O Holy Night

“For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder. These will be his royal titles: “Wonderful,” “Counselor,” “The Everlasting Father,” “The Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6 [The Living Bible]

Is it any wonder that the night Jesus was born was so special?  He was heralded as a King yet He was much more than a king. He was God; God come to man.

That first Christmas night Jesus came to bring spiritual peace to our hearts as He was born and died for us. But we continue to look forward to that day when He will come to earth again and this time bring complete peace as He rules the world.
O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt His worth

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder beams a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine! O night when Christ was born!
O night divine! O night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming
Here came the wise men from the Orient land

The King of Kings lay in lowly manger
In all our trials born to be our friend
He knows our need
To our weakness no stranger
Behold your King! before the lowly bend!
Behold your King! before Him bend!

Truly he taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus rise we
Let all within us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord
Then ever, ever praise we
His pow’r and glory ever more proclaim
His pow’r and glory ever more proclaim

 
I’ve discovered that “O Holy Night”, my very favorite Christmas carol, is also noted to be one of the worlds most favorite.  I believe it is because its lyrics and melody are a perfect combination and uplift our souls to God Himself.  So I was surprised when I read that the writer was only an occasional church attendee.

Placide Cappeau (1808-1877) lived in Roquemaure, France.  He was a wine merchant and mayor.  Once in a while he went to church.  He was preparing to go on a business trip when his parish priest asked him to write a special poem for Christmas mass.  And so it happened that this beloved carol was created in a dusty coach traveling down a bumpy road.  Cappeau imagined himself being present at the birth of Jesus that long ago night in Bethlehem and by the time he reached Paris “O Holy Night” was complete. Being French, Cappeau wrote the lyrics in French “Cantique de Noel”.

Cappeau decided this poem must become a song and approached his friend, Adolphe Charles Adams, to compose the perfect melody for it.  Adams was a master musician who had written Giselle just a few years ago.  He composed works for operas and ballets all over the world. His father also was a well known classical musician.
Cappeau’s request was a real challenge to him.  Adams was of Jewish ancestry and he didn’t celebrate Christmas.  I am amazed that God gave him this beautiful melody even when he didn’t believe that the Jesus the lyrics spoke of was the Son of God.  Adams wrote the melody and it was first heard in public three weeks later during Midnight Mass, Christmas Eve, in Roquemaure in 1847.

At first the church in France accepted the carol and used it in Christmas services.  Later the church denounced it because of the reputations of both the poet and the composer.  Cappeau had left the church and became a social radical and was judged to be a non-Christian.  When the church discovered that Adams was a Jew they rejected the carol.  But it had already found its way into the French people’s hearts and they continued to sing it.

In 1855 “O Holy Night” was published in London.  The carol was translated into many languages. The English version was written by John Sullivan Dwight.  He was a Unitarian minister in Massachusetts, US and a slave abolitionist. 
He was touched by the words, “Truly he taught us to love one another; his law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother; and in his name all oppression shall cease.” That freedom is exactly what he wished for the slaves in the South.  He translated the words and published the English carol in his magazine.  The people of America loved it.  It must have been part of the celebration that year because that was also the year that Christmas was made a legal holiday in Massachusetts.

There is a beautiful story told of how this carol was sung to bring peace to French and German troops on Christmas Eve in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. In the middle of their fighting, a French soldier jumped up out of the trench and began to sing the beginning of the French carol. Instead of attacking him and shooting him one of the German soldiers also emerged and sang a German carol. The soldiers called a truce for twenty-four hours in honor of Christmas.  Later the French church again accepted the beloved carol in their Christmas services.