Hail to the Princess!

Hail to the Princess is probably the best known Filianic Nativity Carol. It has been called the Filianic equivalent of Adeste Fidelis for its popular "centrality" to the celebration of Nativity.

We are very happy to present here a recording of the song, so that you will know the tune and may sing it in your own dear home.

You can load down the recording here. Or use the player below to play it right on the page.

The words of the carol are as follows:

Hail to the Princess

(Chorus)
Hail to the light of the glorious morning!
Hail to the first gentle rays of the dawn!
Hail to the star that has guided us onward!
Hail to the Princess
Hail to the Princess
Hail to the Princess of light that is born!

Deep in the dark night of death we have fallen,
Far from the Mother from Whom we have turned.
Still in the darkness a clear voice is calling
Back to the Homeland
Back to the Homeland
Back to the Homeland for which we have yearned.

(Chorus)

Over the valley the starlight is streaming,
Over the mountains and over the sea:
Waking the world from its slumberous dreaming
Bearing the glory
Bearing the glory
Bearing the glory of God's mystery.

(Chorus)

White as the snow are the Angels descending,
Bright as the Sun are their banners unfurled,
Through the earth's darkness their voices are rending:
Echoing clearly
Echoing clearly
Echoing clear to the ends of the world.

Hail to the light of the glorious morning!
Hail to the first gentle rays of the dawn!
Hail to the star that has guided us onward!
Hail to the Princess
Hail to the Princess
Hail to the Princess of light that is born!

Thealogy and Symbolism

The thealogy and symbolism of this carol is very straightforward and states in simple terms many of the essentials of the Filianist creed.

Most obviously the hymn is about Light and Darkness. It continually contrasts the darkness of separation from Dea with Her saving Light that is dawning upon the world.

Maid has turned away from Dea "in the infirmity of her sovereign will", as the Filianic Creed puts it. This is expressed in the lines:

Deep in the dark night of death we have fallen,
Far from the Mother from Whom we have turned.

Nevertheless, through Her conception of Herself and Her birth as Her Own Daughter, Our Mother God calls us back to Her:

Still in the darkness a clear voice is calling...
Back to the Homeland for which we have yearned.

Sound (as we noted in our description of bells on the Nativity Fir or Christmas tree) is metaphysically equivalent to light, and in the next verse, the Divine Voice becomes a Light:

Over the valley the starlight is streaming,

Lighting the entire world:

Over the mountains and over the sea:

The theme of Light and Darkness is shown as equivalent to Life and Death, and also to Waking and Sleep:

Waking the world from its slumberous dreaming

The idea of the material world as a dream and the Reality of the Spirit as wakefulness is perhaps most familiar from Hinduism and Buddhism. The Buddha, being En-light-ened, or at One with Ultimate Reality, is called The Awakened.

Here the concept is placed in a more explicitly Theistic context than that of Theravada Buddhism, but it is a Universal Truth, always and everywhere the same.

The final verse recapitulates the themes of Light, dark and Sound (or Voice):

White as the snow are the Angels descending,
Bright as the Sun are their banners unfurled,
Through the earth's darkness their voices are rending:

The Angels, or Janyati, not only come to celebrate the birth of the Daughter, but it is through Her birth that their presence in "earth's darkness" is made possible; for the Mediating Act of God the Daughter, which is Nativity, enables every other mediation between Heaven and earth; between Dea and maid.

In this most glorious of Carols, we hail the Divine Daughter – the coming-to-Her-children of Our Mother God – as our adored Saviour and our True Princess.

See also:

The Meaning of Nativity: The Great Winter Festival of Our Mother God

The History of the Christmas Tree

Winter Solstice Celebrations: The Northern Point of the Year's Journey

The Gates of Heaven: The mystical meaning of the Summer and Winter Solstices

The Star Fairy: The "Angel" of the Nativity Fir-Tree

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