Hello, friends!

Here’s the fifth and final in my series of new songs/carols/hymns for Advent and Christmas. This one draws on a phrase from the writings of Julian of Norwich, an English woman who lived from 1342 to 1416. Julian was an anchoress—that is to say, she was a sort of hermit who lived in a cell built into the wall of a church. She had many visions, and she wrote them in her book Showings, which might be the first book written by a woman in the English language. In chapter 27 of the long text of Showings, she wrote:

But Jesus, who in this vision informed me about everything needful to me, answered with these words and said: Sin is necessary, but all will be well, and all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well. … These words were revealed most tenderly, showing no kind of blame to me or to anyone who will be saved.

Julian accepted that “all will be well,” and trusted in God to know better than she how this is to be accomplished. I think there’s something very beautiful, and rather Christmas-like, in that moment of enlightenment and acceptance.

I wrote a slightly more flowery harmony and accompaniment for this one, because I planned for it to be sung by a quartet on Christmas Eve.

All Shall Be Well, Noël (full score) (letter size)

All Shall Be Well, Noël (voice) (legal size, for folding)

Hello, friends!

Here’s the fourth in my series of five new songs/carols/hymns for Advent and Christmas. This one is about the way God leads us, starting (but not ending) with the Star of Bethlehem. The sheet music with hymn parts is here:

Beacon of Bethlehem (legal size, for folding)

Beacon of Bethlehem (letter size)

There’s also a video of it here.