Category Archives: Christmas Carols

The Halls are Decked…

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

There are a few other spots in our home that are decorated for Christmas but I failed to take photos of them. It’s always fun to ‘Deck the Halls’.

Today I’m happy to say I’m headed to the Post Office in town to mail off our Christmas Greetings for 2021. Next up is considering what to bake and when to wrap.

Fly away little letter, keep the bond of friendship strong,

may the Lord lead and guide you, and keep you from all wrong.

Be Merry Hodgepodge

Be Merry

It’s Hodgepodge Wednesday when Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions and we get our brains fired up to answer.

1. ‘Tis the season to be jolly….so are you? 

Yes, yes I am.

2. Do you trim a tree this time of year, and if so is yours all done?

I did and it’s done.

What’s something in your home-closet-life that needs to be trimmed in the new year? 

Oh boy! So many things including my body. I need to weed out my closet and drawers of things ‘I hope to fit in again’!

3. Are you ‘dreaming of a white Christmas’? Is that a possibility where you’ll be celebrating? According to this site the top ten places in the US you can count on for a white Christmas are- North Pole Alaska, Crater Lake Oregon, Yellowstone National Park, Winthrop Washington, Aspen Colorado, Ketchum Idaho, Mt. Washington New Hampshire, Whitefish Montana, Duluth Minnesota, and the Lake Tahoe town of Truckee California

It is totally white right now. It is a good possibility to be white again at Christmas.

Of the snowy spots listed which would you most like to visit? 

Whitefish, Montana is on my list. We have had a White winter experience in Winthrop, Washington back in the 90’s.

4. December 8th is National Brownie Day…will you be celebrating?

No.

How do you like your brownies-chewy or cake-like, frosted or plain, nuts or no nuts, a piece from the middle or give me the corner?

Give me a middle piece cake-like, plain, with lots of nuts.

As a child were you a member of a brownie troop? 

No. My parents were fresh immigrants from Iran after escaping out of Russia in the early 30’s. They did not trust any organizations involving children with uniforms. Too close for comfort (for them and their understanding) to Lenin’s Young Pioneer groups!

5. Share a favorite line or two from a Christmas carol or holiday tune. 

I have soooo many favorites and there are so many great lines. Here’s just one.

…”Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled” 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of snow…

We went to Idaho (Coeur d’Alene) for an overnight on Sunday to Monday. We returned to this view of our home on Monday, the 6th of December. The 6th of December was our 47th Wedding Anniversary. 

Our Christmas letter is tweaked and it’s ready to be copied. Time to address all the envelopes and get the cards in the mail. We have received some Christmas greetings already. So good to hear hear from far and wide. 

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus ~ Hymn

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a king,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Words: Charles Wesley

Christmas Eve Day 2020

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

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 floweret 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.

The shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped and in the manger found Him,
As angel heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
True Man, yet very God, from sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

O Savior, Child of Mary, who felt our human woe,
O Savior, King of glory, who dost our weakness know;
Bring us at length we pray, to the bright courts of Heaven,
And to the endless day!

Happy Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Eve!

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God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.

Refrain

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.

In Bethlehem, in Israel, this blessèd Babe was born,
And laid within a manger upon this blessèd morn;
The which His mother Mary did nothing take in scorn.

Refrain

From God our heavenly Father a blessèd angel came;
And unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.

Refrain

Fear not, then, said the angel, Let nothing you affright
This day is born a Savior of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him from Satan’s power and might.

Refrain

The shepherds at those tidings rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding in tempest, storm and wind,
And went to Bethl’em straightaway this blessèd Babe to find.

Refrain

But when to Bethlehem they came where our dear Savior lay,
They found Him in a manger where oxen feed on hay;
His mother Mary kneeling unto the Lord did pray.

Refrain

Now to the Lord sing praises all you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas all others doth deface.

Refrain

God bless the ruler of this house, and send him long to reign,
And many a merry Christmas may live to see again;
Among your friends and kindred that live both far and near—

That God send you a happy new year, happy new year,
And God send you a happy new year.

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a king,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Words: Charles Wesley

All This Night Bright Angels Sing

(Song of the Angels – William Bouguereau, 1881)

All This Night Bright Angels Sing

All this night bright angels sing,
Never was such caroling,
Hark! a voice which loudly cries,
Mortals, mortals, wake and rise.
Lo! to gladness turns your sadness:
From the earth is ris’n a Son,
Shines all night tho’ day be done.

Wake, O earth, wake every thing,
Wake and hear the joy I bring:
Wake and joy; for all this night,
Heav’n and every twinkling light,
All amazing, still stand gazing,
Angels, pow’rs and all that be,
Wake, and joy this Son to see.

Hail! O Son, O blessèd Light,
Sent into this world by night;
Let Thy rays and heav’nly pow’rs,
Shine in these dark souls of ours.
For most duly, Thou art truly
God and Man, we do confess:
Hail, O Sun of Righteousness!

Words: William Austin, (?- 1633.)

The Wexford Carol

Good People All, This Christmas Time

Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done,
In sending His belovèd Son.
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon the morn
There was a blest Messiah born.

The night before that happy tide
The noble virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town.
But mark how all things came to pass:
From every door repelled, alas!
As long foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble oxen stall.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep;
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear.
“Prepare and go”, the angels said,
“To Bethlehem, be not afraid;
For there you’ll find, this happy morn,
A princely Babe, sweet Jesus born.”

With thankful heart and joyful mind,
The shepherds went the babe to find,
And as God’s angel has foretold,
They did our Savior Christ behold.
Within a manger He was laid,
And by His side the virgin maid
Attending to the Lord of Life,
Who came on earth to end all strife.

The Wexford Carol is one of Ireland’s oldest Christmas Carols and is one of the oldest surviving Carols in the European tradition. Dating back to the 12th century the Wexford Carol is also known by its first line “Good people, all this Christmas time.”

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

Infant holy,
Infant lowly,
For His bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing,
Little knowing
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Swift are winging
Angels singing,
Noels ringing,
Tidings bringing,
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.

Flocks were sleeping,
Shepherds keeping
Vigil till the morning new,;
Saw the glory,
Heard the story,
Tidings of a Gospel true.
Thus rejoicing,
Free from sorrow,
Praises voicing,
Greet the morrow,
Christ the Babe was born for you!

 

Lyrics: Traditional Polish Carol
Translator: Edith M. G. Reed
Translation Date: 1921
Music: Traditional Polish Melody

“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” is thought to be a very old Polish carol, of unknown origin. It was published in Spiewniczek Piesni Koscielne in 1908 and speaks of the stable scene-baby Jesus lying in a manger bed with the animals nearby. It also speaks of the hillside where shepherds heard the story from the angels and rejoiced.

The short rhymed phrases move the piece forward, pointing to the final statement and the purpose of the song: “Christ the babe is Lord of all.”

ht: Bible Gateway

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel ~ Hymn

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

Refrain

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

Refrain

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Refrain

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Refrain

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Refrain

Words: Unknown