Welcome to Portsmouth Cathedral’s Carols on the Green! We hope you enjoy this chance to sing togethe
O little town of Bethlehem
O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy darks streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.
O morning stars together
proclaim the holy birth
and praises sing to God the King,
and peace to men on earth;
for Christ is born of Mary;
and, gathered all above,
while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wondering love.
How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming;
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in.
O holy child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell:
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
all seated on the ground,
the angel of the Lord came down,
and glory shone around.
‘Fear not,’ said he (for mighty dread
had seized their troubled mind);
glad tidings of great joy I bring
to you and all mankind.
‘To you in David’s town this day
is born of David’s line
a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord;
and this shall be the sign:
‘The heavenly Babe you there shall find
to human view displayed,
all meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
and in a manger laid.’
Thus spake the seraph; and forthwith
appeared a shining throng
of angels praising God, who thus
addressed their joyful song:
‘All glory be to God on high
and on the earth be peace;
good-will henceforth from heaven to men
begin and never cease.’
Silent night
Silent night, holy night.
All is calm, all is bright,
round yon virgin mother and child;
holy infant, so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night.
Shepherds quake at the sight,
glories stream from heaven afar,
heavenly hosts sing alleluia:
Christ, the Saviour is born,
Christ, the Saviour is born.
Silent night, holy night.
Son of God, love’s pure light,
radiant beams from thy holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace:
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
Good King Wenceslas
Good King Wenceslas looked out
on the Feast of Stephen;
when the snow lay round about,
deep, and crisp, and even:
brightly shone the moon that night,
though the frost was cruel,
when a poor man came in sight,
gath’ring winter fuel.
Gentlemen:
‘Hither, page, and stand by me,
if thou know’st it, telling,
yonder peasant, who is he,
where and what his dwelling?’
Ladies:
‘Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain,
right against the forest fence,
by Saint Agnes’ fountain.’
Gentlemen:
Bring me flesh, and bring me wine,
bring me pine-logs hither:
thou and I will see him dine,
when we bring them thither.’
All:
Page and monarch, forth they went,
forth they went together;
through the rude wind’s wild lament,
and the bitter weather.
Ladies:
‘Sire, the night is darker now,
and the wind blows stronger;
fails my heart, I know not how;
I can go no longer.’
Gentlemen:
‘Mark my footsteps, good my page;
tread thou in them boldly:
thou shalt find the winter’s rage
freeze thy blood less coldly.’
All:
In his master’s steps he trod,
Where the snow lay dinted;
heat was in the very sod
which the Saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
wealth or rank possessing,
ye who now will bless the poor
shall yourselves find blessing.
O come, all ye faithful
O come, all ye faithful,
joyful and triumphant,
o come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem;
come and behold him
born the King of Angels:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
God of God,
Light of Light,
lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
very God,
Begotten, not created:
Child, for us sinners
poor and in the manger,
fain we embrace thee, with awe and love;
who would not love thee,
loving us so dearly?
Sing, choirs of Angels,
sing in exultation,
sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
glory to God
in the highest:
God rest you merry, gentlemen
God rest you merry, gentlemen,
let nothing you dismay,
remember Christ our Saviour
was born on Christmas Day,
to save us all from Satan’s power
when we were gone astray:
O tidings of comfort and joy,
comfort and joy!
O tidings of comfort and joy!
From God our heavenly Father
a blessèd angel came,
and unto certain shepherds
brought tidings of the same,
how that in Bethlehem was born
the Son of God by name:
And when they came to Bethlehem
where our dear Saviour lay,
they found him in a manger,
where oxen feed on hay;
his mother Mary kneeling down
unto the Lord did pray:
Now to the Lord sing praises,
all you within this place,
and with true love and brotherhood
each other new embrace;
this holy tide of Christmas
all other doth efface:
Ding dong! Merrily on high
Ding dong! Merrily on high
in heav’n the bells are ringing.
Ding dong! Verily the sky
is riv’n with angel singing
Gloria! Hosanna in excelsis
Gloria! Hosanna in excelsis
E’en so here below, below
let steeple bells be swungen,
and io, io, io,
by priest and people sungen:
Pray you, dutifully prime
your matin chime, ye ringers;
may you beautifully rhyme
your evetime song, ye singers:
It came upon the midnight clear
It came upon the midnight clear,
that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth
to touch their harps of gold:
‘Peace on the earth, good-will to men,
from heaven’s all gracious King!’
The world in solemn stillness lay
to hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come,
with peaceful wings unfurled;
and still their heavenly music floats
o’er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains
they bend on hovering wing;
and ever o’er its Babel sounds
the blessèd angels sing.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the angel-strain have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
and man, at war with man, hears not
the love-song which they bring:
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
and hear the angels sing!
For lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet bards foretold,
when, with the ever-circling years,
comes round the age of gold;
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendours fling,
and the whole world give back the song
which now the angels sing.
The holly and the ivy
The holly and the ivy
when they are both full grown
of all the trees that are in the wood
the holly bears the crown.
O the rising of the sun
and the running of the deer
the playing of the merry organ
sweet singing in the choir.
The holly bears a blossom
as white as lily flow’r
and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
to be our dear Saviour:
The holly bears a berry
as red as any blood
and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
to do poor sinners good:
The holly bears a prickle
as sharp as any thorn,
and Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
on Christmas Day in the morn:
Hark, the herald angels sing
Hark! the herald angels sing
glory to the new-born King;
peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled:
joyful all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies,
with the angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem:
Hark! the herald angels sing
glory to the new-born King.
Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come
offspring of a Virgin’s womb!
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel:
Hail the heaven-born Prince of peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings;
mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth:
The Blessing
May the joy of the angels,
the eagerness of the shepherds,
the perseverance of the wise men,
the obedience of Mary and Joseph,
and the peace of the Christ child
be yours this Christmas.
And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.
We wish you a peaceful and blessed Christmas.