This morning at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, North Adelaide we sang many carols and reflected on Bethlehem, the house of bread and the one who was born to be bread and life for the world.
During the service we heard ‘O Holy Night’.
As wikipedia tells us, “O Holy Night” (“Cantique de Noël”) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem “Minuit, chrétiens” (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808–1877).
In common with other songs translated from texts originally written in another language this song has a couple of versions.
The Hymns And Carols Of Christmas website lists two. The first is the one with which I am familiar, the second I was unaware of. They also list a link to ‘O Night Divine’ which is another translation of “Cantique de Noël”.
I love listening to and singing this song. The description of the song on wikipedia as “standard modern carol for solo performance with an operatic finish” jsut about sums it up.
Here’s the lyrics (note that the ‘chorus’ is different for all three verses):
1.
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 its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world1 rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;
Chorus
Fall on your knees, Oh hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine.
2.
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 Orient land
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger
In all our trials born to be our friend.
Chorus
He knows our need, He guardeth us from danger
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
3.
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.
Chorus
Christ is the Lord, O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
Probably my favourite version is that of Mac Powell and Third Day on their ‘Christmas Offerings’ CD. If I could covet one thing in this world it is Mac Powell’s singing voice. Here’s a YouTube that features their recording. Go and purchase it at Koorong or on iTunes.
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