Arise, shine, for your light has come!

Let us praise the Lord together.

for the Lord will be our light,

and our God will be our glory.

Come, let us sing to our light and salvation!

—based on Isaiah 60

May the light of God’s love push back the darkness.

But we are all one in Jesus Christ.

But we are all one in Jesus Christ.

But we are all one in Jesus Christ.

God of light and life,

open our eyes as well as our ears,

so that we may not only hear your Word preached today

but then see your Word lived out in our lives and in your world,

through Christ, our Lord, the light of the world. Amen.

We pray, Lord, as you shine the light of your Word on us,

that your glory will rise upon us by the power of your Spirit.

Darkness may cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples,

but, we pray, rise upon us, that your glory may appear to the world.

Nations will come to the light of your Word,

and peoples will be drawn to the brightness of your coming.

Help us, Lord, to lift our eyes to you, to hear you speak,

and to listen with open hearts to your gospel.

Empower us to respond to your Word with obedience,

and help us to be your shining lights in the universe.

We pray in the name of Christ, the light of the world. Amen.

—based on Isaiah 60:1-4a

Our Lord and our God,

now as we hear your Word,

fill us with your Spirit.

Soften our hearts that we may see your ways.

Fill us with your light.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

O Jesus, light of the world,

come into the dark places of this earth.

You bring a light from God that only you can shed.

Light eternal, your light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness does not overcome it.

We bring to you the darkness of our world

in war, starvation, cruelty, and exploitation.

We bring to you the darkness of our earth,

damaged and defaced by pollution.

We bring to you the darkness of our nation,

beset with conflict of race and class, religion and politics.

We bring to you the darkness of our relationships,

people not looking, not speaking, not listening, not forgiving.

We bring to you the darkness of our own souls,

hidden closets we have not visited or cleaned out for years.

O Jesus, light of the world, be a morning star above for us,

a radiance within, the shining all around that lets us live in love.

Only then shall we be reflectors of your brightness

and give glory to God in heaven. Amen.

The tempo may vary, depending on the mood you are trying to create. A light, quick pace suits the anticipatory waiting of Christmas Eve or the Easter Vigil, while a slower one fits the meditative aura of a prayer before the reading of Scripture, a response during Evening or Night Prayer. Whether fast or slow, let the line of the melody flow without sagging at the commas in the text. Resist the temptation to slow down at the end of the fourth measure, especially if you use the song as a refrain. A few voices or a soloist may begin with “Come Light, Light of God” with everyone joining in at “o’erwhelm” or entering one by one until the end. Since this comes from a convent, try the original voicing by having choir women sing in three parts—the first line with the tenor up an octave, the second line with the tenor as written.

In trying to track down the composer of this song that came from the Community of Grandchamp, a Swiss Convent, I wrote a friend who lived at the time in Germany near the Swiss border and learned that she lived within walking distance of the convent!  She offered to visit the Community so I could learn not only the composer’s name, but also obtain contact information so I could seek permission to include this song in Sing! A New Creation (2001), which I was editing at the time.  I called and met Sister Heidi over the phone, and we had a mutually delightful conversation.  She graciously gave permission to use it as I had edited it in four parts from her three-part setting for women’s voices that had been included in Thuma mina, an international ecumenical hymnbook published in Basil and Munich in 1995.