MCLAUGHLIN - Silent night: the stories behind 40 beloved Christmas carols

Especially for

From

Date

2013 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Print ISBN 978-1-62416-264-0

eBook Editions:
Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-62416-489-7
Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-62416-488-0

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.

Churches and other noncommercial interests may reproduce portions of this book without the express written permission of Barbour Publishing, provided that the text does not exceed 500 words and that the text is not material quoted from another publisher. When reproducing text from this book, include the following credit line: From Silent Night: The Stories Behind 40 Beloved Christmas Carols, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.

All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Cover design: Greg Jackson, Thinkpen Design

Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683 www.barbourbooks.com

Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.

Printed in China.

W hat is it about Christmas carols that make them simply wonderful? Maybe its because we listen to and sing these songs during the beloved holiday seasona season revolving around family, parties, gift-giving, and general merriness that endear these time-tested tunes to our hearts.

But the deeper meaning, the true meaning of the lyrics is really what sets apart a Christmas carol from just any other old song:

Holy Infant, so tender and mild

Love was born at Christmas

O come, let us adore Him

Sing we all of the Saviours birth

In these pages youll find stories behind the creation of forty beloved Christmas carols. Allow the stories to speak to your heart and find the inspiration you need to celebrate the true meaning of the season.

For unto us a child is born
and his name shall be called
Prince of Peace.
I SAIAH 9:6

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.

T he romantic version of the Silent Night story has an Austrian priest at his wits end when the church organ breaks down on Christmas Eve. With the prospect of a silent night ahead, he and the organist come up with a new hymn that can be sung without accompaniment. The result, Silent Night, goes on to become one of the most popular Christmas carols of all time.

The real story (according to Silent Night Museum in Salzburg, Austria) is grittier but possibly more inspirational.

Joseph Mohr was born illegitimately in a time when illegitimacy halted any possibility of social progress. Fortunately, his singing voice caught the ear of the cathedral choirmaster, and he was encouraged into the priesthood.

Working as an assistant priest, he helped translate hymns from Latin to German, to the delight of parishioners and the fury of the church establishment. Mohrs liberal priest was replaced by a hard-liner.

Resenting Mohrs popularity, the new priest attempted to blacken his reputation by bringing up his illegitimate beginnings. The battle of wills culminated on Christmas Eve 1818 when the church organ mysteriously died. Mice were blamed, but another likely suspect was Mohrs friend, organist Franz Gruber. He put music to lyrics Mohr had written two years before, and Silent Night had its first public performance. It was sung in German with a guitar accompaniment, something that normally never would have been allowed.

The carols popularity in both German and English made it the one song both armies could sing in unison from their trenches during the Christmas truce of 1914.

Joseph Mohr died in 1863. He left this world as poor as he came into it, having given everything he had for the sake of the poor. Not only did the life of this relatively unknown priest benefit his parishioners, but it glorified his Lord and gave the whole world a beautiful reminder of the night the world fell silent lest it wake a newborn baby.

And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

H EBREWS 1 :6

Away in a manger,
No crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the sky
Looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay.

S ome things in this worldmelodies, concepts, prayerstouch the human soul so deeply it would almost be a shame to ascribe them earthly authorship. Away in a Manger, the first carol many children ever learn, encompasses our feeling of Christmas so completely that it might have been a gift to the world rather than something teased from a mind and scratched out in pen and ink.

Fittingly, no one knows who came up with the first two verses, although the image of reforming clergyman Martin Luther singing it over his childrens cradles has proven remarkably durable despite there being no proof he wrote the carol. It does, however, fit beautifully with Luthers belief that all comfort and rest are to be found in God.

The third verse, beginning with Be near me, appears slightly later and, despite having various claimants for authorship, ultimately remains as mysterious as the rest.

The carol (or lullaby, sometimes called Cradle Song) first surfaced in America rather than Luthers Germany with the publication, in 1885, of a Lutheran Sunday school book. It popped up again, two years later, in Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses and has been a much-loved part of the festive celebrations ever since, especially with children.

The idea that the Lord was once a child who needed cared for, just like them, appeals to the little ones. But its an appeal that doesnt seem to wane as those children grow older. When adult carolers sing, Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, and fit us for heaven to live with Thee there, you just know the children they are singing about still live in their hearts.

Away in a Manger is a lullaby to the Lordand to the world.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn