Posts for December 2007

The Herald Angels

The students are gone for the semester, and the staff had a lovely Christmas lunch today in the Great Hall. We had delicious Stollen from Niedlov’s bakery for our sweet dessert. Niedlov’s is only a mile or so from my home in Chattanooga, and I try to stop by as often as I can for [...]

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Published on Dec 14, 2007 at 3:15 pm. 1 Comment.
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All My Heart This Night Rejoices

Another treasure translated by Catherine Winkworth . . .
All my heart this night rejoices
As I hear
Far and near
Sweetest angel voices.
“Christ is born,” their choirs are singing
Till the air
Everywhere
Now with joy is ringing.
Forth today the Conqueror goeth,
Who the foe,
Sin and woe,
Death and hell, o’erthroweth.
God is man, man to deliver;
His dear Son
Now is one
With our blood forever.
Shall [...]

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Published on Dec 13, 2007 at 11:42 am. No Comments.
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Labor of Love

This song is not a traditional carol. It was written in the past ten years, and is more a solo piece than a congregational one, but it captures well, for me, the reality of the birth of Christ (not a silent, clean birth in a softly lit stable as we often think). This song is [...]

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Published on Dec 12, 2007 at 8:41 am. No Comments.
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The Comfort of Christ’s Coming

The following is a hymn by Johannes Olearius that is sometimes sung around Christmas season, although it was originally written for St. John the Baptist’s Day (in June).* It is one of the many wonderful German hymns translated into English by Catherine Winkworth, to whom Anglophones are deeply indebted for her gifted and poetic translation [...]

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Published on Dec 11, 2007 at 10:18 am. No Comments.
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Lo, how a Rose

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, [...]

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Published on Dec 10, 2007 at 10:41 am. 2 Comments.
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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
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, [...]

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Published on Dec 7, 2007 at 3:06 pm. No Comments.
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Songs of Christmas

Yesterday’s chapel was a wonderful way to end the semester and celebrate the incarnation of Christ. We sang and read the following:
Joy to the World  
John 1:1-5, 9-14
Of the Father’s Love Begotten
Isaiah 9:1-7
O Little Town of Bethlehem 
Micah 5:1-5
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly   
Matthew 1:18-2:11
Away In a Manger 
Luke 2:1-20
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Over the days before Christmas, [...]

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Published on Dec 6, 2007 at 8:39 am. No Comments.
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Lessons and Carols

On Wednesday, our final chapel of the semester will be a Lessons and Carols service. A music team who is heading to Ireland for a ministry trip over break will lead us in singing, and various members of the Covenant community will read from scripture.
The first reading of the morning will be from John 1.
In [...]

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Published on Dec 3, 2007 at 4:10 pm. No Comments.
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