Christmas Carols

Below are the words to the Christmas Carols that will be sung during the Traditional Carol Services at All Saints Marlow on Sunday 20 December 2020

O Come, All Ye Faithful – attributed to John Francis Wade (1711-1786)

O come, all ye faithful,
joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come and behold him, born the King of angels:

O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ, the Lord!

God of God
Light of Light
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
very God, begotten not created:

O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ, the Lord!

Sing, choirs of angels,
sing in exultation,
sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above;
glory to God in the highest:

O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ, the Lord!

Personent Hodie – Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Personent hodie voces puerulae, laudantes jucunde
Qui nobis est natus, summo Deo datus,
Et de virgineo ventre procreatus. 

In mundo nascitur, pannis involvitur praesepi ponitur
Stabulo brutorum, rector supernorum.
Perdidit spolia princeps infernorum. 

Magi tres venerunt, parvulum inquirunt, Bethlehem adeunt,
Stellulam sequendo, ipsum adorando,
Aurum, thus, et myrrham ei offerendo. 

Omnes clericuli, pariter pueri, cantent ut angeli:
Advenisti mundo, laudes tibi fundo.
Ideo gloria in excelsis Deo!

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks – Sir David Willcocks (1919-2015)

While shepherds watched their flocks by night, 
All seated on the ground, 
The angel of the Lord came down, 
And glory shone around. 

‘Fear not,’ said he (for mighty dread 
Had seized their troubled mind); 
‘Glad tidings of great joy I bring 
To you and all mankind. 

‘To you in David’s town this day 
Is born of David’s line 
A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord; 
And this shall be the sign: 

The heavenly Babe you there shall find 
To human view displayed, 
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands, 
And in a manger laid.’ 

Thus spake the seraph; and forthwith 
Appeared a shining throng 
Of angels praising God, who thus 
Addressed their joyful song: 

All glory be to God on high, 
And on the earth be peace; 
Good-will henceforth from heaven to men 
Begin and never cease.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Hark! the herald angels sing 
Glory to the new-born King; 
Peace on earth and mercy mild, 
God and sinners reconciled: 
Joyful all ye nations rise, 
Join the triumph of the skies, 
With the angelic host proclaim, 
Christ is born in Bethlehem: 

Hark! the herald angels sing 
Glory to the new-born King. 

Christ, by highest heaven adored, 
Christ, the everlasting Lord, 
Late in time behold him come 
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb!
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel: 

Hark! the herald angels sing 
Glory to the new-born King.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of peace! 
Hail the Sun of Righteousness! 
Light and life to all he brings, 
Risen with healing in his wings;
Mild he lays his glory by
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth:

Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King.