As Jonah, Issuing From His Three Days' Tomb
σπλαγχνων Ιωναν.
Ode VI, Canon for Christmas Day
St. Cosmas of Jerusalem, the Melodist (A. D. 760)
Source: Rev. John Mason Neale, D.D., Hymns of the Eastern Church. First Edition. (London: J. T. Hayes, 1862)
Meter: 10,10,10,10,10,10
As Jonah, issuing from his three days’
tomb,
At length was cast, uninjured, on the
earth;
So, from the Virgin’s unpolluted womb
The Incarnate WORD, That dwelt there,
had His Birth:
For He, Who knew no taint of mortal stain,
Willed that His Mother spotless should remain.
CHRIST comes, Incarnate GOD, amongst
us now,
Begotten of the FATHER ere the day:
And He, to Whom the sinless legions bow,
Lies cradled, ‘midst unconscious
beasts on hay:
And, by His homely swaddling-bands girt in,
Looses the many fetters of our sin.
Now the New Child of Adam’s race draws
nigh,
To us, the faithful, given: This, this is He
That shall the Father of Eternity,
The Angel of the Mighty Counsel, be:
This the eternal GOD, by Whose strong hands
The fabric of the world supported stands.
Sheet Music from Rev. John Mason Neale, D.D., Hymns of the Eastern Church. Fourth Edition. (London: J. T. Hayes, 1882), edited by Very Rev. Stephen Georgeson Hatherly, Mus. B., Archpriest of the Patriarchal Æcumenical Throne.
If you would like to help support Hymns and Carols of Christmas, please click on the button below and make a donation.