By reader request, Adeste Fideles–the original Latin version of the carol we also know as O Come, All Ye Faithful. In some hymnals this melody is also used for the old Portuguese hymn, How Firm a Foundation.
I have to go to the nursing home today, but hopefully I’ll be back with more later.
Sing louder, everybody–the King of Kings has come!
And who but the Lord Our God would have ever thought of having the King come into the world by way of a manger?
By reader request, here’s Joy to the World, with printed lyrics.
Did you know those lyrics were by Isaac Watts, early in the 19th century? I didn’t know that.
I remember we always used to sing this in Spanish class, to Spanish lyrics, back when public schools allowed the celebration of Christmas: Paz en el mundo, pax y amor…
The times are evil, O Lord: but Christ is come into the world, to cast out the prince of this world.
Move us to sing louder!
By reader request, here’s O Holy Night, performed by Celtic Woman. They do nice work.
We play our carols throughout the day on Christmas Eve, as I struggle to erect and decorate our tree. It’s worth the effort, though.
I’m happy to take requests and post them, so don’t be shy, folks.
By reader request, here is God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. I picked this version of the 18th century hymn because I like the sound of it, I like the snowscape, and I like the easy-to-follow printed lyrics, which show how closely this Christmas carol is based on Luke Chapter 2.
I will continue to post hymns and Christmas carols by request, so don’t be bashful–let me know if there’s one you’d like to have posted here.
While I work on something else, I thought you might enjoy this classic English Christmas carol. It was first published in the early 19th century, but the melody is surely older than that.
Let’s get in the mood for Christmas, shall we?
Let’s start getting into the mood for Christmas–not to make it an idol, certainly not as some kind of generic “happy holiday” whose name we must not mention: but as our glorious proclamation of the incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ as an historical fact–a thing that really happened.
I love this hymn. Our junior high school band used to do a fine rendition of it. Like everyone else in my home room, I was drafted into the school choir willy-nilly–just as my voice was changing, too–but I dearly loved to listen to the band practice this melody.
On this day Earth shall ring–amen!