Holy Night
DECEMBER 21, 2009 (MONDAY)
[The blogs for today through Christmas day are reproductions of the Christmas week blogs of 2007]
I asked myself, “What is my favorite Christmas song?” Without hesitation, I first thought of “Silent Night.”
This hymn is very popular, and has been translated from the original German into more than 300 languages and dialects. There is a “Silent Night Society” and, in Orberndorf, Austria, a Silent Night Chapel and Museum.
A beautiful story from World War I tells of the night that German and American soldiers sang carols to each other and called a brief truce, mingling and sharing Christmas Eve. The spontaneous first carol that night was “Stille Nacht,” “Silent Night.” So many stories are connected to this song that it is difficult to sort out the legends from the facts.
The original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht were written in German by the priest Father Josef Mohr, in Mariapfarr, Austria, in 1816 and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz X. Gruber. A manuscript discovered in 1995 is dated by researchers at 1820.
Silent Night
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
(Reproduction of Dec 19, 2007 blog)