5 O renew us, Lord, we pray,
With thy Spirit day by day,
That we ever one may be
With the Father and with thee.
Sing, O sing, etc. Amen.

78

Christopher Wordsworth, 1862

7.6.8.6 D.

LITTLE town of Bethlehem!

How still we see thee lie;

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;

Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;

The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.

2 For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together

Proclaim the holy birth!

And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.

3 How silently, how silently,

The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,

But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive him, still

The dear Christ enters in.

4 O holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel! Amen.

Phillips Brooks, 1868

79

I

C.M.D.

T came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven's all-gracious King;
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

2 Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:

Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

30 ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow!
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing:

O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing.

4 For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years,
Shall come the time foretold,

When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace their King,

And the whole world send back the song Which now the angels sing.

80

Edmund H. Sears, 1846

8.7.8.7.4.7

NGELS, from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;

Ye, who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth:
Come and worship,

Worship Christ, the newborn King.

2 Shepherds in the field abiding,
Watching o'er your flocks by night;
God with man is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant Light:
Come and worship,

Worship Christ, the newborn King.

3 Sages, leave your contemplations;
Brighter visions beam afar:
Seek the great Desire of nations,
Ye have seen his natal star:
Come and worship,

Worship Christ, the newborn King.

3 Saints before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear.
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In his temple shall appear:
Come and worship,

Worship Christ, the newborn King.

James Montgomery, 1816

81

8.7.8.7

ARK! what mean those holy voices Sweetly sounding through the skies? Lo! the angelic host rejoices,

Heavenly alleluias rise.

2 Listen to the wondrous story,

Which they chant in hymns of joy "Glory in the highest, glory!

Glory be to God most high!

3 "Peace on earth, good will from heaven,
Reaching far as man is found;
Souls redeemed and sins forgiven,
Loud our golden harps shall sound.

4 "Christ is born, the great Anointed!
Heaven and earth his praises sing!
O receive whom God appointed
For your Prophet, Priest, and King!

5 "Hasten, mortals, to adore him;
Learn his name to magnify,
Till in heaven ye sing before him,
Glory be to God most high!"

82

John Cawood, 1818

7.6.7.6.6.7.6

AGREAT and mighty wonder

full and holy cure!

The Virgin bears the Infant
With virgin-honour pure.
Repeat the hymn again!

"To God on high be glory,
And peace on earth to men!"

2 The Word becomes incarnate
And yet remains on high!
And cherubim sing anthems
To shepherds from the sky.
Repeat, etc.

3 While thus they sing your Monarch,
Those bright angelic bands,
Rejoice, ye vales and mountains,
Ye oceans, clap your hands.
Repeat, etc.

4 Since all he comes to ransom,
By all be he adored,
The Infant born in Bethlehem,
The Saviour and the Lord.
Repeat, etc.

5 And idol forms shall perish,
And error shall decay,

83

And Christ shall wield his scepter,
Our Lord and God for aye.
Repeat, etc.

St. Germanus, 634-734; Tr. John Mason Neale, 1863

P.M.

HOU didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown,

TH

When thou camest to earth for me;

But in Bethlehem's home was there found

no room

For thy holy nativity.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus!

There is room in my heart for thee.

2 Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang, Proclaiming thy royal degree;

But in lowly birth didst thou come to earth,

And in great humility.