Gentle Mary Laid Her Child is a carol which is popularly sung to the tune Tempus Adest Floridium, most commonly associated with Good King Wenceslas. The carol is also sung with other melodies.
The latter lyrics are certainly seasonal, but Joseph Simpson Cook’s words are more fitting for Christian worship.
The lyrics:
1.
Gentle Mary Laid Her Child
Gentle Mary laid her Child
Lowly in a manger;
There He lay, the undefiled,
To the world a Stranger.
Such a Babe in such a place,
Can he be the saviour?
Ask the saved of all the race
Who have found His favour.
2.
Angels sang about His birth,
Wise men sought and found Him;
Heaven’s star shone brightly forth
Glory all around Him.
Shepherds saw the wondrous sight,
Heard the angels singing;
All the plains were lit that night,
All the hills were ringing.
3.
Gentle Mary laid her Child
Lowly in a manger;
He is still the undefiled,
But no more a Stranger.
Son of God of humble birth,
Beautiful the story;
Praise His Name in all the earth,
Hail! the King of Glory!
From thin pickings around youtube, I liked this choral rendition.
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