Christmas
Now Praise We Christ, the Holy One
- Words:
- Coelius Sedulius, circa 450. Translated to German by Martin Luther, 1524.
- Music:
- 'Christum Wir Sollen Loben Schon' ancient Latin found in Erfurt Enchiridion, 1524.
- Setting:
- Michael Praetorius, 1609.
- Metre:
- 8 8 8 8
- 1Now praise we Christ, the Holy One,The spotless virgin Mary's Son,Far as the blesséd sun doth shineE'en to the world's remote confine
- 2He, who Himself all things did make,A servant's form vouchsafed to take,That He as man mankind might win,And save His creatures from their sin.
- 3The grace of God, th'Almighty Lord,On the chaste mother was outpoureda virgin pure and undefiledIn wondrous wise conceived a child.
- 4The holy maid became th'abodeAnd temple of the living God;And she, who knew not man, was blestWith God's own Word made manifest.
- 5The noble mother bare a Son,For so did Gabriel's promise run,Whom John confessed and leapt with joy,Ere yet the mother knew her boy.
- 6In a rude manger, stretched on hay, In poverty content He lay;With milk was fed the Lord of all, Who feeds the ravens when they call.
- 7Th' angelic choir rejoice, and raise Their voice to God in songs of praise;To humble shepherds is proclaimed The Shepherd who the world hath framed.
- 8Honor to Thee, O Christ, be paid, Pure offspring of a holy maid,With Father and with Holy Ghost, Till time in time's abyss be lost.
Scripture
Topics
In the hymnals
- Written in 1524, the words are in 13 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
- The tune, Christum Wir Sollen Loben Schon, is in 16 hymnals. The tune →
Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The score is from the Open Hymnal Project (Brian J. Dumont), which places its own work in the public domain. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.