Two Christmas Carols for Your Advent Preparation
I know, I know. It’s still Advent, so why Christmas carols?
Well, when we are speaking in any way about the Divine Child, singing about Him, contemplating Him with moving melodies, it puts us in the “spirit” of the season, does it not? Music has that kind of sway over us, and I’d like to marshal its emotional power now that we’re well past midway in our Advent preparations.
On this Third Sunday of Advent (called Gaudete Sunday in Latin, meaning “Rejoice!”), we are on the cusp of Christmas. We are not rushing there but joyfully anticipating the coming of the Babe in the same way that a family, in the last stages of a pregnancy, gets everything ready for their new arrival.
He is imminent. Prepare your heart! I believe two old time hymns from other Catholic cultures will do that very well for us.
Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming
Ever since my childhood, when I had to memorize two verses of this song in German, I have loved “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.” (By the way, I can still remember the first verse but not the second!)
In our video below, it is performed in its original language by an extremely fine men’s choral group called the Gesualdo Five. The magnificent Ely Cathedral in England is the perfect acoustical setting for this performance.
The only downside to this hymn is that you may get nothing else done in your day but listen to it over and over again. Its origin is obscured in the Catholic culture of late Medieval Germany, but for centuries it has been one of the most beloved Christmas hymns in all Catholic and Protestant churches.
The “rose” of course refers to Our Lady whose holy Offspring sprouted from the fallen trunk of Jesse that was prophesied by Isaiah (11:1). The dual themes of light piercing the darkness of a sinful world and flowerlike beauty sprouting from a lifeless tree are deeply theological messages fitting the event of Christ’s Birth, which gives life and hope to the whole of humanity.
Here are the English lyrics, which should be familiar to all of us.
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung.
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung;
It came, a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind;
To show God's love aright,
She bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
In the Bleak Midwinter
Our second hymn continues the theme of salvation from this dark and dreary world, symbolized by the frigid winter scene the hymn conjures in our minds.
Its lyrics are the words of a short poem by the wonderful English poet, Christina Rosetti, composed in 1872. It was later set to music by the German composer, Gustav Holst, who left us a timeless classic of beauty that must be included in any collection of the best Christmas hymns.
I’ve analyzed this Christmas carol in another article on Sacred Windows, which is worth a minute of your time to read. For the sake of brevity, though, I’ll list only the two elements of this video that I love the most:
The video starts with a view from the back of the sanctuary and then, one by one, highlights all the groups in the church each singing their parts (boys’ choir, men, women, men’s choir). After making the rounds, the video returns to the back of the sanctuary and ends where it began.
The baby (just after the 2:00 mark, you can’t miss him!)
Please enjoy these two Advent/Christmas carols for your Gaudete Sunday. Rejoice!