Carol of the Week

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,as men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright, she bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped and in the manger found Him,
As angel heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
True Man, yet very God, from sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

Words: 15th Cen­tu­ry car­ol (Es ist ein Ros ent­sprung­en);
vers­es 1-2 trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Theodore Baker, 1894.
verses 3-4, Fried­rich Lay­ritz, trans­lat­ed by Har­ri­et Rey­nolds Krauth, 1875.
verse 5, trans­lat­ed or writ­ten by John C. Mattes, 1914.
Music: Es Ist Ein Ros’, Alte Ca­thol­ische Geist­liche Kirch­en­ge­säng (Köln, Ger­ma­ ny: 1599); har­mo­ny by Michael Praetorius, 1609