Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Gabriel's Message

 
One of the Sunday School teachers at my church will be out of town this Sunday, so I have been asked to teach the middle school aged children.  The lesson is to be about the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would be bringing the Savior into the world.  So many beautiful works of art representing this, it was hard to choose just one to show you here.  I have been given a "search-for-word" type puzzle for the children after we have read the scripture from Luke.   You know, I will make them do more than just a puzzle, right? I wish I could show them all the works of art and also, I want to make sure that they know this very old hymn, "Gabriel's Message", thought to be 13th or 14th century,  which was translated from the Basque by Sabine Baring-Gould, the Englishman who also wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers".  You may read about him here.
(And we may thank him for the Victorian image of the "wings as drifted snow".)

Many artists have this song on Youtube but my favorite was this one by King's College Choir from Cambridge.  

1. The angel Gabriel from heaven came
His wings as drifted snow his eyes as flame
"All hail" said he "thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favored lady," Gloria!

2. "For know a blessed mother thou shalt be,
All generations laud and honor thee,
Thy Son shall be Emanuel, by seers foretold
Most highly favored lady," Gloria!

3. Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head
"To me be as it pleaseth God," she said,
"My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name."
Most highly favored lady. Gloria!

4. Of her, Emanuel, the Christ was born
In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn
And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say:
"Most highly favored lady," Gloria!

It has been suggested that the song "Let It Be" by the Beatles, could be associated with the Virgin Mary.  ("Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, Let it be") Paul McCartney has always denied this (his mother's name was Mary), but the fact is that his words echo scripture very closely here.  It's okay, Paul, this is a very good book to borrow from!

6 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”[c]
29 But when she saw him,[d] she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”

38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.


30 comments:

  1. I'm so glad the old carol "Gabriel's Message" has had a popular revival. It's a gorgeous song. The line "His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame" is so exquisitely written! Love it, love it, love it!

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    1. Me too, Debra! I love it so. We sing this at our Episcopal church. I learned it first from a cassette tape that I had from the 80's from England.

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  2. The information about Mr. Baring-Gould on Wikipedia is interesting, but I would really, really like to know how it happened that his parents named their son Sabine??? That is a female name; I know so many Sabines - ALL of them girls/women - that whenever we talk in the family about someone by that name, we need to add their surname to make sure the others know who we are talking about :-)
    I am sure the children will love the lesson you'll be teaching them!

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    1. Interesting, Meike, find out for me how he received this name and let me know!
      Hope you liked the song!

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  3. A beautiful song, and i'm sure your students will be blessed by your teaching.

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    1. So glad you like this too and I hope I will have at least a few kids there just before Christmas! xx

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  4. I am sure you will do a wonderful job teaching Sunday school. I guess I just always assumed that was the Virgin Mary was the one referred to in the song- "Mother Mary comes to me". That's a neat fact- xo
    Diana

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    1. Hey Diana!
      Ask me any Beatles trivia! I'm the gal to know! :-)
      And I can lead a Sunday School class, but only with the Lord's help!

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  5. I can't think of anyone better to take charge of the children's Sunday School. I thought Sabine was a girly name as well.

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    1. Thank you! There are so many other people who could do a better job but it will be up to me!
      You are in England, find out the mystery of "Sabine" for me...that's a good kitty!

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  6. I know you will teach them well. I am amazed at the things that stuck with me through my many years of sunday school. :):) xo,Susie

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    1. Thanks, Susie! Like you, I am constantly reminded of things from my early Sunday school lessons that have stayed with me for many years.

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  7. Kay - I love that song and the version you chose from YouTube is amazing. It reminds me of the BBC program Songs of Praise, which has been running for over 50 years. Choirs are featured each week singing different hymns. I always loved watching and listening to the episodes at Christmas time. Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas, Kay. With best wishes to you and yours,
    Mairead

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    1. Dear Mairead,
      I LOVE "Songs of Praise"! Why oh why, can't we have the same show here? We have copied everything else, why not that show? (I remember it from the time I lived there in the 80's.)
      Can't you use your sweet Irish influence and see if you can't get a network to listen to you and perhaps do the same show here? Come on, you know you can!
      And I am so happy that you enjoyed this song too. Happy Christmas to you.

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  8. Lovely! The perfect selection for today. Thanks for sharing this. It's not a video I'd ever seen before. xoxox Merry Christmas to you and yours, Carol

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    1. Wonderful! It makes me so happy to know that you enjoyed this too. Merry Christmas to you with love and light.

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  9. Hi Kay

    I saw the KC choir last night at The Albert Hall. On Sunday, the Mozart Festival Choir and Orchestra were there but my favourite, by a wide mile, was The Royal Choral Society plus the London Concert Orchestra on Monday.In between was a rather lacklustre affair by the RPO at The Cadogan Hall.

    Best wishes for the holiday season,

    Henry and Sarah

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    1. Oh Henry, you saw them at The Royal Albert Hall...how incredibly lucky are YOU!
      And to see all the other choirs, I would be over the MOON with happiness.
      Happy Christmas to you and Sarah. Give our love to Henry & JOY! xx

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  10. The King's College Choir is absolutely wonderful. Thanks for sharing this Kay and good luck with those 'middle school' students.

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    1. Happy you like this too, Jim. Thanks for wishing me good luck on Sunday, always welcomed! Happy Christmas to you!

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  11. What a lovely hymn! The beautiful video of the King's College Choir was a visual and an auditory delight. Your plan for the Sunday school lesson sounds so much richer than a word search puzzle!

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    1. Thank you! "A visual and an auditory delight"...that is exactly true. And some people love word searches, but there is so much more to life! xx

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  12. I enjoyed reading the words of that hymn. They sound beautiful!


    Blessings to you! :)

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    1. So happy that you enjoyed this too. Christmas peace and love. xx

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  13. Beautiful -- thank you for sharing! Here's wishing you a joyful, blessed Christmas season *hugs*

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    1. Thank YOU! So happy to see your comment here. I hope you are doing well these days and looking forward to Christmas with your little ones. xx

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  14. This is a wonderful Christmas (Annunciation) song which I had never heard before. Thank you so much.

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    1. Dear Kristi,
      It makes me very happy to know that I shared this song with someone who had never heard it before. I think it is lovely. Happy Christmas to you! xx

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  15. Hi Kay

    By chance, I noticed that The Mozart Festival Choir and Orchestra's Xmas concert was on the Sky Arts 2 channel this afternoon. It included Gabriel's Message.

    Received your card today with the good news that you are hoping to cross The Pond next year.WE look forward to seeing y'all.

    Have a good one.

    Henry and Sarah

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    1. Hey Henry!
      I hope you were able to listen to the concert on Sky Arts 2, and that you got to hear Gabriel's Message!
      Remembering the good lunch that we had with you, where Richard had to take a photo of the potatoes, how funny are we?
      Happy New Year to you and Sarah! (Give our love to Joy & Henry.)

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