Lo, how a rose e’er blooming,
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung;
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.
Isaiah ‘twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it,
The Virgin Mother kind;
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to us a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
This lovely hymn was originally published in 1582 in Gebetbuchlein des Frater Conradus whose German words “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen” were inspired by the Song of Solomon, 2:1 referring to Mary: I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. The words and music appeared in Katholischer Geistlicher Kirchengesang in 1599. Among the many English adaptations, the best known is by Theodore Baker (1851-1934).
Until next time, stop and smell the roses.
Rosalinda
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