Sunday Drive: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Emmanuel means "God is with us."

The ancient hymn as performed by Enya in English and Latin, with stunning choral effects:

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Fourth Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: The Magnificat

Also known as The Song of Mary, as performed in Latin by Il Volo in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, last September:

English version from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (1979):

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

My spirit rejoices in God my Savior;

For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

He has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

And has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

And the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

For he has remembered his promise of mercy,

The promise he made to our fathers,

To Abraham and his children for ever.

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the 

Third Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: In the Bleak Midwinter

James Taylor sings the poignant Christmas carol writen by Christina Rossetti:

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Second Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City

The famuliar carol, as performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge:

The Lessons Appinted for Use on the 

First Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: O Little Town of Bethlehem

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the 

Fourth Sunday of Advent

 

The Magnificat 

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm.

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat

and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things.

And the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel

as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, forever.

Amen.

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Sunday Drive: In the Bleak Midwinter

The Lessons Appointed for the 

Third Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

As performed by the Piano Guys.

The Lessons appointed for use on the

Second Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City

The Lessons appointed for use on

The First Sunday of Advent

On this first day of the church year, Father David shares some timely thoughts on endings and beginnings:

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Sunday Drive: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

As performed by the choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal, with lyrics:

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

It so happens we have roses blooming in our garden right now --
a Christmas miracle!

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Sunday Drive: Schubert, Ave Maria

As performed by Luciano Pavarotti in 1994:

The Third Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: Handel, Comfort Ye, My People / Every Valley Shall Be Lifted Up

From Ghana comes this rather wonderful rendition by the Gramophone Chorus, featuring Ebenezer Antwi:

The Second Sunday of Advent

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Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City / In Dulci Jubilo

As performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, in 2013:

The First Sunday in Advent

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Sunday Drive: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, 
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means, “God is with us.”

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Sunday Drive: The Magnificat, John Michael Talbot

 The Third Sunday of Advent

The Song of Mary

Luke 1:46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

The promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.

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Sunday Drive: Bach, Wachet Auf (Sleepers, Awake!), BWV 640

The Second Sunday of Advent

The wolf shall live with the lamb,

the leopard shall lie down with the kid,

the calf and the lion and the fatling together,

and a little child shall lead them.

Diane Bish, the grand dame of American organists, plays the 4th movement (chorale) of the lovely Bach cantata: 

My late husband Cody studied with this lady while he was in college; he admired her greatly.

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Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City

The First Sunday of Advent

. . . they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,

and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more.

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Sunday Drive: Ave Maria

 The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Deanna Durbin, an undeservedly forgotten singer with an angelic voice, sings the sublime hymn in the motion picture It's a Date, 1940:

 

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Sunday Drive: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The Third Sunday of Advent

As performed by Amy Grant:

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Sunday Drive: Handel, Comfort Ye, My People

The Second Sunday in Advent

From Part I of Handel's Messiah, as sung by English tenor Nicholas Sharratt, 2012:

 

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Sunday Drive: Once in Royal David's City

The familiar Advent hymn, as performed by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge:

 

The First Sunday of Advent

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