Before the curtains part the voice of the Mother is heard singing her babes to sleep with A Christmas Evensong.
At Bethlehem beneath the hill
Where herded sheep lay slumber-still,
All wrapped in snowy fleece,
Within a humble khan, where lay
A band of farers on their way,
Was born the Prince of Peace,
Prince of Peace!
Then from the wakened skies there came
A wonder-song, a starry flame,