Çà, bergers, assemblons-nous (“Lo, Shepherds, Let us Gather”) is a joyful French Christmas carol, said to be an adaptation of the 16th-century Christmas carol, Où s'en vont ces gais bergers (Where goeth these happy shepherds).
The song is a pressing appeal to other fellow shepherds that they should hasten to the Manger to see the sweet God Child in the arms of Mary. Leave behind your herds and let them pasture freely, the singer advises. Although the bitter cold of winter has hardened the plain, the shepherds should still brave the bad weather and hasten to seek out the Child because "when we are looking for a God full of attractions, we do not fear pain."
Let the shepherds be generous with their gifts. Finally, let them fall on their knees and offer Him a final prayer, bathing His feet with tears and asking for His peace.
The song could be interpreted as a metaphor: The shepherd's appeal to leave one's herd is a call to leave behind worldly trifles and self interests, having God and His Church always present in our minds. Despite the suffering this may cause – the arduous trek through the bitter winter cold – we should keep foremost in our minds that God is the ultimate good, infinitely beyond all wordly things and most worthy of our adoration.
As the shepherds generously offer Him the best of their gifts, we are reminded to imitate them ("I hear him, He calls us all"). Likewise we should confide our sufferings to Him, just as the shepherds confided their tears to the Christ Child, and ask His blessing through Our Lady's intercession.
Çà, bergers, assemblons-nous is here interpreted by La Petite Bande de Montreal.
Listen to Çà, bergers, assemblons-nous
Lyrics:
French text
Refrain:
Çà, bergers, assemblons-nous
Allons voir le Messie
Cherchons cet Enfant si doux
Dans les bras de Marie.
Je l'entends, Il nous appelle tous.
Ô sort digne d'envie.
2. Laissons là tout le troupeau
Qu'il erre à l'aventure
Que sans nous sur ce côteau
Il cherche sa pâture.
Allons voir dans un petit berceau
L'Auteur de la nature.
(Refrain)
3. Que l'hiver par ses frimas
Ait endurci la plaine.
S'il croit arrêter nos pas,
Cette espérance est vaine.
Quand on cherche un Dieu rempli d'appas,
On ne craint point de peine.
(Refrain)
4. Sa naissance sur nos bords
Ramène l'allégresse
Répondons par nos transports
À l'ardeur qui Le presse
Secondons par de nouveaux efforts
L'excès de Sa tendresse.
(Refrain)
5. Dieu naissant, exauce-nous
Dissipe nos alarmes
Nous tombons à Tes genoux
Nous les baignons de larmes
Hâte-Toi de nous donner à tous
La paix et tous ses charmes.
English translation (1):
Refrain
Lo, shepherds, let us gather
Let us go see the Messiah
Let us seek this Child so sweet
In the arms of Mary.
I hear Him, He calls us all.
O fate worthy of envy.
2. Let us leave the whole herd there
That it may wander on an adventure
Since without us on this hill
[The herd] seeks its pasture.
Let us go to see in a little cradle
The Author of nature.
(Refrain)
3. Winter with its frost
Has hardened the plain.
If it [the winter] thinks it stops our steps,
This hope is in vain.
When we are looking for a God full of attractions,
We do not fear pain.
(Refrain)
4. His birth on our shores
Brings back joy
Let us respond with our gifts
To the ardor that urges Him
Let us assist with new efforts
The surplus of His tenderness.
(Refrain)
5. Nascent God, hear us
Dispel our alarm
We fall before Thy knees
We bathe them in tears
Make haste to give us all
Peace and all its charms.
The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Marcellus Coffermans. At left: full painting; at right: detail of the Angel calling the shepherds. Netherlandish, ca. 1550.
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
here.
English translation by TIA Desk, adapted from the translation by the website Lawless French,
here.
