Christmas Stories

– O Holy Night  –

Christmas stories – O Holy Night – is a New Year recital of faith and hope, to begin anew, out of darkness, into the LIGHT of a new day.

It reminds me of my story from last week: Anna’s Wish. For our deepest heart wish, that may seem nigh impossible, can become manifest in unseen yet powerful ways. It is in the innocent Light that shines out in unexpected genius from our own love, gratitude and fearless faith…

… for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Dark Moments in Time: 1938

At Christmastime in 1938, my father was a university student, living at home on their farm in Michigan. He and his brother, Jack, had enlisted as young recruits in the US Navy Reserves. The family was well-aware of the world seeming to spin out of control. The Great Depression was still going strong world-wide, and the ominous rumblings of Germany’s bully-policies had begun, in taking over the Sudetenland from Chzekoslovakia, as well as the Kristalnacht in Austria, which destroyed more than 1,000 Jewish shops and synagogues, killed almost 40,000 Jews, and arrested 30,000. In December of that year, the British Cabinet began their KinderTransport, allowing 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children into Britain.

Sacred Night

Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve 1938 was a celebration not to be forgotten for my father, his three brothers and one sister. In the years of conflict that followed, they would recall that Christmas observance with hope in their hearts… just as my father and my uncle told it to me.

It was close to midnight, Christmas Eve, a dark, sacred night, glittering with stars. Our warm breath misted into the cold air and our feet crunched at the frozen ground, as we made our way around the high hill – our skiing hill – to the avenue, where the church was shining with lights and humming with organ music.

At the doorway, our noses tweaked with the smell of balsam and pine, and inside, further nipped with the aroma of incense. We ran up the steps to the choir loft, where the organist was already warming up with soft, quiet chords. The choir soloists were there, reviewing their music and pointing to the folders that were ready and waiting for us.

Looking down, we could see the church was filling up quickly. People at the doorway greeted each other: “Merry Christmas!” “Joy to the World!” “Christmas Peace!”

At the front of the church, the altar boys crisscrossed back and forth, lighting candles, setting up the altar, positioning the bells, filling the thurible-boat with the incense, and putting out the extra chairs for the High Mass.

 Divine Celebration

The priests entered with their beautiful white vestments worn expressly for this celebration:.the long pure white Alb, cinctured with the white braided rope, their necks covered in a long Stole of white, atop their Chasubles of more white, embroidered with gold.

Swelling with full stop harmonies, the organ music rang through the rafters, and the congregation rose, singing, “O Come All Ye Faithful!”. The rituals of the mass were carried along in the writings of Matthew and Luke, relating the simple, familiar stories of the birth of Jesus, the angels, the star, the shepherds, and the wise men.

 Blessed Songs

All of this waxed more eloquent, more elegant, more heartfelt with the beautiful hymns and carols we sang: Joy to the World, Away in a Manger, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Angels We have Heard on High, and Silent Night.

And the soloists outdid themselves!

First, they lullaby-ed us with Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming, the German carol from 1609 that sings of the prophecy of Isaiah, foretelling the birth of Jesus and his lineage from the Tree of Jesse.

In four-part harmony they riveted the whole church with Handel’s For Unto Us a Child is Born!  Thundering with the words: Wonderful! Counsellor! The Mighty God! The Everlasting Father! The Prince of Peace! 

Cantique de Noel

Before the last carol to end the services, one of the priests told a story about how the carol, “O Holy Night”, came to be.

This carol was written in France in 1847, when a parish priest asked a wine merchant/poet to write a poem for Christmas mass. The poet was a decidedly non-religious man, yet he wondered: What would it have been like to be present at the birth of Jesus? He wrote his thoughts in answer to that question, and he was so moved by his own words, he felt they should be lyrics for a hymn.

He turned to a Jewish musician, who wrote the music, and called it Cantique de Noel. It was an instant success wherever it was sung, especially in church. The song became a most beloved carol and was sung everywhere  by the French people.

O Holy Night Begins Anew

Ten years later, a Harvard Divinity student discovered it. This man had not been able to become a minister due to his crippling panic-attacks that kept him out of the pulpit. But he translated the song for an American audience. Cantique de Noel became O Holy Night. And it became wildly popular in the states.

In 1906, it became the first song ever broadcast on radio.

Hauntingly Beautiful  

The priest finished relating the story and declared: “God could take these disparate people – a non-believer, a Jew, and a debilitated almost-minister – and together, these unconventional, largely unknown creators produced the most powerful, hauntingly beautiful music of this blessed season. It tells us all… this is truly a most Holy Night.”

There was not another sound in the church. The soprano soloist began, and serenely sang of this holy night, shining with stars and the story of Jesus’ birth. Building, rising ever higher, we lost our breath as the song climbed into the powerful, divine high notes. Every word, every phrase, filled us to overflowing with the majesty of the music.   

A Thrill of Hope and Faith

It left us all wanting to embrace and embody the beautiful, simple message of Christmas.

All the way home we sang, “O Holy Night”. We climbed our skiing hill and stood at the top, singing it into the night – that sacred night. And we tumbled down the hill with those notes, that music, those words, wrapped around us. 

Those were moments to remember when we faced the war years ahead. Years that tested our faith, challenged our hope.

That holy night gave us the thrill of hope that brought us through the darkness.

O Holy Night. We need it still.

O Holy Night

the stars are brightly shining!

It is the night of our dear savior’s birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

till he appeared and the soul felt its worth!

In this coming New Year – 2023 –

may we all remember the LIGHT of a new and glorious morn.

And know – this is our LIGHT – the LIGHT with which we are born.

May we grow – through inspirations of LIGHT moments,

Being – becoming –

the sacred, holy Light we are.

Each one of us.

 LIGHT ON! 

Listen to the Celtic Trio perform with fiddle, harp and voice: O Holy Night:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITIaYoWCPkE

If you like my LIGHT stories,

you will love my books, especially to Read-Aloud!

Books by Patsie McCandless

Becoming Jesse

The Secrets of Windy Hill