Description
This Christmas piece is sweet and joyful, simple yet stunning.
Performed by Te Deum, Matthew Christopher Shepard, conductor
Text
Kneel amid the cattle
And the shepherds poor;
With tender lambs and angels
Tremble and adore.
Lo, within the manger
Lies the Undefiled,
Small and curled and rosy
As any new-born child.
He, the swaddled Promise
Of the ancient law,
Slumbers in a stable
On a bed of straw!
Be humble here with Joseph,
Meek with Mary’s grace,
And let your rapture burgeon
In this hallowed place;
Let your heart speak music
Though your lips be dumb…
Here is Love, unmeasured!
Here is heaven come!
~ Florence Hynes Willette, from a handful of straw, used with permission