A great and mighty wonder,
a full and holy cure!
the Virgin bears the Infant
with virgin-honour pure:
The Word becomes incarnate,
and yet remains on high;
and cherubim sing anthems
to shepherds from the sky.
While thus they sing your Monarch,
those bright angelic bands,
rejoice, ye vales and mountains,
ye oceans, clap your hands.
Since all he comes to ransom,
by all be he adored,
the Infant born in Bethl'em,
the Saviour and the Lord.
Repeat the hymn again:
'To God on high be glory,
and peace on earth to men.'
—St. Germanus (634–734)
Some people understand what life is really about. Others can write well. There are a few gifted souls who know both—one of them was St. Germanus. In his hundred years of life, he wrote only a few hymns and A Great and Mighty Wonder isn't even the most popular.
Maybe he penned it sitting in front of a 700 A.D. Christmas tree—or perhaps he was on silent barren hills at night, contemplating the miracle that God sent his Son as a baby to save His people from their sins.
This we do know: St. Germanus understood both the miracle of the incarnation and exactly what life is about.
“Since all he comes to ransom, by all be he adored . . . To God on high be glory, and peace on earth to men.”