Advent Reflection 12 December
Of the Father's love begotten
Pause for a moment
Take some time to think back to some of your best memories, and pray about your greatest dreams.
Listen to the music
Of the Father's Love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore
O that Birth for ever blessed,
When the Virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bare the Saviour of our race;
And the Babe, the world's Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred Face,
Evermore and evermore !
This is He Whom seers and sages
Sang about of with one accord ;
Whom the voices of the Prophets
Promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long-expected:
Let creation praise its Lord :
Evermore and evermore!
O ye heights of heaven adore Him!
Angel-hosts His praises sing!
Powers, dominions bow before Him,
And extol our God and King ;
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing,
Evermore and evermore!
Learn about the carol
This hymn is a confession of faith about the Christ, the eternal Son of God, whose birth and saving ministry were the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. The text is based on "Corde natus ex parentis," a Latin poem by Marcus Aurelius C. Prudentius who lived in the 4th-5th Century.
Working from the Latin text, John Mason Neale prepared a translation and published it in 1854. The hymn was revised and extended by Henry W. Baker and published in Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861.
Time for reflection
This carol sets the Christmas story in its true and magnificent timescale - at the very centre point of human history. It invites us to think of Christ not just as a baby but as the one who is:
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore
But Jesus birth is not an ending! It is the beginning; The beginning of a new Kingdom of the redemption story... A story of hope that will still be a story of hope we are still living in, with many more chapters that we must continue helping to write.
Time for Action
Decide what you can do to help make your hopes a reality.