Love at Christmas
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine,
Worship we our Jesus,
But wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.
Christina Rossetti
Love Came Down at Christmas is not as well-known at In the Bleak Midwinter, but it is equally as beautiful. It’s much simpler, more direct meditation by Christina Rossetti of why the arrival of Jesus is so important to our faith and our hope.
It is sung to a number of tunes. A new setting by David J Loxley-Blount was performed in Southwark Cathedral on 8 December 2014 by the Financial Times Choir. I haven’t been able to find a recording of this performance, but this link below will take you to a YouTube video of the Eleanor Daley setting being performed by the Gesualdo Six at St James Sussex Gardens in December 2020. They are standing exactly where my choir rehearses!
Susan Patterson
14 December 2025
