SSAATBB a cappella, 3'00"
 
Wartime Christmas is a choral anthem suitable for Christmastime and Advent. It premiered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in 2018, (click to listen).  The text was written in 1918 by American poet Joyce Kilmer, as he was serving in France during World War I. Kilmer was killed in action later that year. ​
​
"Led by a star, a golden star,
The youngest star, an olden star,
Here the kings and the shepherds are,
Akneeling on the ground.
What did they come to the inn to see?
God in the Highest, and this is He,
A baby asleep on His mother’s knee
And with her kisses crowned.
 
Now is the earth a dreary place,
A troubled place, a weary place.
Peace has hidden her lovely face
And turned in tears away.
Yet the sun, through the war-cloud,
sees Babies asleep on their mother’s knees.
While there are love and home—and these—
There shall be Christmas Day."