It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O 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 come the wise men from the Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, to our weaknesses no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Before Him lowly 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 raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
(P. Cappeau translated J.S. Dwight. Source)
Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTFG_nvreoI
O Holy Night was originally written in 1847 to celebrate the renovation of the church organ in Roquemaure in southern France. (Oddly, it doesn’t feel like a very organy carol to me). It was translated from the French original (lyrics by local poet Placide Cappeau with music was by the operatic composer Adolphe Adam) to English by American Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight in 1855. Wikipedia has the original French words alongside a literal English translation and Dwight’s English lyrics, which makes for an interesting comparison.
Verse one sets the scene- the starlit sky over a world where things are clearly not great. The descriptions of the ‘weary world’ (or ‘weary soul’, an alternative translation) and of the world ‘pining’ use the language of emotions to evoke an atmosphere of sadness and despair. Into this darkness (both literal and spiritual) comes the ‘thrill’ of hope. Jesus’ birth is depicted as the dawn, bringing light into the darkness (remember the ‘dayspring’ in ‘O come O come Emmanuel’?) and restoring ‘worth’ and hope to the world.
Verse two uses the image of the three kings, the great and good of their world, bowing before a baby born to peasants in a stable, to remind us of the need for humility. Verse three describes some of the consequences of this humility. It may feel a jolt to be confronted with slavery in a Christmas carol, but at the time that this was translated into English by an American minister, slavery was still legal in parts of the United States.
(I vaguely remember reading some years ago that ‘O Holy Night’ was banned from some American radio stations during segregation because of the ‘radical’ statement that slaves are brothers, that people of all colours were equal. I can’t find a reference for that so don’t quote me! It would perhaps explain why some versions of the carol omit verse 3).
It’s a reminder that the Christian faith shouldn’t just be concerned with ourselves. Caring and working for justice and social change is part of making the world a better place. Many abolitionists were church leaders or members, but many practicing Christians were also slave owners. It’s hard to understand how they could have squared that with faith in a God who made love the model for relationships- love for God and love for one another. Maybe in another couple of hundred years people will ask the same about Christians today- how we could have claimed to love one another and God when we participated in a society that felt it was acceptable to deny hungry children food, or to turn away those seeking asylum. We have to take seriously our responsibility to make ourselves aware of where there is injustice and oppression and to speak and act to bring about its end.
There’s so much evocative imagery in this carol, particularly around the theme of light- ‘stars are brightly shining’, ‘glorious morn’, ‘glowing hearts’ ‘star sweetly gleaming’. Perhaps a reminder that Jesus described himself as the ‘Light of the World.’ Once again it’s a reminder that even in the darkest time of the year, spring is coming- even in the darkest times of our lives, there is hope. Let’s use our Christmas lights as a reminder of that!
