Scripture Verse

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14

Introduction

Words: Al­ice A. C. Phipps. The first known men­tion of The Glo­ria Car­ols, the pamph­let where this an­them was pub­lished, was an ar­ti­cle in the The Chris­tian Re­gis­ter, a week­ly pub­li­ca­tion ed­it­ed by George Bat­che­lor, vol­ume 84, num­ber 46 (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Chris­tian Re­gis­ter As­so­cia­tion, 16 Nov 1905), page 1291. The ar­ti­cle stat­ed the pamph­let was for sale by the Uni­ta­ri­an Sun­day School So­ci­ety.

This an­them al­so ap­peared in the Sun­day School Hym­nal, ed­it­ed by Mrs. L. Wes­ton Att­wood (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Uni­ver­sal­ist Pub­lish­ing House, 1912), num­ber 139.

Music: Ar­thur F. Bur­nett (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Phipps’ full name, or where to get a good pho­to of her or Bur­nett (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Buds and flow’rs lie hid­den quite,
Life to their roots doth creep;
Fairy touch of snowy sprite
Lulls each to qui­et sleep.
Now’s the joy­ous Christ­mas­tide;
Mirth wan­ders wide and free;
In church and home on ev­ery side,
Blossoms the Christ­mas tree.
Glory to God in the high­est.

Candles gleam ’gainst tin­sel bright,
Vying with gifts of love;
Streaming out through dark­en­ing night
Blends with the stars above;
Music, bells, and voic­es clear,
Laughter and mer­ry glee,
Tell that the dear Christ-child is here,
Blessing our Christ­mas tree.
Glory to God in the high­est.

Hail! to thee, dear Christ­mas tree,
Loved by the young and old,
Wintry blasts dis­turb not thee,
Warm heart, that knows no cold.
Earth has all her ver­dure lost,
Awaits the call su­per­nal,
Thou dost bloom thro’ chill­ing frost,
Tree of life eter­nal.
Glory to God in the high­est.

illustration
Elvenjewel777, 3 December 2022
Wikimedia Commons

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