Holy Eucharist for Christmas Eve

Welcome to Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration! Visit our website: www.transfiguration.net Christmas Eve Midnight Mass Holy Eucharist with Expansive Language Sunday, December 24, 2023 | 10:30 p.m. We welcome you to Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration today as we celebrate the miracle of the Incarnation and the birth of Jesus Christ. Our mission is to seek and serve in all persons the very one whose birth we celebrate tonight, so if you are looking for a community that nurtures an active, generous, and inclusive faith, we invite you to join us! We are rich and poor, old and young, lifelong Christians and new to the faith. Whoever you are, there is a place for you in this community. The Feast of the Nativity This evening we celebrate the most important birthday in history. Jesus, born to Mary and heralded by angels and shepherds, is the Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace foretold by Isaiah (9:6), in whom the whole cosmos came into being (John 1:3). The story of his birth is more than sweet sentiment, it is the beginning of our salvation, as the baby Jesus grew to rescue us from sin and death and show us the way to eternal life. So join the angels and repeat the sounding joy, for the hopes and fears of all the years are met in the one laid in a manger in Bethlehem, who is the greatest gift that has ever been given: Emmanuel, God with us. Offertory Anthem Wexford Carol An Irish Carol | arr. John Rutter Sung by Transfiguration Choir Good people all, this Christmas-time, Consider well and bear in mind What our good God for us has done In sending his beloved Son. With Mary holy we should pray To God with love this Christmas day; In Bethlehem upon that morn There was a blessed Messiah born. The night before that happy tide The noble Virgin and her guide Were long time seeking up and down To find a lodging in the town. But mark how all things came to pass: From every door repelled, alas! As long foretold, their refuge all Was but an humble ox’s stall. Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep; To whom God’s angels did appear, Which put the shepherds in great fear. ‘Prepare and go’, the angels said, ‘To Bethlehem, be not afraid; For there you’ll find, this happy morn, A princely babe, sweet Jesus born. With thankful heart and joyful mind The shepherds went the babe to find, And as God’s angel had foretold, They did our Savior Christ behold. Within a manger he was laid, And by his side the Virgin Maid, Attending on the Lord of Life, Who came on earth to end all strife. — traditional Irish Thumbnail Image: Birth of Christ, Donald Jackson, Copyright 2002, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #A-709126. All rights reserved.