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Silent Night! Holy Night!
Luke 2:12
STILLE NACHT | Hymn History | Bible Passage
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Author: |  |
Joseph Mohr, 1792-1848 |
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Musician: | |
Franz Gruber, 1787-1863 |
 |  Play MP3 • Click to listen to the music for this hymn.
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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 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.
Silent night! holy night!
Guiding star, wondrous sight!
Light the path where wisemen bring
Gifts and homage to our King,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
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HYMN HISTORY:
The annual presentation of the Christmas story was to be held in St. Nicholas Church in the tiny village of Oberndorf, near Salzburg, in the Austrian Alps. The actors discovered that the church organ was broken and so presented the show in a private home. The assistant pastor, Joseph Mohr attended and began to reflect on the real meaning of the Christmas season.
Mohr strode to a hillside overlooking the village as it lay shrouded in a still, clear night. Words began to form in his mind - the verse of "Silent Night, Holy Night." He later presented the verses to the church organist, Franz Gruber, a schoolmaster and songwriter. It is reported that Gruber composed the musical setting the same day he received Mohr's poem.
On Christmas Eve that year, Gruber and Pastor Mohr sang the song to the little congregation gathered in the church. The organ was still in ill repair, forcing Gruber to accompany them on his guitar.
This carol was a favourite from the beginning. Soon, Austrian concert singers, the Strasser Sisters, began singing it throughout Europe. From there it has orbited the earth again and again. It was translated into English from the Austrian language in 1863 by Jane Campbell and made its first appearance in America in 1871 in Charles Hutchin's "Sunday School Hymnal."
"Silent Night, Holy Night" is one of those carols that 'wears like steel.' It is as fresh and beautiful today as the first time it was played and sung that Christmas Eve in a little Austrian town more than 170 years ago.
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.
BIBLE PASSAGE:
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
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