My father-in-law posted on his blog Monday his favorite Christmas piece:

Scott posted Bach's Magnificat on his blog today and it got me thinking of my own favourite Christmas peice, Handel's Messiah. Here is my second favourite movement from it -- probably most of your churches included this verse in yesterday's service, the first Sunday of Advent.


I thought I would join in the fun and put up my favorite: O Come O Come Emmanuel. According to one website:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel was originally written in Latin text in the 12th Century. The author of the words and the composer to the music to O Come, O Come Emmanuel remains unknown. It is, however, believed the melody is of French origin and added to the text a century later. The Latin lyrics were translated into English by John Mason Neale in 1851.

I have always loved this Christmas song. It is a song about hope and trust in God. It is song that is not afraid to mention the purpose of Jesus coming to Earth in the first place: To save us "from Satan's tyranny" and rescue us from hell. And if you are a Christian you can have the hope that is in Jesus' promise to return for us one day and take us to live in Heaven with Him.

I would recommend the following YouTube video to you; even if you don't like the song, the graphics that accompany it are worth the 4 and a half minutes of your time. This version does not use all the verses of the song, but again, I like the video that goes with it.



Here are the complete lyrics if you want them.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.