Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” sums up the contrasts in the life of Jesus Christ. How could He be both?
Originally a Polish hymn called “W Zlobie Lezy” or “He Lies in a Cradle,” it was the work of Piotr Skarga, a sixteenth-century Jesuit priest. A man of contrasts himself, he founded a college, a pawnshop, and a bank, all for the aid of the poor, but still managed to be a major force in Poland’s political history.
The music for the hymn reached England long before the text did, being attached to several other songs. It took a war to finally unite the music with an English version of Skarga’s words. Two years after the end of World War I, perhaps influenced by the songs of displaced Poles, Edith Margaret Gellibrand Reed turned “W Zlobie Lezy” into “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly.”
Edith Reed was a traveler and editor of music magazines. She also wrote mystery (or miracle) plays about the birth of Christ, exploring the “mystery” of God becoming man. The similarity between the plays and the hymn may have been what inspired her to work on the translation.
“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” leaves listeners in no doubt that even though this child was born in the lowest of circumstances, He was still, mysteriously and miraculously, “the Lord of all.” The Creator became part of His very own creation. And even though He came to save the whole world—well, He isn’t going to do that in a straightforward way either. With the salvation of humankind as His holy mission, He, mysteriously and miraculously, has one lowly human as His priority. As the song says in its last line, “Christ the Babe was born for you.”
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
LUKE 1:35