Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.At His feet the six winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!
One of my favorite hymns. Here is a link to a good recording on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcXl6OtXfTg&feature=related
I had not heard this hymn before. Very beautiful.
I like the lines in the first verse:
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth
It says (to me, at least), think of heavenly things, like our God coming to earth. Points out the way the incarnation really messes with our ideas of separation between sacred and not.
Very wonderful. Thanks.