O
Come, O Come, Emmanuel
LSB 357 O
Come, O Come, Emmanuel
O come, Thou Dayspring
from on high,
And cheer us by Thy
drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy
clouds of night,
And death's dark
shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to
you, O Israel.
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domain
Light of the World,
Illuminate our Darkness
The
Antiphon
O Dayspring,
splendor of light everlasting:
Come
and enlighten
those
who sit in darkness
and
in the shadow of death.
Isaiah
9:2-7
The
people who walked in darkness
have
seen a great light;
those
who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on
them has light shined.
You
have multiplied the nation;
you
have increased its joy;
they
rejoice before you
as
with joy at the harvest,
as
they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For
the yoke of his burden,
and
the staff for his shoulder,
the
rod of his oppressor,
you
have broken as on the day of Midian.
For
every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and
every garment rolled in blood
will
be burned as fuel for the fire.
For
to us a child is born,
to
us a son is given;
and
the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and
his name shall be called
Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace.
Of
the increase of his government and of peace
there
will be no end,
on
the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to
establish it and to uphold it
with
justice and with righteousness
from
this time forth and forevermore.
The
zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Isaiah
60: 1, 2
The
Future Glory of Israel
Arise,
shine, for your light has come,
and
the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For
behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and
thick darkness the peoples;
but
the LORD will arise upon you,
and
his glory will be seen upon you.
Matthew
1:21, 23
"She
will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save
his people from their sins.”
“Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his
name Emmanuel”
(which
means, God with us).
Light
of the World, Illuminate our Darkness
“When
we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to
us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice,
solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch
our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent
with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in
an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not
curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our
powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
―
Henri
J.M. Nouwen,
The
Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey
Luke
1:68ff.
The
Benedictus – Zechariah prophecies regarding
The
lord's work through John and Jesus
Blessed be the Lord, the God of
Israel;
He has come to His people and
redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty
Savior,
born of the house of His servant
David.
Through His holy prophets He
promised of old
that He would save us from our
enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our
fathers
and to remember His holy covenant.
This was the oath He swore to our
father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our
enemies,
free to worship Him without fear,
holy and righteous in His sight all
the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the
prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to
prepare His way,
to give His people knowledge of
their salvation
by the forgiveness of their sin.
In the tender compassion of our God,
the dawn from on high shall break
upon us
to shine on those who dwell in
darkness and the shadow of death
and to guide our feet into the way
of peace.
Glory be to the Father and to the
Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be forever. Amen.
