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 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

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)