Silent Night

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;

Heav'nly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ, the Savior, is born!

Christ, the Savior, 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.

The most famous Christmas carol of all time had humble beginnings: Austrian priest Father Joseph Mohr penned the lyrics in 1816, and two years later - on Christmas Eve of 1818 - he gave the poem ("Stille Nacht," written in German) to his friend, Franz Xavier Gruber, headmaster and organist of the Church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf, Austria, high in the Austrian Alps. The organ in the church was broken, so Gruber composed the music for guitar; a simple score was finished in time for Midnight Mass, where "Silent Night" was performed for the first time. The song soon spread beyond the small village, but until the 1850's, neither Mohr nor Gruber knew of its rising popularity. The English version with which we are most familiar was translated by John Freeman Young in 1819. The song--which has been recorded by more than three hundred artists--was sung simultaneously in English and German by troops during the Christmas truce of 1914, as it was one of the few carols familiar to soldiers on both sides of the front line.

When I think of Christmas carols, Silent Night is the first one that comes to mind. It conjures up reverence and peace to me. I love this song. It is easy to see why the English and German troops sang "Silent Night" as a truce Christmas Eve. It was a night of much longed for peace.