Scripture Verse

The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John 1:14

Introduction

portrait
Charles Coffin (1676–1749)

Words: Charles Cof­fin, in the Pa­ris Bre­vi­ary, 1736 (Mis­sum Re­demp­to­rum Po­lo). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by W. M. A., 1883. Pub­lished in An­nus Sanc­tus, Vol­ume 1, ed­it­ed by Or­by Ship­ley (Lon­don & New York: Burns & Oates, 1884), page 35, alt.

Music: Lou­van Vir­gil C. Tay­lor, Cho­ral An­thems (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: 1850) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

  • Louella Har­mo­nia Sac­ra, 1867 (🔊 pdf nwc)

If you know the trans­lat­or, or where to get a good pho­to of him or Tay­lor (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Sent from His heav’nly throne on high,
Let all the world beneath the sky
Adore the Sav­ior newly come,
The Prince born today of virgin womb.

He who created Hea­ven and earth
Is clothèd in frame of mortal birth;
That flesh by flesh may be set free,
Nor His own creatures ruined be.

The Word which ere time’s course began,
Forth from His Fa­ther’s bosom ran,
Obedient now to time and to death
A helpless Infant draws its breath.

On straw the Almighty lays His head,
Nor spurns the manger for His bed;
And He who all creation feeds
The milk of human mother needs.

They guide the starry spheres, those hands
That now are wrapped in swathing bands;
All weak and weeping there He lies,
That He may raise us to the skies.

Hope of the whole wide earth, that Child,
Who calls us to His cradle mild,
How of such love our fitness prove
Save by return of answering love?

All honor, laud and glo­ry be
O Je­sus, Mary’s Son, to Thee;
To Fa­ther and the Spi­rit praise
Now and through endless length of days.