 Favourite Hymns Volume I More Favourite Hymns Volume II Hymns for Christmas Volume III The Hymns of Charles Wesley Volume IV Hymns for Special Occasions Volume V Hymns of Our Time Volume VI Hymns of the Great Composers Volume VII Poetry in Hymns Volume VIII Hymns and Prayers Volume IX Scripture in Hymns Volume X Hymns of the Victorian Era Volume XI Hymns of the Twentieth Century Volume XII  |
Hymns for Christmas Volume III (ISBN: 0-9545046-2-3) Published by Grasshopper Publishing Limited, 2003 Price: £16.00 each (inc. p. & p.) Orders for two or more books will qualify for a reduction, each book being priced at £14.00, and further discounts are available for group purchases on request. Hymns for Christmas Volume III We speak nowadays of carols and Christmas hymns as if there is no difference and, for the most part, the terminology is inter-changeable. This, however, was not always so. Historically, a carole was a dance, usually to mark the coming of Spring and accompanied by a joyful song. The earliest use of the word Christmas appears to be in 1123 when the birth of Christ came to be celebrated in the three Masses of Christmas Day, known in Old English as ‘Cristes Maesse’. Eventually, in or around the fourteenth century, religious words were introduced, sometimes in Latin borrowed as it were from the Church, and the carols were sung with joy at Christmas and Easter. By the year 1568, the word Christmas was used meaning Mass of Christ. However, by Cromwell’s time, much of the joy of Christian worship had been destroyed and the celebrating of Christmas was suppressed as paganism. Until the year 1700 or thereabouts, hymns as we know them hardly existed in the English Church. In that year, Nahum Tate is believed to have written one of the oldest hymns in our modern hymn books – While shepherds watched their flocks by night. Our hymn-writers included in this volume are – Cecil Frances Alexander; Phillips Brooks; John Byrom; William Chatterton Dix; Emily Elizabeth Steele Elliott; Paulus Gerhardt; Reginald Heber; Joseph Mohr; James Montgomery; Christina Georgina Rossetti; Edmund Hamilton Sears; Nahum Tate; John Francis Wade; Isaac Watts; Charles Wesley and their inspirational hymns are – A Virgin most pure, as the prophets do tell *** All my heart this night rejoices Angels from the realms of glory *** As with gladness men of old Away in a manger *** Brightest and best of the sons of the morning Christians, awake, salute the happy morn *** God rest you merry, gentlemen Good Christian men, rejoice *** Hark! the herald-angels sing In the bleak mid-winter *** It came upon the midnight clear Joy to the world, the Lord has come! *** O come, all ye faithful O little town of Bethlehem *** Once in royal David’s city Silent night *** Thou didst leave Thy throne While shepherds watched their flocks by night Also included in this volume is a selection of Christmas readings. |
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© Grasshopper Publishing Limited
2003
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