Okay, granted, this folkloric, mediaeval Christmas song is too much to ask of a congregation. But it's sweet, and fun.
It does not argue for an unorthodox dating of Christmas: "may" here is a variant of "maid(en)", i.e. virgin.
The Oxford Book of Carols OBC cites manuscripts dating to the fifteenth century, which seems consonant with some of the phrasing (e.g. "The herdes heardyn" for "The shepherds heard"); the tune is from Bramley and Stainer, 1871, and is #116 in OBC and #27 in the Summit Choirbook (SCB).
I think I would go with the nuns' text (which they say they took from Bramley and Stainer) but perhaps with Martin Shaw's (OBC) arrangement.
The Hymns and Carols of Christmas has two archaic and one slightly modernized ('maid') versions.
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The text from Bramley & Stainer (via SCB):
A babe is born all of a may
To bring salvation unto us.
To him we sing both night and day:
Veni creator Spiritus!
At Bethlehem, that blessed place,
The Child of bliss then born he was;
And Him to serve God gives us grace:
O lux beata Trinitas!
There came then sages from the East
To worship Him that is so free
With gold and myrrh and frankincense:
A solis ortus cardine.
The shepherds heard an angel's cry,
A merry song then sungen he.
"Why are ye all so sore aghast?"
Jam solis ortus cardine.
The angels came down with one cry,
A merry song then sungen they
All in the worship of that Child:
Gloria tibi, Domine!
Obviously the last line of each stanza, being the incipit of a well-known Latin hymn, is one of the attractive features of the song, and makes me wonder what sort of liturgical application could be made, perhaps in the context of an atypical Lessons & Carols service.
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