December 1 

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence 

TEXT: Liturgy of St. James, 5th c.

Adapted, Gerard Moultrie

b. September 16, 1829, Rugby Rectory, England

d. April 25, 1885, England

The words of this carol are a translation from a Greek Christmas Eve service of worship used in the fourth century called the Liturgy of St. James. Some scholars believe it dates back to AD 60, the same time that Paul was writing Romans. Considered to be, perhaps, the oldest liturgy developed for use in the church, it is still used today in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1864, Gerard Moultrie translated this text into English. An Oxford graduate who held many positions as both educator and clergy, he is credited with translating dozens of Greek, Latin, and German hymn texts. The word “liturgy” means the public work of the congregation and refers to the words they use in worship, often repeated each week. With these words, the congregation expresses profound awe and wonder at the incarnation of Jesus. It is a majestic picture of the nativity and the whole story of salvation, quite different from the narrative or folksy description found in many carols. The text was used in preparation for the celebration of the Eucharist or Communion, with reference to Jesus offering a “gift of Himself as heavenly food.”

TUNE: Traditional French Melody, 17th c.

Arranged, Ralph Vaughan Williams

PICARDY is a medieval folk melody and thought to be named after the province in France where it was first used. Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged it for this text in 1906. It has a chantlike style in a modal or minor key similar to the sound from ancient worship you might hear in cathedrals. Notice that the text was written 1200 years earlier.

As you sing this hymn … think on why Habakkuk 2:20 would instruct, “Let all the earth keep silence before him.” Fallen human beings are not typically slow to speak their minds. Even if our lips are silent, our hearts burst forth with excuses and arguments and justifications and demands. But now Habakkuk says to stay silent. Why?

The author of Ecclesiastes requires a similar silence before God and gives an explanation: “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools … Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth” (Eccl. 5:1–2). Do you see the “for” in the last phrase? It alerts us to the explanation: God is in heaven; you are on earth.

God is the Creator; you are the creature. God is awesome and majestic and worthy of all praise; you were created to give praise. Who are we to talk back to Him?

Now consider the first line: “Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand; ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in his hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand.” The mighty and awesome One, who dwells in unapproachable light, whose throne room no soul has seen and returned to tell of it, came from heaven to earth and was born in a manger.

The time will come for singing, but shouldn’t the first response be a stop-in-our-tracks, drop-our-weapons, look-up-from-our-work, even-the-wind-and-waves-halt kind of silence?