*The refrain of these poems is adapted from a monologue in “Black Nativity” by Langston Hughes

O Anitphon 

O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law:
come to save us, Lord our God!

• Isaiah 7:14

Children’s poem

Sometimes we wander and feel alone
We search and search to find our home
But Jesus comes to be with us
To be our home and love us best.

We tell again the Christmas story
Christ is born in all His glory!

O Anitphon

O Root of Jesse’s stem,
sign of God’s love for all his people:
come to save us without delay!

• Isaiah 11:1-5

Children’s Poem

King David was good Jesse’s son
And from his children there would come
A loving Savior to set us free
For Jesus had a family tree,
Just like you, and just like me

We tell again the Christmas story
Christ is born in all His glory!

O Antiphon
O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!

• Isaiah 22:22

Children’s Poem

Inside my heart the room is dark
And filled with sin’s black mark
But Jesus comes now with the key
To open doors of light for me

We tell again the Christmas story
Christ is born in all his glory!

O Anitphon

O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

• Isaiah 9:2-7

Children’s Poem

The night is long, we watch and wait
Hoping for the dawn to break
Look! Jesus comes and light springs out
To melt the ice of fear and doubt. 

We tell again the Christmas story
Christ is born in all His glory!

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International