The angel Gabriel from heaven
came,
his wings as drifted snow, his
eyes as flame;
"All hail," said he,
"thou lowly maiden Mary,
most highly favoured
lady," Gloria!
"For know a blessed
Mother thou shalt be,
all generations laud and honour
thee,
thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by
seers foretold,
most highly favoured
lady," Gloria!
Then gentle Mary meekly bowed
her head,
"To me be as it pleaseth
God," she said,
"my soul shall laud and
magnify his holy Name."
Most highly favoured lady,
Gloria!
Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ,
was born
in Bethlehem, all on a
Christmas morn,
and Christian folk throughout
the world will ever say--
"Most highly favoured
lady," Gloria!
Sabine Baring-Gould was a
Devonshire vicar and prolific collector of folk songs, dances and traditions
mainly from the West Country. This carol, however, was a paraphrase of a carol
from the Basque country (Northern Spain), collected by Charles Bordes.
The carol celebrates the
moment in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 1.26-38) when Mary is told that she will become
the mother of the Messiah, the long promised saviour whom the Jewish people
looked for and believed God would send to them.
It has been a favourite scene
for artists over the centuries, and in their various depictions Mary seems to
respond with every emotion possible, from joyful welcome to absolute terror.
In the carol, Mary’s response
is one of humble acceptance. We don’t know how she feels. We don’t know whether
she is worried or overwhelmed. “To me be as it pleaseth God” is her
answer. She seems to have an absolute trust that if it seems good to God, it
will be good. In fact, she will have agony to face as well as joy as her child
grows, teaches and eventually dies, so this trust in God will be something she
needs to call on often.
·
Have you ever been chosen for something that seemed daunting?
·
Have you ever not been chosen for something you felt you should
be?
·
Have there been things you’ve had to face which were not of your
choosing? How did you cope?
Bible Reading: “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord,
“plans for your welfare,not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah
29.11
A lot to think about with the questions with this Carol this morning . I really love this one - brings back memories of singing in the choir and the children singing "most highly flavoured gravy" ! Is this the same Baring-Gould who wrote Now the day is over and Onward Christian Soldiers?
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed the very same man. He was born in Exeter, like me, in the neighbouring parish to mine, so I think I should be able to claim a bit of reflected glory. There is a lot more about him here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabine_Baring-Gould
ReplyDeleteI wondered whether anyone would contribute the "highly flavoured gravy" line - anyone who sings in a church choir will have sung it at some point... Once you have it in your head you can never quite forget it!