The Rose

For church this Sunday, I did an arrangement of "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming," except I changed a good bit of the lyrics to reflect less archaic language and just express some slightly different nuances in the hymn. I also incorporated a verse from "People, Look East"--the one about Love, the Rose. :) I think this arrangement came together really well, so I'm hoping to be able to do a real recording of it soon--you can hear a bootleg acoustic version here. Below are the revised lyrics:

At last a rose is blooming
A blossom ever young
From kings and princes coming
As we for years have sung

It comes, a flower of light
Breaks through the cold of winter
And brightens up the night

Isaiah once foretold it
This flower we proclaim
With Mary we behold it
And magnify God's name

She gave our Savior birth
To show God's love and mercy
And brighten up the earth

O flow'r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air
Now banish with your splendor
The darkness everywhere

True God, yet fully man
From sin and death you save us
Through blood shed by the Lamb

Garden, rejoice! Though earth is bare
One more seed is planted there
Give all you are to tend and nourish
That from the seed a flower may flourish

People, look east and sing today
Love, the Rose, is on the way
People, look east and sing today
Love, the Rose, is on the way

At last a rose is blooming
A blossom ever young
From kings and princes coming
As we for years have sung

It comes, a flower of light
Breaks through the cold of winter
And brightens up the night