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THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM (Cheyney)

Scripture Verse

Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him. Matthew 2:1–2

Introduction

Words: Car­rie Chey­ney, in The Ohio Edu­ca­tion­al Month­ly (Ak­ron, Ohio: Sam­uel Find­ley), Vol­ume 33, Ap­ril 1884, pag­es 168–69, alt.

Music: Er­nan Low­ell Ma­son, 1850 (🔊 ).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Chey­ney (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), would you send us an e-mail?

portrait
Lowell Mason (1792–1872)

Anecdote

The fol­low­ing [hymn] was sug­gest­ed by read­ing in The Ohio Edu­ca­tion­al Month­ly that as­tro­no­mers pre­dict­ed the re­turn of the Star of Beth­le­hem, which ap­peared to the wise men of the East at the birth of Christ. It is said that the long-looked-for star will ap­pear be­fore the end of the year 1885.

Lyrics

Will that bright star again ap­pear,
Which o’er Ju­dea’s plains beamed clear,
To guide the wise men on their way
To where the in­fant Sav­ior lay?

That star which shed its sil­ve­ry rays
On Christ the Lord, in so­lemn praise,
Will it re­peat to all the earth
The sto­ry of Mes­si­ah’s birth?

Did low­ly shep­herds that lone night,
And an­gels from their home of light
Proclaiming loud the dawn of peace,
Behold the beau­ty of thy face?

Did swell­ing sounds of gold­en lyre,
With voic­es of that an­gel choir,
Convey to thee the glad re­frain,
Peace on earth, good will to men?

Didst thou the trem­bling Her­od see?
And wit­ness too his cru­el­ty?
Or in deep sor­row veil thy face,
And on­ward rush through realms of space?

Brightest of Cas­sio­pe­ia’s train,
O won­drous star, shine out again!
Shine out, O glo­ry-beam­ing gem,
That stood of old o’er Beth­le­hem!

Listen, O star, to our ap­peal,
And thy mys­te­ri­ous lore re­veal;
Shed o’er the world ce­les­ti­al light,
And put the skep­tic’s doubts to flight.

And ev­er may thy ra­di­ant rays
Turn sin­ners from their ev­il ways;
And may our eyes be­hold the light,
Which led those men of old aright.

illustration
The Star of Bethlehem
Gustave Doré (1832–1883)