Friday-The first week of Advent

Things are starting to look festive around here today. Decorations, the tree, lights, etc. Real Christmasy! And now, we move on. Today's hymn is taken from the Anthology of the Greeks:

Let us sing, in gladness of heart, the canticles of the pre-vigil of the birth of Christ; for he, who is coequal with the Father and the Spirit, having, in his great compassion for our miseries, clothed himself with the leaven of our clay, is to be born in the city of Bethlehem; and shepherds with angels will hymn his ineffable birth.
Let us play loud on our cymbals, let us shout our songs of victory; Christ is to appear visibly; the predictions of the prophets are fulfilled; he, who they foretold would appear amongst mortals, is to be born in a holy cave, and to lie in a crib a little child.
Get thee ready, O Bethlehem! Eden, open thy gates! Land of Juda, put on thy best! Let the heavens be glad, let men exult! To enrich the poverty of Adam by the abundance of his mercy, Life is in that crib, the rich One is in that cave, yet the divine Nature suffers no change or confusion.
From the clouds drop down dew from on high. He who puts the clouds in the air, he the adorable God, has descended in a cloud, and that cloud is the Virgin: he has done this, that light everlasting may shine from him on those who heretofore were in darkness and peril.
O most sweet Child, how shall I feed thee? said the blessed Lady. How shall I take thee into my arms, thou that holdest all things in thy power? How shall I wrap thee in swathing bands, that coverest the whole earth with clouds?
My Babe, said the Virgin Mother of Christ, how shall I hide thee, bright Sun, in swaddling clothes? How shall I so imprison thee that holdest all things? Shall I be able to fix my gaze on thee, whom the many-eyed spirits dare not look upon?
Get ready, then, O Bethlehem, all that is needed for the birth. And thou, Joseph, go and be enrolled with Mary. O crib ever venerable! O ye bands that swathe our God, holding in your folds the Life that breaks the bands of death, and ties us mortals to immortality, Christ Jesus our God.


Man, that is an awesome hymn, something to really think about! The next reading is before Holy Communion, and from the Coptic liturgy:

Once more we ask and pray thy goodness, O lover of mankind, for ourselves, thy servants, who bow their heads before thy glory. Grant us thy mercy and free us from our sins; and where we have done wrong, knowingly or unknowingly, whether in word or deed, whether from fear or cowardice, do thou, kindly God and Lover of us all, grant thy forgiveness. Bless us all, make us clean of heart, fill our minds with reverence of thee, and guide us in the way of thy will.