Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Christmas...


I did a presentation yesterday on the Oxford Movement/Anglo-Catholic/Tractarian Movement in England during the mid 19th Century. Through some research, I found that my favourite Christmas carol: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (well, The First Noel is my OTHER favourite) was translated by John Mason Neale(1818-1866) who was part of the movement and mainly a hymn writer and translator (he also wrote Good King Wenceslas). Anyway, I think the hymn is awesome, so if you're not famliar with the original translation, then take a read... and would that God would indeed "bid our sad divisions cease"...

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 Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Refrain

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.

Refrain

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Refrain

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.

Refrain

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.

Refrain

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.

Refrain

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.

Refrain


(thank you Cyber Hymnal

5 comments:

shy_smiley said...

thanks for that information! I just mentioned both "O Come, Emmanuel" and "Good King Wenceslas" on another blogger's site about Christmas carols. Those two are among my favorites as well. It's nice to get a little mor information about them.

And congrats to you and your wife. Parenthood is the most arduous yet rewarding endeavor ever!

Higgins said...

...love that hymn (any time of the year)!

Anonymous said...

Good stuff....

jlee said...

I truly was refreshed by reading the full version of that great hymn. I will come back and read the words again and again in the coming weeks.

Roodman said...

Boy Princeton is exciting......Merry Christmas.....