Sunday's Hymn: Third Sunday of Advent

Yesterday Michael Haykin of Historia ecclesiastica featured Christina Rossetti, the poet who wrote these words, in one of his Eminent Christian posts. There you'll find a brief biographical sketch and an exposition of the words to this carol.

In The Bleak Midwinter

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.

Listen to the music by Harold Darke.

A year and a half ago, I gave Christina Rossetti her own month on the blog. Here a quick links to a few more of her poems: Another Spring, No, Thank You John, and one of her nursery rhymes, What Are Heavy?

---

Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• Love To Jesus, from The Valley of Vision and more at The Thirsty Theologian
• Holy Child Who Chose The Hearts of Men at Seasonings
  
• Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light at Ian's Messy Desk
• O Little Town of Bethlehem at Unity Without Verity
• Joy To The World at New Lumps
• Come Thou Long Expected Jesus at Jam and Books
  
• The Collect for the Third Sunday of Advent at Magic Statistics

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.

Technorati Tags: hymns, hymn lyrics