SNOW HAD FALLEN, SNOW ON SNOW

It has been the coldest December in Florida that I can remember. We are looking at a low of 18 for Monday. For those in northern climes, this is nothing. It seems quite normal, just like all the Christmas hymns with the word “snow” in it. Jesus probably wasn’t born on a Snowy December 25, but that’s when we celebrate his birth, and for northern Europeans and Americans, that means snow.

I have a penchant for Christmas Carols with snow in them. I am also very fond of impressionistic paintings of snowy scenes. Here’s a blog combining both.

Sisley, Snow at Louveciennes, 1874

The first snow carol I learned was “The Snow Lay on the Ground.” It’s a tradition macaronic carol. (That means it’s in two languages, in this case English and Latin.) I learned it in a Leo Sowerby arrangement in the church choir. The words are traditional.

The snow lay on the ground, the star shone bright,
When Christ our Lord was born, On Christmas night.
Venite adoremus Dominum;
Venite adoremus Dominum;

    Venite adoremus Dominum;
    Venite adoremus Dominum.

'Twas Mary, Virgin pure, Of holy Anne,
That brought into this world the God made man.
She laid Him in a stall At Bethlehem,
The ass and oxen share the roof with them.

    Venite adoremus Dominum;
    Venite adoremus Dominum.

Saint Joseph, too, was by To tend the child;
To guard Him and protect His Mother mild;
The angels hovered round And sang this song:
Venite adoremus Dominum;

    Venite adoremus Dominum;
    Venite adoremus Dominum.

And, thus, that manger poor became a throne;
For He whom Mary bore was God the Son.
O come then, let us join the heavenly host,
To praise the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

    Venite adoremus Dominum;
    Venite adoremus Dominum.

This is how I first learned the tradition of St. Anne being the mother of Mary. 

John Henry Wachtman, House in Snow, 1890-94

The next one I learned was “In the Bleak Midwinter” with a text by Christina Rossetti with music by Gustav Holst.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

This was in our old Service Book and Hymnal.

Gustave Caillebotte Rooftops with Snow

The last one I found in our even older Common Service Book, but I heard it sung by the King’s College Choir. The text is by Edward Caswall, tune by John Goss. The most breath-taking arrangement of this is by Sir David Wilcocks.

See amid the winter's snow,
Born for us on earth below,
See the tender Lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.

        Chorus
        Hail, thou ever-blessed morn!
        Hail, redemption's happy dawn!
        Sing through all Jerusalem,
        Christ is born in Bethlehem.

Lo, within a manger lies
He who built the starry skies;
He, who throned in height sublime
Sits amid the cherubim. Chorus

Say, ye holy shepherds, say
What your joyful news today;
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep? Chorus

"As we watched at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous light;
Angels singing peace on earth
Told us of the Saviour's birth". Chorus

Sacred infant, all divine,
What a tender love was Thine,
Thus to come from highest bliss
Down to such a world as this. Chorus

Teach, O teach us , Holy Child,
By Thy Face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble Thee,
In Thy Sweet humility! Chorus

“Lo, within a manger lies He who built the starry skies.” There’s an image to meditate on.

May the Lord bless you on your journey and greet you on your arrival. 

Wayne

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