Some churches will celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany today, commemorating the visit of the Three Kings to Bethlehem, while some will wait until January 6, the twelfth day after Christmas and "official" date. Here at CWS we can mark it both days; there are plenty of Epiphany hymns to go around!
Brightest and best of the stars of the morning,
Dawn on God's people and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
Cold on thy cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies thy head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore thee in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!
Shall we then yield thee, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and offerings divine?
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, and gold from the mine?
Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would thy favor secure;
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
Brightest and best of the stars of the morning,
Dawn on God's people and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
Reginald Heber, 1811; alt.
Tune: MORNING STAR (11.10.11.10.)
James P. Harding, 1892
Priest Reginald Heber wrote many hymns which were first published in the Anglican periodical Christian Observer. Later in life he was named Bishop of India, and while there he was pleased to hear this hymn "better than I ever heard (it) in a church before," sung during the dedication of a remote church near the Himalayas. It has since become one of the most well-known Epiphany hymns, sung across many denominations.
