TEXTS

Season of Light

Come sit by the fire and share stories of old,
bright visions of time and of wonders we’re told.
Surrounded by comfort and stillness of night,
we live in the mem’ries of the season of light.

Come join in the cheer of the fresh falling snow,
where wonder and radiance set hearts all a glow.
For a moment on Earth all that’s wrong turns to right
and we’re warm in the spirit of the season of light.

Surrounded by comfort and stillness of night,
we live in the mem’ries of the season of light.

One Light

One light, shines through the night,
first of Hanukkah candle light,
sign of things that happened long ago.

Small light, flickering bright,
mark the passage of ev’ry night,
embers of remembrance in your glow.

Shine through the winter,shine to remember,
shine for the wonder that happened there.

Borukh Ate

'Baruch atah...' sings father
and he lights the candles.
And their light falls softly
on his pale countenance.

And a fire, holy and dear
shines in his eyes.
And the weary one has
straightened his arms and legs.

And it seems and it appears:
there is still something here.
Something has remained to love,
holy is this hour.

Old sounds long gone...
no, I hear them still.
Sing then, father, 'Baruch atah...'
and I remain your child.

S’vivon

S’vivon, turn, turn, turn, while the lovely candles burn.
What a joyous holiday; watch us sing and watch us play.

Tell the story ev’rywhere, A great miracle happened there.
It’s a golden festival of light for eight days and for eight nights.

Spin little dreidl, spin, spin, spin,
Chanukah is a time of joy.
Great is the miracle that happened there.
Spin little dreidl, spin, spin, spin.

Tell the story ev’rywhere, A great miracle happened there.
It’s a golden festival of light for eight days and for eight nights.

O Gladsome Light

O Gladsome Light of the Holy Glory of the Immortal Father,
Heavenly, Holy, Blessed, O Jesus Christ!

Now that we have come to the setting of the sun
and behold the light of the evening we praise God:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

For meet it is at all times to worship Thee with voices of praise
O Son of God and Giver of Life.

Therefore all the world doth glorify Thee.

Amen.

Send Out Your Light

Send out your light, O send your truth,
that they may lead me to your holy hill,
to your dwelling place.

My soul will praise the Lord in heav’n,
and I will yet give thanks to the Lord,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Send out your light, O send your truth,
that they may lead me to your holy hill,
to your dwelling place.

I Wonder as I Wander

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
how Jesus the Savior did come for to die;
For poor orn’ry like you and like I;
I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

When Mary birthed Jesus ‘twas in a cow’s stall
with wise men and farmers and shepherds and all;
But high in God’s heaven a star’s light did fall,
And the Blessed promise of the ages it then did recall.

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,
a star in the sky or a bird on the wing;
Or all of God’s angels in heav’n for to sing,
He surely could have had it, for He was the King.

Star in the East

Hail the blest morn, see the great Mediator,
down from the regions of glory descend!
Shepherds, go worship the Babe in the manger,
Lo, for His guard the bright angels attend.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid.
Star in the east, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our Infant Redeemer was laid.

Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
odours of Eden and off’rings divine,
gems of the mountain, and pearls from the ocean,
myrrh from the forest and gold from the mine.

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gold we His favor secure.
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration.
Dearer to God are the pray’rs of the poor.

See That Star

Behold that star! Behold that star up yonder!
Behold that star! It is the star of Bethlehem.

See that star, see that star, see that star of Bethlehem!

There was no room found in the inn,
for Him Who was born free from sin.
The Wise Men traveled from the East,
to worship Him, the Prince of Peace.

As the star sent forth its light,

as it gleamed so bright from the highest height,
a song broke forth upon the night
and the star continued to beam so bright.

See that star of Bethlehem!

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 seers of old have sung.

It came, a blossom 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 us a Savior,
When half spent was the night.

Quelle Est Cette Odeur

Whence is that goodly fragrance flowing,
Stealing our senses all away?
Never the like did come a blowing,
Shepherds, in flow’ry fields of May,

What is that light so brilliant, breaking
Here in the night across our eyes?
Never so bright, the day star waking,
Started to climb the morning skies?

At Bethlehem, in manger lying,
Find your Redeemer, haste away,
Run ye with eager footsteps hieing,
Worship the Savior born today.

Praise to the Lord of all creation,
Glory to God the fount of grace;
May peace abide in ev’ry nation,
Good-will in men of ev’ry race.

There is No Rose of Such Virtue

There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu;

Alleluia.

For in this rose contained was
Heaven and Earth in little space;

Resmiranda. (Marvelous thing!)

By that rose we may well see
There be one God in persons three,

Pares forma. (Of equal form!)

The angels sungen the shepherds to:
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Gaudeamus. (Let us rejoice!)

Leave we all this worldly mirth,
And follow we this joyful birth;

Transeamus. (Let us cross [from worldly to heavenly things]!)

Stars

Now in the west the slender moon lies low,
And now Orion glimmers through the trees,
Clearing the earth with even pace and slow,
And now the stately moving Pleiades,

In that soft infinite darkness overhead
Hang jewel-wise upon a silver thread.
And all the lonelier stars that have their place,
Calm lamps within the distant southern sky,

And planet dust upon the edge of space,
Look down upon the fretful world,
And I Look up to outer vastness unafraid
And see the stars which sang when earth was made.

The Waiting Sky

The trees are bare, green fields where puddles hold the waiting sky.

The cows move slowly, their breathing clouds the air as they walk by.

What if the clouds smother the shining star?

We’ll know it’s there.

Warm light will fill the puddles, and the cows will stop and stare.

The trees are bare, green fields where puddles hold the waiting sky.

Light

Light, my light,

the world filling light,

the eye-kissing light,

heart sweetening light.

Ah, the light dances, my darling,

at the center of my life;

the light strikes, my darling,

the chords of my love;

the sky opens, the wind runs wild,

laughter passes over the earth.

The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light,

Lilies and jasmines surge upon the crest of the waves of light.

The light is shattered into gold on every cloud,

my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.

Mirth spreads from lead to leaf,

my darling, and gladness without treasure.

The heaven’s river has drowned its banks

and the joy is abroad.

When the Song of the Angels is Stilled

When the song of the angels is stilled,
the work of Christmas begins,

When the star in the heavens is gone,
Oh! the work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost, to heal the broken,
To feed the hungry, to release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart, to make music,

To find the lost, to heal the broken,
To feed the hungry, to release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations, to bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart, to make music,

when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
when the kings and the princes are home,
when the star in the heavens is gone,
when the song of the angels is stilled,

the work of Christmas begins.