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Setting of Mark A. Boyle's Christmas Poem, commissioned by St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Pittsburgh, PA
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An ancient root, an olive tree,
Will reach down through the arc of time.
From Jesse’s stem shall rise the key
To justice crowned in peace and rhyme.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
The wolf shall dwell beside the lamb,
And lion, share the calf’s sweet rest.
No harm shall touch the Shepherd’s land,
Where love and mercy make their nest.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
The child shall play by serpent’s den,
And lead the meek with gentlest hand.
The earth shall know sweet love again,
As starlight covers all the land.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
O Branch of hope, O living green,
Now bloom within this world of strife.
Come plant your seed in hearts unseen,
And sing the world to waking life.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
- MAB/Sprendlingen, Germany – July 28th, 2025
This text is a poetic response to the fourth reading of the Festival of Lessons and Carols and focuses on the organic promise: the “branch” and “Root” of Jesse.”
The imagery moves from the ancient, gnarled “root” of ancestry to the startling, “living green” of a new bloom. It captures the paradox of the prophecy – where predators and prey (the wolf and the lamb) find rest together – and attributes this peace to the leadership of a “Little Child.”
The recurring Latin refrain, Gloria in excelsis Deo, serves as a bridge between Old Testament prophecy and the angelic announcement to come, grounding the “peace on earth” in the glory of God.
Voicing: SATB with Organ
Instrumentation: Organ
Publisher: PdM
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