One of the ways Christ ministers to his people at this time of year is through music: the beloved Advent and Christmas songs that he gives to Christians as part of our spiritual inheritance.
This corpus of hymns and carols—which, I believe, include some of the most beautiful songs ever crafted—offer just what we crave as we contemplate the Incarnation. They allow us to dwell in the wonder and awe of God becoming Man and taking up residence alongside us on earth. They give us apt words and fitting notes to express our yearning for a Savior, then our reverence and adoration of the Infant Christ, and finally our gratitude, jubilation, and astonishment that he should be born and live and die for us.
We taste the joy and comfort of returning to these songs year after year—for God has so worked through history as to give us a yearly cycle ending with Advent and Christmas, a season that offers such rich spiritual blessings. As he renews the year, so he renews our strength and faith.
And as our faith matures, so does our grasp of and delight in these songs. A song that we started liking, perhaps in childhood, just because we liked it can later become profoundly meaningful; we keep contemplating it through the years and finally understand the biblical ideas it expresses and the aptness of the musical setting that gives them voice.
To mark the First Sunday of Advent, we present a compilation of favorite Advent and Christmas songs of Civitas teachers and board members. We invite you to read why we love these songs, to give them a listen, and to ponder with us that magnum mysterium that is central to our faith—the great mystery of the Most High becoming most lowly to redeem his people.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
"This hymn is so rich in Old Testament references with names for our coming Savior and what he will do for us! And the music is majestic as suits a song about the King. I also appreciate that it is very old, having been derived from a series of 6th-century Latin antiphons, which connects us to believers of old."
—Laurie Warren
The O Antiphons
"These are, for me, the most stirring of Advent songs, conveying all at once the sorrow and longing and hope and joy of the Advent season. From medieval times to the modern era, they have traditionally been sung in the darkness of winter, as part of the Vespers (or Evensong) service: they echo, with haunting beauty, the yearning for salvation, and depict in glorious words the character of that Savior. My favorite is: O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et Sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris et umbra mortis (O Rising Light of the Dawn, brilliance of eternal light, and the Sun of justice: come and illuminate those sitting in the darkness and shadow of death). A different one would be sung each evening in the week leading up to Christmas Day, moving from Advent to the joy of the Nativity, so that the whole sequence mirrored the words of Isaiah: those who walked in darkness have seen a great light."
—Joseph Leake
Comfort, Comfort, Ye My People
"I have always loved this carol for its lyrics straight from the prophet Isaiah, for its reliance on the promises of God to His people Israel, and how God will be faithful to all his people! The consolation of Israel, and the comfort of the followers of Christ everywhere, is the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ!"
—Eleanor Georges
O Come, All Ye Faithful
"Not being raised in the church, I was blessed to take piano lessons as a child for several years, so when I learned Christmas hymns I felt connected to Jesus. I counted myself among the faithful, and the hymn taught me who Jesus was! Today the song transports me to Bethlehem, and I imagine hearing the angels sing. I love the triumphant melody! When my kids were small we would sing the last verse Christmas morning."
—Debbie Goodale
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
"I like this carol because the lyrics summarize the entirety of the Gospel with particular emphasis on the reconciliation of God and man. Furthermore, it is well suited to being sung LOUDLY and with great JOY!"
—Marty Georges
What Child Is This?
"I have loved this song since my teens, later finding out that it's one of my husband's favorites as well, which has made me cherish it all the more. The lilting, haunting tune transports you to Renaissance England and matches the poignance of the text—there is both joy and sorrow in Christ's birth, because it will eventally lead to his death for our sake, as the words of verse 2 relate. We rejoice in the Nativity and the Resurrection and Christ's presence among us, but we still live under the curse of this world; this song captures that twofold reality so well."
—Isabella Leake
This Little Babe
"So many favorites—the third verse of Joy to the World (No more let sins or sorrows grow...), God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen—but I'll pick a modern carol, This Little Babe from Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols. I love the paradoxical picture of Christ as a tiny baby come to rifle Satan's fold. Listen to this last line: If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy then flit not from this heavenly boy! "
—Beth Robison
Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendor
"Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendor is a three-verse statement-and-elaboration of 2 Corinthians 8:9—Christ’s kenosis in the Incarnation, the apostle calling forth to encourage generosity in gratitude. It is best when part-sung, a capella, in a small ensemble; the beauty and intimacy of the French carol as harmonized by Charles Kitson gets lost when accompanied and sung in a large congregation. The simple a-b-a poetry, the shape of the melody, and the harmonic suspensions draw out the thoughts of the 'b' phrase in verses two and three: I’m moved each time by heav’n-ward by thine eternal plan and make us what thou wouldst have us be when singing under the aforementioned conditions. Poor for love’s sake."
—John Sundet
Post Scriptum: If you would enjoy listening to a playlist of all these selections, you can find one here.