The little child Jesus is already here
The Kings and the shepherds adore without fear
There is much to behold for the wise and the fool:
Saint Joseph, the Virgin; the ox and the mule.
Let us adore the little child
With pleasure and happy cheer;
Let us adore as the Magi do
As the Magi adore Him here.
A child is born in Bethlehem;
Rejoice, therefore, Jerusalem.
Low in the manger lieth He,
Whose kingdom without end shall be...
All glory, Lord, to Thee be done,
Now seen in flesh, the Virgin's Son.[35]
Thou camest down, O heaven's King,
From starry sky,
And in a cave so poor and cold
I see Thee lie.
I see Thee tremble, blessed God;
Why should this be?
Thy sacrifice, O love Divine,
Is all for me.
About the field they piped full right,
Even about the midst of the night;
They saw come down from heaven a light:
Tirle, tirle--so merrily
The shepherds began to blow.[37]
Noel, Noel, Noel,
Tidings good I think to tell.
The boar's head that we bring here,
Betokeneth a prince without peer
Is born today to buy us dear.
Noel, Noel, Noel.
In dulci jubilo
Sing ye, and gladness show!
See our bliss reclining
In praesepio,
The very sun outshining
Matris in gremio.
Alpha es et O,
Alpha es et O.
Thy shining eyes, so blue and light,
Thy tender cheeks, so soft and bright;
I will remain forever Thine,
O dearest Son, O child Divine....
Hajej, nynej, Jesus dear,
Sleep in peace, and do not fear.
We shall bundle you to rest,
Keep you close to our breast.
Hajej, nynej, darling Child,
Son of Mary, Saviour mild.
As Joseph was a-walking,
He heard an angel sing:
This night shall be born
Our heavenly king.
He neither shall be born
In housen or in hall,
Nor in the place of Paradise,
But in an ox's stall.
He neither shall be clothed
In purple nor in pall,
But all in fair linen,
As were babies all..
The gates of Heaven's glory did spring open suddenly
So came we running to the crib,
I and also you,
A beeline into Bethlehem, Hopsa, trala loo:
"O, baby dear, take anything
Of all the little gifts we bring:
Have apples or have butter,
Maybe pears or yellow cheese;
Or would you rather have some nuts,
Or plums, or what you please.
Alleluja, alleluja;
AIle-, alle-, Alleluja."[44]
Now Christmas is here again,
And Christmas is here again,
And Christmas we'll have till Easter.
Then Easter is here again,
And Easter is here again,
And Easter we'll have till Christmas.
Now He is with us forever,
And He is with us forever,
For He is here now and comes again.
Joseph, dearest Joseph mine,
Help me rock my baby fine!
What Gabriel foretold
Is now fulfilled,
Eia, Eia,
The Virgin bore a child
As the Father's wisdom willed.
Eia, Eia.
Joseph, dearest Joseph mine,
Help me rock my baby fine!
The blessed light of Saints above,
Sweet hope of mortals here below,
Art thou, O Jesu, who the love
Of human home and hearth didst know.
O Mary, thou art full of grace,
Who careth for Jesus with tender love,
And kissed his blessed, smiling face
Whilst in thine arms he took his rest.
O Joseph, thou of all our race
Elected wast to guard the fame
Of Mary, Virgin full of grace,
And give her Son a father's name.
O Mary! Joseph! holy twain
From Jesse's root and David's seed,
Who ushered in salvation's reign,
Help all who at Christ's altars plead.
The sun declineth towards the west,
And dusk of night is drawing near,
O take to God the heart's behest
Of each and all who linger here.
Sweet home of Nazareth, in thee
All grace and virtue can we see;
Lord, grant each Christian home to be,
Like thine, aholy family.
Praise God, who served, whilst here on earth,
Joseph, and her who gave him birth; .
Whom with the Father, we adore,
And Holy Ghost, for evermore. Amen.
ON AWAKENING
Hymn to Christ the light and life
Christ come among men
as source of light,
your ineffable birth
is before the beginning of time.
and illumine the souls of the faithful.
You have created the world
and fixed the orbit of the stars;
you sustain the axis of the earth, you save all mankind.
You guide the sun in its course
to light up all our days
and the crescent moon
which dispels the darkness of night.
From your inexhaustible fount
you pour out the splendour of life making fruitful the whole universe. . .
Synesius of Cyrene
Prayer to Christ
Jesus, Immaculate Lamb,
you are both father and lamb
my brother and my friend; . . .
You are he who is all, and that all is in me;
You are he who is, and nothing exists apart from you.
Take refuge in him, you too, my brothers who will yet believe from the heart;
and when you have understood that only in him will you have life, then you will receive that joy that was promised:
“That which eye has not seen
nor ear heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of man to imagine”.
Grant to us, then, what has been promised.
We praise you, we thank you, we bear witness to you; we, weak mortals, give you glory,
you who alone are God in the flesh, for there is no other, living, reigning, ruling with God our Father in the unity and power of the Holy Spirit our Paraclete,
Glory to you, unceasingly, now and always and unto the endless ages of ages to come.
Amen.
Nativity Matins
Prayer for the Nativity
Jesus Christ, radiant centre of glory,
image of our God, the invisible Father,
revealer of his eternal designs,
prince of peace;
father of the world to come. . .
For our sake he took the likeness of a slave,
becoming flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
without intervention of man;
for our sake, wrapped in swaddling bands
and laid in a manger
adored by the shepherds
and hymned by the angelic powers, who sang:
Glory to God in the heavens
and on earth peace and good to men.
Make us worthy, Lord, to celebrate and to conclude in peace the feast which magnifies the rising of your light,
by avoiding empty words, working with justice, fleeing from the passions and raising up the spirit above earthly goods.
Bless your Church, formed long ago
to be united with yourself through your life giving blood.
Come to the aid of your faithful shepherds,
of the priests and the teachers of your Gospel.
Bless your faithful whose only hope is in your mercy; christian souls, the sick, those who are tormented in spirit and those who have asked Us to pray for them.
Have pity, in your infinite clemency, and preserve us in fitness to receive the future, endless good things.
We celebrate your glorious nativity
with the Father who sent you for our redemption,
with the life-giving Spirit,
now and for ever and through all ages. Amen.
Syriac liturgy
Hymn for the Nativity
do you truly judge with fairness?
We confess with unshakable faith
that God, who was made man
and who was given birth by a Virgin.
Before all time he was begotten.
of an immeasurable Father;
now we adore him who became incarnate
in a Virgin’s womb.
He is the creator of all,
himself remaining invisible and distinct from creation.
So we are able to say:
in you, Lord, is clemency; glory be to you.
O Holy God,
you have deigned to be born, a tiny child, from a Virgin.
O God, holy and strong,
you have willed to rest in the arms of Mary.
O God, holy and immortal,
you have come to rescue Adam from hell.
O immaculate Virgin, Mother of God, full of grace,
Emmanuel, whom you have carried,
is the fruit of your womb.
In your maternal bosom you have nourished all men.
You are above all praise and all glory.
Hail, Mother of God, joy of the angels.
The fullness of your grace
goes beyond what the prophets foretold.
The Lord is with you,
you have given birth
to the Saviour of the world.
Fragment from an ancient eucharistic liturgy
Christmas prayer
we praise you, Lord Jesus Christ,
God-Saviour of men,
stupendously powerful with the Father;
we praise you, we invoke you, we pray to you; assist us with your pardon, with clemency give us your grace.
Awaken in our hearts desires deserving of fulfillment; suggest to us words that are worthy to be heard; grant that our actions may be worthy of blessing.
We beg you to renew your birth in human nature, penetrating us with your invisible godhead
as you did in a unique way in Mary
and do now spiritually in the Church.
May you be conceived by our faith,
that a mind untouched by corruption may bring you forth, that the soul, ever confirmed by the power of the Most High, may offer you a dwelling place.
Be not born in us, but reveal yourself in us. Be truly for us the Emmanuel, God with us.
Deign to remain with us, to fight for us. Only so can we conquer.
Mozarabic liturgy
Prayers in Eucharistia Lauds
To Christ the first-born
MONDAY VESPERS HYMNS
Christ Jesus our only lord and saviour
the stars that shine and the powers in motion
all vanish in the splendour of your light
and remain still before the power of your greatness.
You alone are visible,
you reveal the image of the Father almighty,
and thus you manifest the sublimity of the Father and the Son. As the Father is almighty in the heavenly sphere,
so are you, the Son, in our universe
the first-born, the guide and lord of all power;
you, from the beginning, are the second grandeur
that comes from that of the Father;
you are the foundation of all the world.
You are our archetype,
the mind which ordains and the one who steers;
you are the way and the door that opens into light.
You are the image of justice;
you are ever our shining star.
To you we render thanks, praise and blessing.
Before you we bend the knee
and we ask, with trust, that we be made holy.
Grant that we may be ever strong in faith,
sound in mind and body
to sing for ever and without ceasing your praises,
that you, the Immortal, ,the Infinite, the Eternal
may be celebrated in every place.
You are the model and essence of the Spirit,
you are our blessed Father,
our king and our God.
With eyes fixed on you, we shall not die, 0 Lord;
if we confess your name we shall not be lost.
Anonymous hymn
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