Music Monday: Let all mortal flesh

Oh…my…goodness…

I have always enjoyed the song “Let all mortal flesh”. My love of this song deepened as I dug into Church History and discovered these words were part of the ancient Liturgy of St. James. Although most people associate this song with Christ’s coming at Christmas, both the lyrics and this early liturgical setting point, not to Christ’s coming two thousand years ago, but to His coming to us on the altar at every Mass.

Despite having always loved the song, this weekend my love was taken to new depths. On Saturday I heard a new version of this song by Sarah Kroger on The Catholic Playlist Show. Since then, I have played little else . The orchestration and Sarah’s phenomenal voice, as clear as glass, have such a transcendent quality…wow….just…..wow.

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.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heav’nly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the pow’rs of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six-winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
“Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Lord Most High!”