George Frederic Handel’s “For unto Us a Child Is Born” turns Isaiah 9:6, the first reading at Midnight Mass, into a school of prayer. The crisscrossing vocal lines act like a crowd passing good news from pew to pew. The sparkling runs (known as “melismas”) in this piece can be viewed not as ornaments for ornament’s sake but as an audible overflow of joy at the Incarnation.

The Church’s documents give context for how this piece works within Mass. The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1963, calls sacred music a “treasure” that belongs to the liturgy itself, adding delight to prayer and uniting minds. Tra le Sollecitudini, An Instruction on Sacred Music, by Pope Pius X, 1903, says that music admitted to worship must be holy in purpose, truly artful, and universal — precisely what Handel achieves in his setting of this text. Musicam Sacram, An Instruction On Music In The Liturgy, 1967, reminds us that participation is both outward and inward — a choir may carry the text while the assembly prays it. De Musica Sacra,  the Encyclical by Pope Pius XII on Sacred Music, 1955, commends moments of reverent silence — the final setting of “Prince of Peace” falls into quiet adoration.

For personal prayer, try practicing a musical lectio divina of sorts. Read and pray with Isaiah 9:6. Then listen to and pray about the work. In this way, Isaiah’s prophecy becomes praise, and praise becomes presence.