ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

"I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to they name, O thou Most High!"
Psalm 9:2

"Angels We Have Heard on High" was first published in France in 1855. the chorus of this song "Gloria, in excelsis Deo" is said to be the words the angels sang at Christ's birth, meaning "Glory to God in Heaven." Legend tells that shepherds on the hills of France used to call out to each other on Christmas Eve, "Gloria in excelsis Deo." This shepherds' song is believed to have come from the tradition laid down by Pope Telesphorus (125 AD to 136 AD) who ordained that "Gloria in excelsis Deo" be sung at midnight mass every Christmas Eve.

ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?

Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

See Him in a manger laid,
Whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While our hearts in love we raise.

Refrain:
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!