December 21st is shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Europe, where many of the Medieval Church customs were born. I find it most significant that the Pre-Christmas antiphon for this date refers to the coming of Christ as the dawning of light, the Dayspring.
People in the Middle Ages, in the darkest time of year, were longing for the light and hope of spring as much as we often do here in the northern reaches of North America. Here is the 12th century antiphon, translated from Latin into English:
O Dayspring, splendor of light ever-lasting:
Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Here is the verse of the hymn adapted from these ancient antiphons, written by James M. Neale in the 1800s:
O Come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh:
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
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