Scripture Verse

The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus. 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, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Luke 1:30–33

Introduction

Words: Ca­ro­lyn W. Gil­lette, 1999.

Music: Beech­er John Zun­del, Chris­tian Heart Songs 1870 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Zun­del (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Carolyn W. Gillette (1961–)

Lyrics

Mary heard the an­gel’s mes­sage:
Greetings, Mary, fa­vored one!
Do not fear, for God is with you;
You will one day bear God’s Son.

Filled with quest­ions, filled with won­der,
She pro­claimed her faith in God:
May it be as you have spok­en;
I’m the ser­vant of the Lord!

When she heard her cousin’s greet­ing,
Mary’s heart was filled with joy,
So she sang of God’s great bless­ing
Promised in her ba­by boy:
God has looked on me with fa­vor,
So I sing this song of praise.
God has worked, the proud to scat­ter…
Humble, hun­gry ones to raise.

Mary heard the shep­herds’ sto­ry,
Words she trea­sured with de­light.
Then an an­gel gave the warn­ing:
Flee with Je­sus in the night!
Mary won­dered in her ang­uish,
What would be the pain he’d know?
Fleeing then, she held him close­ly…
One day she would let him go.

Mary heard, Who is my mo­ther?
Who is in my fa­mi­ly?
All who do my Fa­ther’s bid­ding—
All these ones be­long to me.

Later, on the hill she heard him,
Woman, see your new son there!
You, my friend, be­hold your mo­ther!

So Christ formed new bonds of care.

When they learned the Lord had ris­en,
Christ’s dis­ci­ples met to pray.
Mary was among the faith­ful,
Bound in love, on Je­sus’ Way.
God, we see her, Christ’s dis­ci­ple,
Loving, learn­ing, serv­ing, too.
Like her, may we hear and an­swer,
We, your ser­vants, live for you.