- Welcome to "Carols at the Cathedral".

I'm Richard Lawson, Dean of Saint John's Cathedral here in Denver, Colorado.

Welcome.

Saint John's is a wonderful cathedral, full of transcendent architecture and stained glass, a beautiful place.

It's a place that is meant to be a meeting where we discover that God is close to us.

It's also a mirror of the entire cosmos.

And this cathedral is a kind of promise that wherever we are in that cosmos, God meets us and is one with us.

These carols are wonderful.

This choir is wonderful.

And I'm reminded of a great saying from the North African Bishop, Augustine who said, "The one who sings, prays twice."

So if you sing with us tonight, you'll pray a whole lot.

And even if you're not a singer, don't worry about that, just hum or let the choirs' voices and the music just wash over you and put your heart into it.

And may this music, this place, and the Christmas story, be a profound reminder to you that you are not alone, that God is with you and God promises community for all.

♪ ♪ Hodie Christus natus est born is a King forever blessed ♪ ♪ Welcome we now our heavenly guest ♪ ♪ Sing alleluja ♪ ♪ Sing alleluja ♪ ♪ Sing alleluja ♪ ♪ allelu- allelu- alleluja ♪ ♪ ♪ Loud Loud ♪ ♪ Loud we give praise this day of days ♪ ♪ ♪ Long Long ♪ ♪ Long may we sing our God and King ♪ ♪ Light of life ♪ ♪ Lord of Lords ♪ ♪ ♪ Hodie Christus natus est born is a King forever blessed ♪ ♪ Welcome we now our heavenly guest ♪ ♪ Sing alleluja ♪ ♪ Sing alleluja ♪ ♪ Sing alleluja ♪ ♪ ♪ alleluja, alleluja ♪ ♪ ♪ alleluja ♪♪ ♪ ♪ Angels from the realms of glory ♪ ♪ Wing your flight o'er all the earth ♪ ♪ Ye who sang creation's story ♪ ♪ Now proclaim Messiah's birth ♪ ♪ Come and worship, come and worship ♪ ♪ Worship Christ, the newborn King ♪ ♪ Shepherds in the field abiding ♪ ♪ Watching o'er your flocks by night ♪ ♪ God with you is now residing ♪ ♪ Yonder shines the infant light ♪ ♪ Come and worship, come and worship ♪ ♪ Worship Christ, the newborn King ♪ ♪ Sages leave your contemplations ♪ ♪ Brighter visions beam afar ♪ ♪ Seek the great desire of nations ♪ ♪ Ye have seen his natal star ♪ ♪ Come and worship, come and worship ♪ ♪ Worship Christ, the newborn King ♪ ♪ Saints before the altar bending ♪ ♪ Watching long in hope and fear ♪ ♪ Suddenly the Lord descending ♪ ♪ In his temple shall appear ♪ ♪ Come and worship, come and worship ♪ ♪ Worship Christ, the newborn King ♪♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ de nuestra cordera.

♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ El lobo rabioso ♪ ♪ la quiso morder ♪ ♪ Mas Dios Poderoso ♪ ♪ la supo defender ♪ ♪ Quizo la hacer que ♪ ♪ no pudiese pecar ♪ ♪ Ni aun original ♪ ♪ esta virgen no tuviera.

♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Este que es nascido ♪ ♪ es El Gran Monarca ♪ ♪ Cristo Patriarca ♪ ♪ de carne vestido ♪ ♪ Ha nos redimido ♪ ♪ con se hacer chiquito ♪ ♪ Aunque era infinito ♪ ♪ finito se hiciera.

♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Muchas profecías ♪ ♪ lo han profetizado, ♪ ♪ Y aún en nuestros días ♪ ♪ lo hemos alcanzado ♪ ♪ A Dios humanado ♪ ♪ vemos en el suelo, ♪ ♪ Y al hombre en el cielo ♪ ♪ porque él le quisiera ♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Yo vi mil Garzones ♪ ♪ que andavan cantando ♪ ♪ Por aqui volando ♪ ♪ haciendo mil sones ♪ ♪ Diciendo a gascones ♪ ♪ Gloria sea en el Cielo ♪ ♪ Y paz en el suelo ♪ ♪ pues Jesus nasciera.

♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Este viene a dar ♪ ♪ a los muertos vida ♪ ♪ Y viene a reparar ♪ ♪ de todos la caida ♪ ♪ Es la luz del dia ♪ ♪ aqueste Moçuelo ♪ ♪ Este es el Cordero ♪ ♪ que San Juan dijera.

♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Mira bien que os cuadre ♪ ♪ que ansina lo oyera, ♪ ♪ Que Dios no pudiera ♪ ♪ hacerla mas que madre, ♪ ♪ El que era su padre ♪ ♪ hoy de ella nació ♪ ♪ Y el que la crió ♪ ♪ su hijo so dijera.

♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Pues que ya tenemos ♪ ♪ lo que deseamos ♪ ♪ Todos juntos vamos ♪ ♪ presentes llevemos ♪ ♪ Todos le daremos ♪ ♪ nuestra voluntad ♪ ♪ Pues a se igualar ♪ ♪ con nosotros viniera.

♪ ♪ Riu, riu, chiu ♪ ♪ la guarda ribera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪ ♪ Dios guardó el lobo ♪ ♪ el lobo de nuestra cordera ♪♪ ♪ ♪ I wonder as I wander out under the sky ♪ ♪ That Jesus my Savior did come for to die ♪ ♪ For poor ordin'ry people like you and like I ♪ ♪ I wonder as I wander out under the sky ♪ ♪ ♪ When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall ♪ ♪ With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all ♪ ♪ But high from God's heaven a star's light did fall ♪ ♪ And the promise of ages it then did recall ♪ ♪ ♪ If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing ♪ ♪ A star in the sky or a bird on the wing ♪ ♪ Or all of God's angels in heaven for to sing ♪ ♪ He surely could have it 'cause he was the King ♪♪ There's a Hebrew prophet named Isaiah.

And Isaiah's great work of prophecy is in the Old Testament of the Hebrew scriptures.

And I'm really fascinated by chapter seven verse 14 when Isaiah prophesize and promises that God will one day send a sign.

And this sign will be when a young woman gives birth to a child and the child's name will be Immanuel.

Immanuel means God with us.

This is an incredible promise.

Now Isaiah was not literally writing about the birth of Christ but here we are centuries later and the church carefully borrows this passage from Isaiah as a lens upon which we view the Christmas story.

Jesus, this birth is the birth of Immanuel.

And the birth doesn't quite matter as much as the meaning.

The meaning is what is so, so powerful.

And the child's name is Immanuel which means God with us.

The sign is that God is with us through the ups and downs of our life.

God is with us through the ordinary and the extraordinary.

The mundane and the mysterious.

Wherever we are on life's journey of joys and sorrows, the promise of Christmas, the promise of Isaiah's prophecy is that God is with us and at the deepest level of our being we are not alone.

In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a book entitled, "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?"

King's book is wonderful, the title is brilliant.

And in one sense, unfortunately, this title describes the age in which we have been living in ever since King lived.

We find ourselves on a daily basis sometimes stretched between chaos and community.

Christmas, the Christmas story speaks to us in the midst of that spectrum of chaos and community.

And my hope for you, my hope for myself, my hope for all of us is that wherever you are on that spectrum of chaos and community, that the Christmas story gives you a deep sense of Immanuel, that God is with you.

And this promise is for you whether or not you're a religious person or a church person or simply a person of good will who's curious about this story.

Wherever you are on any spectrum of identity, may the Christmas story be a promise and a sign for you.

That you are not alone, that God is with you.

And above all may this Christmas story empower you to keep company with others too, so that they may be reminded that they are not alone either.

♪ ♪ O Thou the central orb of righteous love ♪ ♪ The beam of the most high ♪ ♪ Eternal light of this our wintry world ♪ ♪ Thy radiance bright awakes new joy in faith ♪ ♪ Hope soars above, above ♪ ♪ ♪ Come, quickly come, and let thy glory shine ♪ ♪ Gilding our darksome heaven with rays divine ♪ ♪ Thy saints with holy lustre round thee move ♪ ♪ As stars about thy throne, set in the height ♪ ♪ Of God's ordaining counsel ♪ ♪ As thy sight gives measured grace to each ♪ ♪ ♪ Thy power to prove ♪ ♪ ♪ Let Thy bright beams disperse the gloom of sin ♪ ♪ Our nature all shall feel eternal day ♪ ♪ In fellowship with thee ♪ ♪ Transforming day to souls erewhile unclean ♪ ♪ Now pure within ♪ ♪ Now pure within ♪ ♪ ♪ Amen ♪♪ ♪ Ave Maria ♪ ♪ Gratia plena ♪ ♪ Dominus tecum ♪ ♪ Bendicta tu in mulieribus ♪ ♪ Et benedictus fructus ventris ♪ ♪ Ventris tui, Iesus ♪ ♪ Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ♪ ♪ Ora pro nobis peccatoribus, ♪ ♪ Ave Maria ♪ ♪ ora pro nobis ♪ ♪ Nunc et in hora mortis ♪ ♪ mortis nostrae.

♪ ♪ Ave Maria!

♪ ♪ Sancta Maria ♪ [polyphony vocals] ♪ Ave Maria ♪ ♪ Gratia plena ♪ ♪ Ora pro nobis peccatoribus, ♪ ♪ Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae ♪ ♪ Amen ♪♪ ♪ ♪ O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant ♪ ♪ O come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem ♪ ♪ Come and behold him, born the King of Angels ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ God of God ♪ ♪ Light of Light eternal ♪ ♪ lo, He abhors not the virgin's womb ♪ ♪ only begotten, Son of the Father ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ O come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Christ the Lord ♪ ♪ Sing choirs of angels ♪ ♪ Sing in exultation ♪ ♪ Sing all ye citizens of heaven above ♪ ♪ Glory to God ♪ ♪ Glory in the highest ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Oh, come, let us adore him ♪ ♪ Christ, the Lord ♪♪