From a much larger article entitled "THE ENCHANTING CHRISTMAS CAROLS OF UKRAINE AND TRANSCARPATHIA–KOLYADKI: One of these Ukrainian Christmas Carols became a legend in America" available here. Do go read it, because it's enlightening and the music is great.
In the dark night (Sleep Jesus), V temnuyu nichku, В темную нічку (Спи, Ісусе,)
It is impossible to listen to this soulful carol and truly understand the words without crying. This carol describes the Birth of Jesus, with the Mother of God singing him a lullaby about his fate. She sings to him that he will grow up and go into the world, and with time, people across the entire world will believe in him. She tells him he will save the world from death, but not before He, her newly born Son, would himself die on Golgotha.
No one could ever truly understand the fate of the Mother of God, the highest being ever created. She gave birth without corruption to God in the flesh, containing, (by His own consent), in her womb both the Creator of the universe, and her own personal Creator, Whom the heavens themselves could not contain. He was of course, before becoming her Son, the Immortal Logos of God, as he remained, but now here is a juxtaposition to marvel at...now that immortal Logos is an infant physically not unlike other babies, and He became her baby.
And now in this carol, she sings to her baby and her Creator about what he already perfectly understands, that He will grow up, teach the world He created the truth, His own creations and children will then murder Him, and He will rise from the dead not to punish them, but still to save him, and of course, His victory is inevitable. Yet still...what incomprehensible emotions this must bring on a girl who most likely not being much older than eighteen, was already more honorable than the many-eyed cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the sixed-winged seraphim.
To give birth to your own God, and then sing to Him about His inevitable death, and glorious resurrection... No mother wants to outlive her son, but its an entirely separate strange and awesome thing to understand that not only will your son die, but He will also save the human race and rise from the dead. This beautiful version is sung by the monks of the Holy Mountain Lavra in Donbas, Eastern Ukraine, one of the most persecuted and troubled regions in the country, not far from the village where Saint John of Shanghai and San-Francisco was born.
In the dark night, above Bethlehem,
a bright star shined out, covering the Holy Land.
The Most Pure Virgin, the Holy Bride,
in a poor cave gave birth to a Son.
[Chorus] Sleep Jesus, sleep my little baby,
Sleep my little star,
About your fate, my little sweet,
To you I will sing.
She gently kissed and swaddled him,
She put him to bed, and quietly started to sing,
You will grow up, my Son, you’ll become a grown-up,
And you will go out into the world, my baby.
Sleep Jesus, sleep my sweet little baby,
Sleep my little star,
About your fate, my little sweet,
To you I will sing.
The Love of the Lord and God’s truth,
You will bring faith to the world, to your people,
The truth will live on, the shackles of sin will be shattered,
[But my child], on Golgotha, my child will die.
Sleep Jesus, sleep my sweet little baby,
Sleep my little star,
About your fate, my little sweet,
To you I will sing.
Sleep, Jesus, sleep my sweet little baby,
Sleep my rose blossom,
With hope on You
The entire world is watching!
В темную нічку, над Вифлеємом,
Ясна зоря зійшла, світлом землю покрила.
Пречиста Діва, свята Невіста,
В вертепі бідному Синочка зродила.
(Приспів):
Спи, Ісусе, спи, Маленький,
Спи, Ти, зірочко, моя.
Твою долю, мій миленький,
Тобі співаю я.
Ніжно цілувала, пеленою вкрила,
Поклала спати, тихо пісню завела:
Виростеш, Ти, Синку, станеш Ти дорослим,
У світі підеш, Дитиночка Моя.
Спи, Ісусе, спи, Маленький,
Спи, Ти, зірочко, моя.
Твою долю, мій миленький,
Тобі співаю я.
Любов Господню і Божу правду
Ти, світом віри, людям своїм поенесеш,
Правда буде жити, гріха окови розіб'є
Но на Голгофі, умре Дитятко моє.
Спи, Ісусе, спи, Маленький,
Спи, Ти, зірочко, моя.
Твою долю, мій миленький,
Тобі співаю я.
Спи, Ісусе, спи, маленький,
Спи,Ти, мій рожевий цвіт
І з надією на Тебе
Дивится увесь світ!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment