Seven Good Joys

Knitted nativity at Parkview Court

 

Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight below

This week at St John's Seven Kings we have: sung carols at Parkview Court and along Devonshire Road; hosted a Christmas performance by Aldborough E-Act Free School; held a Christmas Assembly for Downshall Primary School; had a Youth Group Christmas Party; and, tonight, held our Nine Lessons and Carols by Candlelight. Here is the cribbed homily I gave during the latter service:

‘The Seven Joys of Mary’ or 'Seven Good Joys' is a traditional carol about Mary's happiness at moments in the life of Jesus, probably inspired by the Seven Joys of the Virgin in the devotional literature and art of Medieval Europe. I’ve come across this carol only recently, as it is included on Kate Rusby’s excellent Christmas album While Mortals Sleep.

The carol has a simple, repetitive but beautiful structure:

“The first good joy that Mary had,
It was the joy of one
To see her blessed Jesus
When He was first her Son.
When He was first her Son, Good Lord;
And happy may we be,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
To all eternity”

That structure is repeated for all seven joys. There are different British and US versions of the carol which taken together give more that seven joys but the basic joys of Mary of which the carol speaks are to see her own Son Jesus: suck at her breast bone; make the lame to go; make the blind to see; read the Bible o'er; bring the dead alive; upon the crucifix; and wear the crown of heaven.

These seven joys take us from the nativity of Christ (suck at her breast bone) through his ministry (make the lame to go; make the blind to see; read the Bible o'er; bring the dead alive) to his death (upon the crucifix), and on to his resurrection and ascension (wear the crown of heaven).

Part of the reason this carol resonates, besides its beauty, is that it links Christmas with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It even dares to list the Crucifixion as one of Mary’s joys, an incomprehensible idea unless viewed with the eyes of faith.

So the singing of a carol like this can help us more fully explain the meaning of Christmas and save it from mere sentimentality because, as the carol describes, Christ is born into our world to save us by his life, death, and resurrection. This is the ultimate lesson of every true Christmas tradition and the source of all our joys as Christians, as well as those of Mary.

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Kate Rusby - Joy To The World.