December 25, 2009
-
Martin Luther's Christmas Eve hymn
I recently came across Martin Luther's hymn "Von Himmel hoch da komm ich her" ("From Heaven above to Earth I Come," translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1855). (HT for the hymn text & the historical background: NetHymnal.org)."Luther wrote this hymn for his five year old son Hans; it was not published until four years later. It was sung at the annual Christmas Eve festival at the Luther home: a man dressed as an angel would sing the opening verses, then the children would greet him with the verse, 'Welcome to earth, thou noble guest…'"
Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10
From Heaven above to Earth I ComeFrom Heaven above to earth I come
To bear good news to every home;
Glad tidings of great joy I bring
Whereof I now will say and sing:To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen mother mild;
This little child, of lowly birth,
Shall be the joy of all your earth.'Tis Christ our God who far on high
Hath heard your sad and bitter cry;
Himself will your Salvation be,
Himself from sin will make you free.He brings those blessings, long ago
Prepared by God for all below;
Henceforth His kingdom open stands
To you, as to the angel bands.These are the tokens ye shall mark,
The swaddling clothes and manger dark;
There shall ye find the young child laid,
By whom the heavens and earth were made.Now let us all with gladsome cheer
Follow the shepherds, and draw near
To see this wondrous gift of God
Who hath His only Son bestowed.Give heed, my heart, lift up thine eyes!
Who is it in yon manger lies?
Who is this child so young and fair?
The blessed Christ-child lieth there.Welcome to earth, Thou noble guest,
Through whom e'en wicked men are blest!
Thou com'st to share our misery,
What can we render, Lord, to Thee!Ah, Lord, who hast created all,
How hast Thou made Thee weak and small,
That Thou must choose Thy infant bed
Where ass and ox but lately fed!Were earth a thousand times as fair,
Beset with gold and jewels rare,
She yet were far too poor to be
A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.For velvets soft and silken stuff
Thou hast but hay and straw so rough,
Whereon Thou King, so rich and great,
As 'twere Thy heaven, art throned in state.Thus hath it pleased Thee to make plain
The truth to us poor fools and vain,
That this world's honour, wealth and might
Are nought and worthless in Thy sight.Ah! dearest Jesus, Holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for Thee.My heart for very joy doth leap,
My lips no more can silence keep;
I too must sing with joyful tongue
That sweetest ancient cradle-song—Glory to God in highest Heaven,
Who unto man His Son hath given!
While angels sing with pious mirth
A glad New Year to all the earth.I really like the richness and depth of this hymn.
What is your favorite Christmas hymn?
RSS feed
Comments (4)
was this before or after he wrote "on the Jews and their lies" where he stated that anyone that helped a jew is in danger of hell themselves?
I like that hymn...=D
I actually personally quite like the "Little Drummer Boy"...I like that song.
The spelling might elude me, but I used to sing: "Von Himmel Hoch." O Du Fröehliche, O Tannenbaum, Stille Nacht all of which I learned many years ago in German class. I might still get most of the words right.
@quest4god@revelife - I might still get most of the words right.
I wasn't familiar w/ this hymn before I came across it last year. I took a couple years of Latin in High School and we would go Christmas caroling in Latin. I can still remember a couple phrases here and there.