Scholten
photo by Josh Scholten


1. Of the Father’s love begotten,

Ere the worlds began to be,

He is Alpha and Omega,

He the source, the ending He,

Of the things that are, that have been,

And that future years shall see,

Evermore and evermore!


2. At His Word the worlds were framèd;

He commanded; it was done:

Heaven and earth and depths of ocean

In their threefold order one;

All that grows beneath the shining

Of the moon and burning sun,

Evermore and evermore!


3. He is found in human fashion,

Death and sorrow here to know,

That the race of Adam’s children

Doomed by law to endless woe,

May not henceforth die and perish

In the dreadful gulf below,

Evermore and evermore!


4. O that birth forever blessèd,

When the Virgin, full of grace,

By the Holy Ghost conceiving,

Bare the Savior of our race;

And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,

First revealed His sacred face,

Evermore and evermore!


5. This is He Whom seers in old time

Chanted of with one accord;

Whom the voices of the prophets

Promised in their faithful word;

Now He shines, the long expected,

Let creation praise its Lord,

Evermore and evermore!


6. O ye heights of heaven adore Him;

Angel hosts, His praises sing;

Powers, dominions, bow before Him,

And extol our God and King!

Let no tongue on earth be silent,

Every voice in concert sing,

Evermore and evermore!


7. Righteous judge of souls departed,

Righteous King of them that live,

On the Father’s throne exalted

None in might with Thee may strive;

Who at last in vengeance coming

Sinners from Thy face shalt drive,

Evermore and evermore!


8. Thee let old men, thee let young men,

Thee let boys in chorus sing;

Matrons, virgins, little maidens,

With glad voices answering:

Let their guileless songs re-echo,

And the heart its music bring,

Evermore and evermore!


9. Christ, to Thee with God the Father,

And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,

Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving,

And unwearied praises be:

Honor, glory, and dominion,

And eternal victory,

Evermore and evermore!

~ Aurelius Clemens Prudentius  (348-405)








 


One of our oldest known hymns remains one of the most profound of all time, its verses a reflection of the power of the Word, its plainchant melody a gliding of notes up and down the musical scale.  In singing it, we are joined together with fifteen hundred years of the faithful and those who will come after us, singing unwearied praises evermore and evermore.


 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:8


These daily Advent reflections are each devoted to one Christmas carol (or canticle) to prepare us for God dwelling among us– then, now and forever more.