Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence by Joylene M. Bailey

Image by janeb13 from Pixabay 

There is no way I could possibly come up with a favourite Christmas carol. I love most of them, as I mentioned here, in a former Christmas post.

But there is one carol that has been echoing through my mind for weeks now, especially the first line:

Let all mortal flesh keep silence.

The haunting, chant-like tune wafts ethereally through my thoughts at least once a day, and I ask my Father, what are You trying to tell me? Help me to grasp it.

It's in keeping with a theme that has been predominant in my life for several months now; a singular ribbon woven in and out of my daily-ness: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. 

To make a long story short: two sermon series on the Lord's prayer, and two books (I highly recommend them) have focused me in one direction: God's holiness. Yahweh. I Am.

                 

Interestingly, the lyrics of the hymn are based on a part of the Liturgy of St. James, an ancient liturgy believed to have roots in the ministry of the Apostle James in Jerusalem.

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"The Liturgy of St. James includes a Communion rite with a vivid and memorable text, chanted by the priest before the bread and wine are presented ... The text draws in part from Habakkuk 2:20: “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”   Find the link here.

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They were translated into English from the original Greek by Gerard Moultrie, first published in 1864 in England, and entitled "Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn."

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The text expresses awe at Christ's coming (st. 1) and the mystery of our perception of Christ in the body and blood (st. 2). With images from Isaiah 6 and Revelation 5, it portrays the glory of Christ (sung to by angels) and his victory over sin (st. 3-4). Although it has eucharistic emphasis, the text pictures the nativity of Christ in a majestic manner and in a much larger context than just his birth in Bethlehem. We are drawn into the awe and mystery with our own alleluias." Find the link here.

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"We are drawn into the awe and mystery ..."

We are also drawn into the awe and mystery by the tune, which was not paired with the lyrics until 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The melody was originally a French Traditional Carol and some scholars believe it dates back as far as the seventeenth century.

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Dr. Ralph Vaughan Williams, with his usual genius for finding a suitable tune to accompany a text, set Moultrie’s hymn to the tune PICARDY, a tune which greatly helps to enhance the hymn’s expression of the sense of awe and mystery we experience in the Eucharist where, in ways beyond our comprehension, our Lord comes “from the realms of endless day” to be present with us “with blessing in his hand.” Text and music together provide a memorable description of the Eucharist as a “window” through which, for a brief moment, we may glimpse the eternal praise and worship offered by “the host of heaven” Find the link here.

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Awe, mystery. That's often what prompts silence, isn't it? Put that together with a newborn ... 

Think about it, when have you ever witnessed someone walking into a new baby's nursery with loud voices and clamouring noises? We don't. We enter the room hushed and on tiptoe. There is wonder as we look down on tiny clenched fists and soundly sleeping face. We watch the little chest rise and fall.

I think of the rough, unpolished shepherds coming into the stable. Hushed, in awe. Because they knew this wasn't any baby. This was THE baby. What a holy moment that must have been. Could they take it all in? Can I?

For many of us, this Christmas will already be quieter. Perhaps not of our own choice. But maybe this is an opportunity to gaze with awe on a Holy God in the form of a human infant. God With Us. Emmanuel.

God. With us. 

Keep silence. Take it in. 

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Below is a version of the song on YouTube. If you can't view/hear it from here, please take the time to find it online somewhere. 

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 heav'nly 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 pow'rs 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!"

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Joy will be spending Christmas at home in Edmonton with The Cowboy, Babe, and a snowman named Jubal, instead of the usual crowd of kids and grandkids. It will be a quieter Christmas, but she's looking forward to it. Find more of her joy-infused take on the world at Scraps of Joy.