Friday, December 25, 2009

O Come...

Today I simply leave you with the two pieces of seasonal music which speak most deeply to my spirit. The first pleads for the coming of the long awaited Messiah; expresses an ancient longing and dreams of a future hope. Its haunting simplicity has gripped me from the first time I ever heard it. The second is what should be my appropriate response to the fulfillment of that promise, whether it came in a form I expected or not.

Merry Christmas. May all your nobler longings be fulfilled.






Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel
Translated: John Neal, 1818-66

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, our Wisdom from on high,
Who ordered all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come O Rod of Jesse's stem,
From ev'ry foe deliver them
That trust your mighty pow'r to save;
Bring them in vict'ry through the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, O Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!








O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing all that hear in heaven God's holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

12 comments:

secret agent woman said...

I always loved the mournful sound of the first one when I used to hear it sung iin church.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Craig said...

Amen. Merry Christmas to you all. . .

S said...

I hope you have an awesome day with your family, Lime!


Word Veri: Porke! the other white meat.

Ananda girl said...

Merry Christmas!

Susan English Mason said...

Wow! I hadn't heard this sung by Andrea Bocelli. Beautiful. Merry Xmas Limey Bean.

Jocelyn said...

Sweet Friend: all the best of love today.

Cosima said...

Have a Peaceful and Merry Christmas, Lime!

G-Man said...

Merry Christmas Trini.....G

snowelf said...

Merry Christmas Lime and the fam. :)
I love O'come Emmanuel too. It was always one of my favorites.

Hugs,

--snow

Rick Rockhill said...

So beautiful, thanks for sharing those videos. hope you and the family had a blessed Christmas.
-Rick

Anonymous said...

The Messiah has been here many times in many forms...and continues to appear...we have but to look...

RennyBA's Terella said...

You really took me down my memory lane in this, especially with the second one. You see, when one of my bonus child was younger and played in a marching band, they always performed in church at Xmas even and played that song. It's truly amateurs - especially me as I recorded it with my compact cam :lol: