O come, all ye faithful

96 Adeste Fidelis (Portuguese Hymn). Irregular, with refrain.

1 O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
   O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
   Come, and behold Him, born the King of angels!

Refrain:
   O come, let us adore Him;
   O come, let us adore Him;
   O come, let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord!

2 Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation;
   sing, all ye citizens of heav'n above!
   Glory to God, all glory in the highest! [Refrain]

3 Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
   Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv'n!
   Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing! [Refrain]
                         Anonymous. Latin 18th century
                         Tr. by Frederick Oakeley and others
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
This is definitely one of the standard Christmas carols. It seems that even if people only know two Christmas carols, this is one of them. I was surprised to discover that hymnary.org says that the author was John Francis Wade, whom I had never heard of—interesting biography, though. They also insert a verse I had never heard as the second verse:

2 God of God, Light of Light,
   lo, He abhors not the virgin's womb;
   very God, begotten not created; [Refrain]

As many of you probably know, the chorus was taken over by the Charismatic Movement in the 1970s and various versions of it were added. I don't hang out in those circles, if they even exist, anymore, so I don't know if it is still prevalent or not. But I do recall that it was a very moving experience to hear thousands of voices singing it in worship.

I must say, this adventure of blogging through the hymnal I grew up singing from has been interesting and carried me into areas where my ignorance is huge. I hope you are enjoying it as well.
</idle musing>