The time of Christ's birth was presaged by the appearance of the angel to Mary, aptly told in the Basque carol, “Gabriel’s Message.” It was based on Angelus Ad Virginem, an anonymous 13th or 14th century Latin verse and was later paraphrased by Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924). A beautiful version of the song was played by Sting on the album, A Very Special Christmas, which was put out in 1987 to benefit the Special Olympics. The album also featured “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by the Pointer Sisters, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Whitney Houston and “Merry Christmas Baby” by Bruce Springsteen.
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