Christmas Carols- Oh Snap! Fortunate Fall!

So, I'm sitting here writing my paper and listening to the Nine Lessons and Carols when all of a sudden I pay attention to the lyrics of the 6th track, "Adam Lay Ybounden" (which I have apparently never done before). Very interesting stuff if you ask me. According to The All Knowing One, the song was originally a poem found in a 15th century manuscript that likely belonged to a wandering minstrel. Cool!

Adam lay ybounden,
Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter,
Thought he not too long.

And all was for an apple,
An apple that he took.
As clerkes finden,
Written in their book.

Ne had the apple taken been,
The apple taken been,
Ne had never our ladie,
Abeen heav'ne queene.

Blessed be the time
That apple taken was,
Therefore we moun singen.
Deo gracias!

I find the third and fourth verses the most interesting, because they talk about how the Fall of Man was actually a blessed thing, specifically since if it had not happened, Mary would not have become Queen of Heaven (Jesus is Mary's son, Jesus is God and King of Heaven, therefore Mary is the Mother of God and Queen Mother of Heaven). This reflects the very intriguing concept of the Fortunate Fall, the idea that through the fall of mankind, mankind enters into a better state than would have been possible had they never fallen. Namely, humans can now share in the Divine Nature and Life of God through the Incarnation (II Peter 1:3-4). Since Jesus became a man to free mankind, Human Nature has been taken into the Trinity through the hypostatic union. To quote St. Athansius, "God became man so that man might become god" (note the lowercase "god"). This is one concept that I've found very intriguing ever since I first heard it expressed, and so I was sort of surprised to just hear it in a Christmas carol that I've technically heard before.

Anyways, the song has a nice tune and y'all should listen to it.