Second Week of Advent

Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming

Lo! how a rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung,
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.

It came a floweret 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 to men a Saviour,
When half-spent was the night.

This flower whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.

True man, yet very God!
From sin and death he saves us
And lightens every load.

-hymn by Hugo Distler