This page is provided so that you can hear the tunes of items which we use in church. Mostly they are written by the vicar. Please note that they are copyright - we are very happy to give permission to you to use them, but we would like to hear about it. Please include any use on your Christian Copyright Licence returns.
Down this page:
- the words,
- the story,
- the sheet music,
- media player.
A hymn for the Presentation
Simeon in the city
Simeon in the city,
a good and upright man was he.
God's Holy Spirit told him:
"Jesus Christ will come, you'll see.
Go in the temple building,
Christ the Lord will come today,
and when you see the baby
take him in your arms and say:
'Blessings on you, God's own Son,
You will be the sign,
You will call my people home,
You will make them mine alone.' "
Simeon blessed the baby:
"Jesus Christ the Lord you are,
You are the light of Israel,
You're Good News for near and far!"
Anna was in the temple,
where she used to spend each day,
waiting for God's Messiah,
taking lots of time to pray.
Anna was very old now -
eighty-four and on her own.
But with a life of worship,
she has found she's not alone.
Then the baby Jesus came
with his dad and mum.
Anna's heart began to sing:
"Jesus Christ is Lord and King!"
Anna told all the people:
"God's redeemer's here, it's true!
If you will trust in Jesus,
God will come and live in you."
Words copyright © John Hartley 2003.
Story behind the song
This song was a natural follow-up to "Gabriel came down", and I wrote it for the same reason: I wanted something to tell part of the Christmas story during a children's Christmas service, and I wanted something to go to a well-known tune so that anyone could sing along.
There's not much music written about the welcome which Simeon and Anna gave to the baby Jesus, although of course "Simeon's song" ("Nunc dimitis") has an enduring place in the service of evensong, and has given rise to a number of modern versions.
The church celebrates the “Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple” on 2nd February, which just happened to be on a Sunday in 2003 - so that was the opportunity for giving it a wider airing to the whole church congregation. The date comes 40 days after Christmas: you could almost call it the festival of the Thanksgiving and Blessing of the Baby Jesus, but for some reason (beyond me) it is commonly known as “Candlemas”, maybe because Jesus is “a light to lighten the Gentiles”?
John Hartley
Windows Media Player. When you click the left-hand "play" button your computer should have started to play the tune. If it didn't, you might be able to get the tune by clicking here, or by right-clicking the link, choosing "save target as", saving it onto your computer, and then opening it with a music-playing program.
Please remember that a midi file of a tune isn't supposed to be a state-of-the-art musical arrangement - it is only supposed to give a basic idea of how the tune goes. Any reasonable organist / keyboard player / music group could make it sound far better.