Happy New Year, 2007

For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
Or as a watch in the night...
So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
-- Psalm 90 vv. 4; 12

This MP3 Selection Expired on 01-27-2007:
Phil Coulter, piano - Auld Lang Syne

Fourth Sunday of Advent, 2006 - Merry Christmas!

Luke 1:31-33 (KJV)

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

This MP3 Selection Expired on 12-27-2006:
Kathleen Battle (1986) - O Holy Night (Adam)

Third Sunday of Advent, 2006

Jeremiah 23:5-6 (KJV)

5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Beethoven, 2006

Ludwig van Beethoven
(16 December, 1770 - 26 March, 1827)

This MP3 Selection Expired on 12-24-2006:
Walter Gieseking, piano - Piano Concerto No. 5 in E Flat Major
Second Movement - Adagio, Excerpt (Beethoven)

It Came upon the Midnight Clear

Frank Sinatra, American vocalist-actor
(12 December, 1915 - 14 May, 1998)

This MP3 Selection Expired on 12-15-2006:
Frank Sinatra & Chorus
It Came upon the Midnight Clear (Sears & Willis)

It Came upon the Midnight Clear (1849)
Words: Edmund Sears
Music: Richard Willis

Frank Sinatra & Chorus

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

Second Sunday of Advent, 2006

Luke 2:16-20 (KJV)

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Christmas Cantata
Daniel Pinkham (1923- )

I. Quem vidistis pastores

Shepherds, tell us your story. Speak to usl
Again describe the vision of glory which on earth appear'd.
Born for us was Christ Jesus. We heard the angel chorus
singing praises of the Lord. Alleluia.

II. O magnum mysterium

O wond'rous this mystery that even lowly beasts might behold Him.
Who though the Son of God, a Son of man on earth was born.
Within a manger He did lie. O blessed virgin mostly holy worthy was
thy womb that did carry our Saviour Jesus Christ.

III. Gloria in excelsis Deo

Glory to God in the highest and on earth to men of good will peace and love abiding.
O be joyful in the Lord, ye nations,
With gladness serve the Lord, with gladness serve ye Him.
Come before Him, come before His presence, come unto Him with singing, joy and exultation.
Now know ye: know that the Lord He is God strong and mighty,
He created us and not we ourselves.

Panis angelicus, 2006

César Franck, Belgian-born classical composer
(10 December, 1822 – 8 November, 1890)

This MP3 Selection Expired on 12-12-2006:
The Hallé Orchestra and Chorus - Panis angelicus (Franck)

Panis angelicus
César Franck

Latin Text:

Panis angelicus
Fit panis hominum;
Dat panis coelicus
Figuris terminum
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum
Pauper, pauper,
Servus et humilis.
Pauper, pauper,
Servus et humilis.


English Translation:

Heavenly bread
That becomes the bread of all mankind;
Bread from the angelic host
That is the end of all imaginings.
Oh, miraculous thing!
This body of God will nourish
Even the poorest,
The most humble of servants.
Even the poorest,
The most humble of servants.

Long Ago and Far Away

Ira Gershwin, American lyricst
(6 December, 1896 - 17 August, 1983)

This MP3 Selection Expired on 12-10-2006:
Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes, 1944
Long Ago and Far Away (Kern & Gershwin)

Long Ago and Far Away

Film: Cover Girl (1944)
Music: Jerome Kern
Words: Ira Gershwin

Vocals: Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes (1944)

Forrest:
Long ago and far away
I dreamed a dream one day
And now that dream is here beside me

Long the skies were overcast
But now the clouds have passed
You're here at last

Chills run up and down my spine
Aladdin's lamp is mine
The dream I dreamed was not denied me

Just one look and then I knew
That all I longed for
Long ago was you

Haymes:
Long ago and far away
I dreamed a dream one day
And now that dream is here beside me

Long the skies were overcast
But now the clouds have passed
You're here at last

Chills run up and down my spine
Aladdin's lamp is mine
The dream I dreamed was not denied me

Just one look and then I knew
That all I longed for
Long ago was you

Forrest:
Just one look and then I knew

Forrest & Haymes:
That all I longed for
Long ago was you

First Sunday of Advent, 2006

"Do not, I beseech you, be troubled about the increase of forces ALREADY in DISSOLUTION. You have mistaken the hour of the night. It is already morning."
--G.K. Chesterton 'Orthodoxy'

Isaiah 1:2-3 (NIV)

2  Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth!
For the LORD has spoken:
"I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.

3  The ox knows his master,
the donkey his owner's manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."


Isaiah 11:1-3 (NIV)

1  A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2  The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

3  and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

Christmas Present

Andy Williams (3 December, 1927 -  )

This MP3 Selection Expired on 12-06-2006:
Andy Williams (1974) - Christmas Present

Christmas Present
Andy Williams
(1974)

Christmas present
Christmas tree
Childrens' eyes are wide to see
Santa's presents 'neath the trees
All they'd asked on his knees

Christmas present
Christmas past
From the present which one lasts
Christmas future sure to be
Looking underneath the tree

For the present
Look high not low
Christmas was a gift itself
Many years ago

Christmas present at the start
Was a gift from someone's heart
Christ is Christmas
That day is His
That's what Christmas present is