Scripture Verse

There was…a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:13–14

Introduction

portrait
Karl Wonnberger
(1861–1939)

Words: Ano­ny­mous, in Un­ser Lied­er­buch, ed­it­ed by E. Lin­der (Read­ing, Penn­syl­van­ia: Pil­ger Buch­hand­lung, 1893), num­ber 13 (Jetzt kom­men die lieb­en En­gel­ein). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Fred­er­ick W. Herz­ber­ger in the Christ­mas Song Book, com­piled by Ad­olf T. Han­ser (Buf­fa­lo, New York: Dahl­ke Pub­lish­ing, 1918), num­ber 18.

Music: Karl R. Wonn­ber­ger, 1893 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Now come the ho­ly an­gels dear,
To us from Heav’n ab­ove;
See glo­rious light so bright and clear,
Illumine night with love;
Hear them good tid­ings bring­ing,
Hear an­gels’ chor­us sing­ing,
Hallelujah, hal­le­lu­jah!

They long to see the Babe that lies
In Ma­ry’s mo­ther-arm;
His glo­ry fills the earth and skies;
He saves from sin and harm.
The Fa­ther Him has giv­en,
In mer­cy down from Heav­en,
Hallelujah, hal­le­lu­jah!

O, heav­en­ly and ho­ly Child,
We sing Thy praise with glee;
Come, cleanse our hearts, by sin de­filed,
Let them Thy tem­ple be;
Accept the gifts we’re bring­ing,
List kind­ly to our sing­ing;
Hallelujah, hal­le­lu­jah!