MAGDALEN COLLEGE OXFORD 1B1 CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT Online Sunday 13th December 2020 6.00 pm _____________________________________________________________________ The service is led by Andrew Bowyer, Dean of Divinity. The Choir is directed by Mark Williams, Informator Choristarum, The organ is played by Alexander Pott, Assistant Organist & Tutor to the Choristers, and Romain Bornes, Organ Scholar. _____________________________________________________________________ FRONT COVER ILLUSTRATION: ADORATION OF THE MAGI, FROM THE WORKSHOP OF THE MASTER OF VYŠŠI BROD, C. 1350 NATIONAL GALLERY, PRAGUE After the clock has chimed, the College Choir sings: Solo NCE in royal David’s city St ood a lowly cattle shed, OWhere a mother laid her baby In a manger for his bed: Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child. He came down to earth from heaven Who is God and Lord of all, And his shelter was a stable, And his cradle was a stall: With the poor and mean and lowly, Lived on earth our Saviour holy. And through all his wondrous childhood, He would honour and obey, Love, and watch the lowly maiden, In whose gentle arms he lay; Christian children all must be Mild, obedient, good as he. And our eyes at last shall see him Through his own redeeming love, For that child so dear and gentle, Is our Lord in heaven above: And he leads his children on To the place where he is gone. Not in that poor lowly stable, With the oxen standing by, We shall see him: but in heaven, Set at God’s right hand on high, Where like stars his children crowned, All in white shall wait around. Words: C.F. Alexander (1818–1895) Music: H.J. Gauntlett (1805–1876) arranged by David Willcocks (1919–2015) The Dean of Divinity says the BIDDING PRAYER: ELOVED in Christ, at this Holy Season, let it be our care and delight to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the Angels, and in heart and mind to go even unto Bethlehem and see Bthe Babe lying in a manger. Let us read and mark in Holy Scripture the tale of the loving purposes of God, from the first days of our disobedience, unto the glorious Redemption brought to us by that Holy Child; and in honour of him and of his Blessed Mother, let us make this Chapel glad with our hymns and carols of praise. But first let us pray for the needs of his whole world, for peace and goodwill over all the earth, and for love and unity within the Church he came to build. And because this of all things would rejoice his heart, let us at this time remember in his name the poor and helpless, the hungry and the oppressed, all victims of war, the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and the unloved, the aged and the little children, and all those who love not the Lord Jesus, or who know him not, or who by sin have grieved his heart of love. Lastly, let us remember before God all those who rejoice with us, but upon another shore and in a greater light, that multitude which no man can number, whose hope was in the Word made Flesh, and with whom in this Lord Jesus we for evermore are one. These prayers and praises let us humbly offer up to the Throne of Heaven, in the words that Christ himself taught us, saying together: UR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. OThy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. The Almighty God bless us with his grace; Christ give us the joys of everlasting life; and unto the fellowship of the citizens above may the King of Angels bring us. Amen. The College Choir (Decani) sings: N the stillness of a church Where candles glow, In the softness of a fall IOf fresh white snow, In the brightness of the stars That shine this night, In the calmness of a pool Of healing light, In the clearness of a choir That softly sings In the oneness of a hush Of angels’ wings, In the mildness of a night By stable bare, In the quietness of a lull Near cradle fair, There’s a patience as we wait For a new morn, And the presence of a child Soon to be born. Words: Katrina Shepherd Music: Sally Beamish (b. 1956) The Rose Deputy Head Chorister reads: OW the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree Nof the garden?” And the woman said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ‘Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’” And the serpent said unto the woman, “Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, “Where art thou?” And he said, “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And he said, “Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” And the man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” And the Lord God said unto the woman, “What is this that thou hast done?” And the woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” And the Lord God said unto the serpent, “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3: 1–15 The Academical Clerks sing: ESCIENS mater virgo virum peperit sine dolore Salvatorem saeculorum, ipsum regem angelorum, sola virgo lactabat ubere de caelo pleno. NVIRGIN mother, though she had no knowledge of man, gave birth without travail to the Saviour of the world. She alone suckled the very king of the angels with heavenly plenty. A Words: Responsory for the Feast of the Circumcision (Roman rite) Music: Jean Mouton (c. 1459–1522) An undergraduate student reads: HE people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. TFor unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9: 2, 6–7 The College Choir (Decani) sings: WONDER as I wander out under the sky, How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die. For poor on’ry people like you and like I... I wonder as I wander out under the sky. When Mary birthed Jesus ‘twas in a cow’s stall, With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all. But high from God’s heaven a star’s light did fall, And the promise of ages it then did recall. If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing, A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing, Or all of God's angels in heav’n for to sing, He surely could have it, ‘cause he was the King. Words: Traditional Appalachian Carol, adapted John Jacob Niles (1892–1980) Music: Carl Rütti (b. 1949) A graduate student reads: ND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, Athe spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.