Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
Something for the weekend. Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming. Written by the ever prolific composer Anonymous in 16th century Germany, it quickly became a favorite hymn of both Catholics and Protestants in that time and land of religious strife, and that is a good message for Christmas.
Lo, How a rose e’er blooming
From tender stem has sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming
As prophets long 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 the world a Savior,
When half spent was the night.
O flow’r whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispel with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True Man, yet very God,
From sin and death now save us
And lighten every load.
The German version, being original, is much better, with “und blieb doch reine Magd” affirming the perpetual virginity of the Theotokos (which is why, predictably, there is a Protestant version that changes that line). The literal translation at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Es_ist_ein_Ros_entsprungen is pretty good. (I used “doch” instead of “ein” both because that is the version I heard and learned, and also because it is more emphatic.)