Dewathwayen

Freed from divinity, in human guise, that day,
the day you came among us,
none of us was able
to receive you, back then,
forgive us, for we are weak . .

Come again,
be born in my heart,
free me from the cold,
dry me in your warmth

Reign over my life,
take my life for your own

Comfort me with love,
release me from my sin,
put out the fire in the heart,
stay forever near

Reign over my life,
take my life for your own

Freed from divinity, in human guise, that day,
the day you came among us,
none of us was able
to receive you, back then,
forgive us, for we are weak . .

A devotional Christmas song that begins with an apology rather than a celebration. Freed from divinity, in human guise, Jesus came among us; but none of us was able to receive you, the singer confesses, and asks, forgive us, for we are weak. The birth is met first with humility and repentance.

The middle turns it into a personal invitation. Come again, be born in my heart, he prays; free me from the cold, dry me in your warmth. And the surrender at its centre, repeated as a refrain, reign over my life, take my life for your own. Christmas becomes a plea for Christ to be born not in a manger but within.

The close is a litany of gentle requests: comfort me with love, release me from my sin, put out the fire in the heart, stay forever near. Then it returns to the opening confession of human weakness and the plea for forgiveness. Sung by Nalin Perera (a Marians original) to words by Rev. Fr. Susanatha Bernard, composed by Dinesh Tharanga, it is a humble, prayerful Christmas song asking the Christ who once went unwelcomed to come again and be born, this time, in the heart.