Hymnum Canamus Gloriae (“A hymn of glory let us sing”)
Saint Bede the Venerable, Doctor of the Church; translated into English following Benjamin Webb and Elizabeth R. Charles.
Tune: “Lasst Uns Erfreuen” • 88 88 A
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Lasst Uns Erfreuen Herzlich Sehr (“Let us rejoice right heartily”)
Fr. Father Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld, SJ; translated into English by Fr. Dominic Popplewell.
Tune: “Lasst Uns Erfreuen (alt)” • 88 88 A
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“My Song Is Love Unknown” by Samuel Crossman
Tune: “Love Unknown” • 66 66 44 44
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“As With Gladness, Men Of Old” by William Chatterton Dix
Tune: “Dix” • 77 77 77
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“Brightest And Best” by Reginald Heber
Tune: “Epiphany” • 11 10 11 10
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“Songs Of Thankfulness And Praise” by Christopher Wordsworth
Tune: “St George” • 77 77 D
“The Epiphany—a cardinal feast—commemorates three manifestations of Christ’s divinity: the visit of the Wise men, our Lord ’s Baptism, and the miracle at Cana.”—Fr. Adrian Fortescue
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“God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”
The meaning of “God rest you merry” is “God keep you merry.” Note the archaic use of the word rest (“keep”)—indeed, this carol probably dates from the 16th century.
Tune: “God Rest You Merry” • 86 86 86 R
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Huron Carol of St. Jean de Brébeuf (“Upon the birth of Jesus”)
Translation: Fr. Dominic Popplewell
Tune: “Une Jeune Pucelle” • 86 86 88 R
This famous Christmas carol was possibly written around 1642AD, when Saint Brébeuf was in Quebec, recuperating from a broken collarbone, which had left him in excruciating pain for many months.