Music & HymnsWhat Star Is This, With Beams So Bright?

Words: Charles Coffin, Paris Breviary, 1736 (Quae stella sole pulchrior); translated from Latin to English by John Chandler, 1837.

Music: "Puer Nobis Nascitur," Trier, Germany, 15th Century. Adapted by Michael Praetorius, 1609; harmony by George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1910

What star is this, with beams so bright,
More lovely than the noonday light?
'Tis sent to announce a newborn King,
Glad tidings of our God to bring.

'Tis now fulfilled what God decreed,
"From Jacob shall a star proceed";
And lo! the Eastern sages stand
To read in heaven the Lord's command.

While outward signs the star displays,
An inward light the Lord conveys,
And urges them, with force benign,
To seek the Giver of the sign.

True love can brook no dull delay;
Nor toil nor dangers stop their way
Home, kindred, father land and all
They leave at their Creator's call.

O, while the star of heavenly grace
Invites us, Lord, to seek Thy face,
May we no more that grace repel,
Or quench that light which shines so well!

To God the Father, God the Son,
And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
May every tongue and nation raise
An endless song of thankful praise!

Hymns supplied through the gracious generosity of the Cyber Hymnal Website