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!
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!
(J. Mohr, translated J. Young. Source)
Or here's a different version courtesy of my friend Helen and her ukelele (well, one of her ukeleles...)
Something simpler today. Silent Night (Stille Nacht) was written in 1818 in a village in Austria. The story goes that the church organ had been damaged in a flood, jeopardising the music for the Christmas Eve service. The priest, Father Joseph Mohr, asked local schoolmaster and organist Franz Xaver Gruber to write the music for some words he had written, which were to be sung accompanied by a guitar at the Christmas eve service. The organ repairer found the song and took it back to his hometown from where it was popularised by local folk singers.
The English lyrics vary, some attempting to modernise the original translation given above (which makes it very confusing to sing if you don’t have the words in front of you).
The words themselves (at least in English, my German is almost non-existent despite two years of school lessons) are simple musings on the nativity- the baby, his mother, the shepherds, the angels. The listener is invited to contemplate God’s love shown by this baby, God with us in human form- Emmanuel. It’s an opportunity to allow yourself to become lost in the wonder of the incarnation- that God, confronted with the problems of humanity, didn’t ignore them but stepped down into them.
Maybe that’s one reason why popular culture associates this carol with the Christmas truces of the First World War (shown most recently in the 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special). The other of course is that the carol was originally in German, providing something in common to remind us that we are not that different from other people, even if we don’t always understand them.
Amid all the business that this time of year usually brings, it’s good to be reminded to be still. The contemplative strand of Christianity has deep roots but is challenging for those, like me, who prefer doing to simply sitting and being. Especially when the story is as well known as the Christmas story. Maybe we could all do with a little more wonder-ing.
