Our Morning Offering – 24 December – The Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord – “The Month of the Divine Infant and the Immaculate Conception”
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
And order all things far and nigh,
To us the path of knowledge show
And teach us in her ways to go.
Refrain
O come, o come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times did give the law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Refrain
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse’s stem,
From ev’ry foe deliver them
That trust Thy mighty power to save
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave.
Refrain
O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heav’nly home,
Make safe the way that leads on high,
That we no more have cause to sigh.
Refrain
O come, Thou Dayspring from on high
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadow put to flight.
Refrain
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid every strife and quarrel cease
And fill the world with heaven’s peace.
Refrain
The favourite O Come, O Come Emmanuel carol was originally written in Latin text in the 12th Century. The author of the words and composer to the music of O Come, O Come Emmanuel is unknown. It is, however, believed that the melody was of French origin and added to the text a hundred years later. The Latin was translated into English by John Mason Neale in 1851.
AnaStpaul 