Devotional for Dec. 15

Six-winged Seraphim (in the upper church, Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY)





December 15th

From the Liturgy of St. James
Trans. By Rev. Gerard Moultrie (1829-1885)

Let all mortal flesh keep silence.
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly-minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture –
In the body and the blood-
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its van-guard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
And the darkness clears away.

At the feet the six-winged seraph:
Cherubim, with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia,
Lord Most High. Amen

This is sung to PICARDY, a French traditional carol. The Liturgy of St. James is one of the earliest ones - perhaps from as early as AD 60. The oldest surviving manuscript is from the 9th century AD.

Ellyn Jones