I’ve said there is no wrong time for a Christmas hymn, so let’s enjoy one today–On This Day Earth Shall Ring, sung by the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Falls, PA. This hymn goes back to 1582, when it was sung in Latin and known as Personent Hodie.
We’re going to keep on doing Easter hymns, too.
I can post a carol, too, I think. And this is the one that entered my mind today–On This Day Earth Shall Ring (Personent Hodie, in Latin. This hymn was included in our seventh-grade Christmas program–and nothing like a cathedral choir to bring it home to us.
Yes, all right, it’s a Christmas hymn–tell me there’s a bad time for that.
First sung in 1582, Personent Hodie–sung here by the choir and congregation at First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
I’m surprised no one has entered this in our Christmas Carol Contest–glorious 14th century Christmas hymn, On This Day Earth Shall Ring, more properly Personent Hodie, sung here by the Mount Holyoke College Vespers. We sang this, long ago, in our middle school Christmas concert. Before they outlawed wholesomeness.
As for the contest, the leader from the first day is still the leader with 25 views on the day it was requested… and still leading on Christmas Day itself. So many of you haven’t entered!
And don’t forget to show up for our cyber-Christmas party…
This one goes all the way back to the 14th century–On This Day Earth Shall Ring, here sung by St. Malachy’s College Choir, Belfast. The hymn is also sung as Personent Hodie, as it appeared in a Finnish hymn book from the 1500s.
Our Christmas Carol Contest has slowed way down today, so let me try to give it a jump.
On This Day Earth Shall Ring was first sung in the 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer’s time, when it had Latin lyrics and was called Personent Hodie. Here we have it sung by the St. Malachy College Choir in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Turn up the volume for this one! You’ll be glad you did.
Indulge me as I post a Christmas carol outside the Christmas season: Personent Hodie, performed by the Loyola Academy Honors Chamber Singers. First published in 1360–that’s why they’re singing it in Latin. Hint: Turn up the volume. Anyway, this is the song that’s been in my mind the past few days, and I reckon God put it there for a reason.
Besides–is there any bad day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior?
I didn’t know what this was going to be, but then I heard the first few bars and realized that we have this carol in English as On This Day Earth Shall Win. The creche is still up, across the street, and I’m still posting Christmas music.
Personent Hodie was published in Finland in 1582, but the melody is found in a German hymnal from 1360. Joan of Arc, Henry V, Richard II haven’t been born yet. But Jesus Christ has.
Performed the old-fashioned way by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band.