By Christine Hestwood, Music Director

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.” The Christmas season, and especially Christmas Eve, just isn’t complete without the beloved carol “O Holy Night.” Jesus’ birth brought a thrill of hope to a weary world, one that “lay in sin and darkness.” The birth of Jesus brought about a “new and glorious” day. And that’s certainly worth celebrating!

A friend recently sent me this:
Let’s look for glimmers this season. I experienced one the other day while leaving Sunrise Senior Living, where my Dad is currently living. I find myself in tears or close to tears every time I leave there. I was particularly low one recent afternoon and feeling very weary. And then the bells of Westminster began to ring at six o’clock. I looked at the steeple and rejoiced. Thank you, God, for that glimmer!

Music, to me, is a glimmer. If you find yourself needing a glimmer this season, consider listening to one of my favorite Christmas songs, “O Magnum Mysterium” by Morten Lauridsen. “Its luminous, gently shifting harmonies perfectly express a timeless sense of serenity and wonder.”

O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, Jacentem in praesepio! Beata
Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum, Christum.
Alleluia!

O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in a manger! Blessed is the virgin whose womb was worthy to bear the Lord, Jesus Christ. Alleluia!
My wish is that all of us will continue to rejoice when we feel weary and look for the glimmers around us!