The first Sunday of the church year is the Sunday nearest November 30. The day is called the First Sunday of Advent. Advent marks the time of preparation for the celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. In many churches the observance includes the lighting of an advent wreath. Traditions vary as to whether there should be four candles or five. Within those traditions the choice of color also varies. Regardless of the practice, Advent is a time of preparing our hearts to celebrate a special occasion as a community of believers.
One of the better known advent hymns has a title that takes on one of two spellings of translation of a Hebrew name which means “God with us.” Hence, the title used for the blog has it “Immanuel” while the graphic I designed has it as “Emmanuel.” Regardless of the spelling, the meaning is the same. Here is the hymn as printed in many hymnals.
Now, let’s take a closer look at this hymn for the season.
The text is based on an antiphon used in the Roman Catholic liturgy around the 8th century. Of course, it was developed in Latin, the official language of the church at that time. It was used in a call and response fashion during the vespers, or evening, service the week before Christmas. It was not done to music as we commonly know it today. Since it originally contained seven verses, it fit the model of singing a different verse for each day. The original text created the reverse acrostic “ero cras,” which means “I shall be with you tomorrow,” and is particularly appropriate for the advent season. A metrical version (rhythmic patter appropriate for singing to a tune) of five of the verses appeared in the 13th century. Later it was translated into English by J.M. Neale in 1851. Still later, the last two verses were translated by various sources. It is important to note that each of the verses expounds upon one of the names for the Messiah:
- God with us
- Wisdom from on high
- Lord of Might
- Branch of Jesse
- Key of David
- Bright and Morning Star
- King of nations
Note also how each verse begins with “O come” before presenting the name for the Messiah. The consistent response to each verse, keep in mind that it was done antiphonally, was: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.”
The tune most often used today is VENI IMMANUEL (or EMMANUEL) was originally music for a Requiem Mass in a fifteenth-century French Franciscan Processional. Thomas Helmore was the composer. It appeared at a time when plainsong (only melody line) was disappearing from vogue and four-part harmony was considered new.
Singing the hymn with greater knowledge helps in understanding the yearning for God’s anointed servant who would free believers from a sense of bondage to sin. Above all, “Bid all our sad divisions cease and be yourself our King of Peace.”
Byron Songer
November 29, 2015
