My favorite hymn from today:

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1. People, look east. The time is near
Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.

2. Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare,
One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
That in course the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the rose, is on the way.

3. Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim
One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the star, is on the way.

4. Angels, announce with shouts of mirth
Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming
With the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the Lord, is on the way.

Sung to the tune Besancon (a French traditional carol). You can hear the midi here if you're not familiar with it.

5 Comments

One more verse - in my hymnal it's #3...

Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
Guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen
He for fledging time has chosen!
People look east, and sing today:
Love, the bird, is on the way.

I love this hymn, I was just a-beltin it out today.

I love this hymn, too. 2 reasons:
1: my Uncle Paul thinks singing "Love, the Bird," sounds silly, and every year he grimaces at this song. For that reason, it's a hometown favorite of mine because it reminds me of him.
2: I really started loving the first verse this year, as I tried to "make my house fair." We tend to forget WHY we decorate at all, just knowing that "the rest of the neighbors do, and I HAVE to." But it's to WELCOME the GUEST Of HONOR! I love that. :)

The whole "Furrows be glad" stanza was such a gift to hear this year. Last summer, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart (to Whom I've had a strong devotion since my teens) I discovered my husband's porn addiction & internet affair. We are receiving counseling, have attended Retrouvaille, and things are getting better. However, with each new season as I recall what we were doing last year, I come to the realization, "oh, while we were ______ (fill in the blank, e.g., decorating for Christmas last year) my husband was doing x,y & z, completely unbeknownst to me." The furrows are the wounds my heart has suffered, and the suffering has not yet yielded fruit but their having been opened gives Christ an opportunity to produce a blessing that before did not exist.

Oh, Nora, how heartbreaking. But you've done the right thing. Retrouvaille has done a LOT of good work--it saved the marriage of a couple very close to my husband and me.

May God's blessings pour down on you and your husband and your marriage in the New Year.

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This page contains a single entry by MamaT published on December 18, 2005 3:55 PM.

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