| DAY 18 - THE FINAL WEEK OF WAITING |
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Prophets
by Anne Porter
Once in the Advent season
When I was walking down
A narrow street
I met a flock of children
Who all came running up to me
Saying that they were prophets
And for a penny they
Would prophesy
I gave them each a penny
They started out
By rummaging in trash-cans
Until they found
A ragged piece of silk
It’s blue, they said
Blue is a holy color
Blue is the color that
The mountains are
When they are far away
They laid the rag
On a small fire
Of newspaper and shavings
And burned it in the street
They scraped up all the ashes
And with them decorated
Each other’s faces
Then they ran back to me
And stood
In a circle ‘round me
We stood that way
In a solemn silence
Until
One of the children spoke
It was the prophecy!
He said that long before
The pear tree blossoms
Or sparrows in the hedges
Begin to sing
A Child will be our King.
From the adventpoetry.blogspot.com site from '08.
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| "O Come, O Come, Immanuel" |
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The final seven days of Advent mark the singing
of what is termed "The Great Advent,"
the antiphons (songs) at Vespers, or Evening Prayer,
in the Catholic rite, and Evensong in the Anglican rite. They form
the basis for each verse of the Advent hymn "O Come, O Come, Immanuel."
We've got three versions up. On the left is a country version with lots of
back-up vocals/orchestra/percussion (this is called PRODUCED!!!)
by the band Diamond Rio (Album: Mary, Did You Know, Warner label);
in the center a traditional with some latin by Tonus Peregrinus,
(Album: THE NAXOS BOOK OF CAROLS, Naxos label);
and last an instrumental by Phil Keaggy and the London Festival Orchestra,
(Album: MAJESTY AND WONDER, Word Entertainment label).
The words to the song, below, are from the Tonus Peregrinus
version, the choice in the center.
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Veni, veni, Emmanuel,
captivum solve Israel,
qui gemit in exilio,
privatus Dei Filio.
Gaude! gaude! Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel.
(see last verse for English version)
O come, O come, Thou Wisdom, come,
thy Father's own beloved Son,
Thy Voice at the beginning heard
teach us to love Thy faithful Word.
Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Adonai, soverign Lord,
Whom Moses on the mount adored,
to Israel Thou didst give the Law
in cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice!...
O come, Thou Root of Jesse, show
the ensign of Thy folk below;
hear Thou Thy people when they call,
and kings who at Thy feet must fall.
Rejoice!...
O come, Thou Key of David, close
the door of Hell, so none oppose;
open at last Thy kingdom reign
and free the pris'ner from his chain.
Rejoice!...
O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
Thou Sun of righteousness, be nigh,
disperse the gloomy clouds of night;
make death's dark shadow flee Thy Light.
Rejoice!...
O come, Thou King of nations, come,
Thou Cornerstone, Which makest one;
but dust and ashes at Thy feet,
now raise us to Thy mercy-seat.
Rejoice!...
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
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The artist is Pete Stewart/Grammatrain,
and it's from his '99 release Pete Stewart on the Forefront Records label.
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It's easy to hear the church choir influence on this voice.
It's Barbrah Kelly, from her CD Smooth Worship, released
in '08 on the BJK Productions label.
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It's perhaps not a religious song per se, (though this could be argued), but it fits.
Les Paul and Mary Ford had a big hit with this in 1951.
We got it off a '92 release from Capitol Records titled:
The Best of The Capitol Masters/Selections From The Legend and The Legacy.
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