Came The Archangel To The Maid
Words: Angelus Ad Virginem, Anonymous 13th or 14th Century Latin
Translator Gabriel Gillett
from
Rev.
Charles Lewis Hutchins,
Carols Old and Carols New
(Boston: The Parish Choir, 1916)
Meter: 77 77 88 11 6 7 6
1. Came th' Archangel to the Maid
Of lowly mien and station,
And her maiden fears allayed
With courteous salutation;
"Hail! Queen of Virgins pure and fair,
The Lord of all things thou shalt bear;
The Holy One
Shall be thy
Son Immortal,
Man's mortal lot to share;
And thou art Heav'n's high Portal,
That man may enter there."
2. “How shall I conceive a child,
With man's desire complying?
How shall I be thus defiled,
My steadfast vows denying?”
“The Holy Ghost,” said he, “this hour
Shall come with his celestial dower:
Great joy is here,
Be not by fear
Constrained;
Thy maidenhood's fair flower
Shall remain unstained
Through his almighty power.”
3. Spake the noble Virgin then,
Surpassing meek and lowly:
“I am but his handmaiden,
And he is God all-holy:
Do thou, who art is Angel sent
To shew his secret high intent,
His royal will
To cure our ill
Displaying,
Announce I do assent,
His wondrous work obeying
With joy and sweet content.”
4. Mary, Mother of the Lord,
Who hast by thy child bearing
Peace and happiness restored
To mortal men wayfaring,
Beseech Thy blessed Son that He
To each and all may kindly be,
Our sore offence
Of thought and sense
Forgiving:
That by his grace may we
Be numbered with the living,
Through all eternity.
Sheet Music from the Thirteenth Century from Charles L.
Hutchins, Carols Old And Carols New (Boston: Parish Choir, 1916, Carol
#685
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer /
PDF
Sheet Music: Martin Shaw and Percy Dearmer, The English Carol Book, First Series (London: A. R. Mowbray & Co., Ltd., 1913), Carol #3
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