nd Friend
This Christmas day is bringing.

Hallelujah, our strife is o'er!
Who would henceforth with sadness
Repine and weep in sorrow sore
This blessed day of gladness.
Rejoice, rejoice, ye saints on earth,
And sing the wonders of His birth
Whose glory none can measure.
Hallelujah, the Lord is mine,
And I am now by grace divine
The heir of all His treasure!

Equally fine but more quietly contemplative is the next hymn in the
collection which takes us right to the focal point of Christmas worship,
the stable at Bethlehem.

My heart remains in wonder
Before that lowly bed
Within the stable yonder
Where Christ, my Lord, was laid.
My faith finds there its treasure,
My soul its pure delight,
Its joy beyond all measure,
The Lord of Christmas night.

But Oh! my heart is riven
With grief and sore dismay
To see the Lord of heaven
Must rest on straw and hay,
That He whom angels offer
Their worship and acclaim
From sinful man must suffer
Such scorn, neglect and shame.

Why should not castles royal
Before Him open stand,
And kings, as servants loyal,
Obey His least command?
Why came He not in splendor
Arrayed in robes of light
And called the world to render
Its homage to His might?

The sparrow finds a gable
Where it may build its nest,
The oxen know a stable
For shelter, food and rest;
Must then my Lord and Savior
A homeless stranger be,
Denied the simplest favor
His lowly creatures see.

O come, my Lord, I pray Thee,
And be my honored guest.
I will in love array Thee
A home within my breast.
It cannot be a stranger
To Thee, who made it free.
Thou shalt find there a manger
Warmed by my love to Thee.

Far different from this song of quiet contemplation is the searching hymn
that follows it.

How do we exalt the Father
That He sent His Son to earth.
Many with indifference gather
At His gift of boundless worth.

This is followed by another hymn of praise.

Lift up your voice once more
The Savior to adore.
Let all unite in spirit
And praise the grace and merit
Of Jesus Christ, the Holy,
Our joy and glory solely.

And then comes "The Fairest of Roses", which a distinguished critic calls
"one of the most perfect lyrics in the Danish langua