Let New and Nobler Life Begin

A new year for the church begins today with the First Sunday in Advent as we prepare for the Incarnation later this month. The theme of the day in many churches is often not specifically about the birth of a baby, but closer to last week's Christ the King commemoration, talking about the coming of Jesus as the ruler of the world.

For our third Advent here at the blog we begin with a German Lutheran hymn from the seventeenth century,based in part on Psalm 24:7-10, translated by Catherine Winkworth in 1861 and appearing in many different versions across different denominations.

Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates;

Behold, the King of glory waits;

The Word of Life is drawing near;

The Savior of the world is here!

O blest the land, the city blest,

Where Christ the Ruler is confessed!

O happy hearts and happy homes

To whom this Fount of Justice comes!

Fling wide the portals of your heart;

Make it a temple, set apart

From earthly use for heaven’s employ,

Adorned with prayer and love and joy.

Redeemer, come, with us abide;

Our hearts to Thee we open wide;

Let us thy inner presence feel;

Thy grace and love in us reveal.

So come, my Sovereign, enter in!

Let new and nobler life begin;

Thy Holy Spirit guide us on,

Until the glotious crown is won.

Georg Weissel, 1642;

tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1861; alt.

Tune: TRURO (L.M.)

Psalmodia Evangelica, Part II, 1789;

harm. Lowell Mason, 19th cent.

The longer version of this text, in Weissel's original meter, with eight-line stanzas, can be seen here. A modern translation by Gracia Grindal, Fling wide the door, which first appeared in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), uses the original German tune, MACHT HOCH DIE TUR, named for the first line of Weissel's text).

The annual Advent debate in undoubtedly underway in many places: Can we sing Christmas carols in worship during Advent? The answer here is still "No."

Two Years Ago: Thousand, Thousand Saints Attending

One Year Ago: When Our Hearts Are Bowed With Care

The Feast of the Visitation

Mary's visit to her kinswoman Elizabeth, recorded in Luke 1:39-56, tells us of the importance of these two pregnant women. Elizabeth greets Mary with words that have come down through the ages: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Mary responds with a prophetic song of praise that we know as the Magnificat.

My soul proclaims the greatness of our God,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
who has looked with favor on this lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
You O God have done great things for me,
and holy is your Name.
You have mercy on those who fear you in every generation.
You have shown the strength of your arm,
and have scattered the proud in their conceit.
You have cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and have lifted up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich you have sent away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel,
for you have remembered your promise of mercy,
The promise you made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and Sarah and their children for ever.
(Version by Frank Huber, 1999)

Taken out of the passage in Luke, Mary's song has been set to music thousands of times: in large choral works by composers such as J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi, in liturgical settings used in worship (Evensong in the Episcopal and Anglican traditions, and Matins in the Eastern Orthodox Church), and of course, as congregational hymns. The metrical version from the Scottish Psalter of 1650 begins:

My soul and spirit, filled with joy,
My God and Saviour praise,
Whose goodness did from poor estate
This humble handmaid raise.

Nearly 350 years later, Miriam Therese Winter of the Medical Mission Sisters wrote a version called My soul gives glory to my God, which appears in some newer hymnals.

Somewhere in-between (probably around 1708) Isaac Watts wrote his version of the Magnificat, broadening it from the song of one woman to a hymn for the congregation. Back in the twentieth century we adapted it for contemporary use, taking Watts's original (which subtly warned of Marian idolatry in one verse) and building on it.

Our souls shall magnify our God,
In God the Savior we rejoice;
While we repeat the Virgin's song,
May the same spirit tune our voice.

The Highest saw her low estate,
And mighty things God's hand has done
For Mary, chosen to become
The mother of the Promised One.

Let every nation call her bless'd,
Let endless years prolong her fame;
And God above shall be ador'd;
Holy and mighty is God's Name.

To those that hope and trust in God
Whose mercy stands for ever sure:
From age to age the promise lives,
And God's performance is secure.

God spake to Abr'am and his line,
"In thee shall all the earth be blest;"
From Sarah's child, through ages long
We see the promise manifest.

And now no more shall Israel wait,
No more the world shall lie forlorn:
Lo, the desire of nations comes;
Behold, the Savior Christ is born!

Isaac Watts, c. 1708; adapt.
Tune: TRURO (L.M.)
from Psalmodia Evangelica, 1789