Cantique de Noel

Translation: "Oh Holy Night". This is my all time favorite Christmas song. There is just something about it that is soothing to me. In fact, sometimes when I would rock Drew to sleep, I would sing this to him instead of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".
Because I liked it so much I decided to look up how this song came about. It was written in the 1800's by a  French poet named Placide Cappeau. He was not big on going to church but the priest asked him to write a poem for Christmas Mass. He decided this poem was much more than a poem and asked composer Adolphe Charles Adams for help. The song was created in time for Christmas Mass and was embraced by the Church that is until they found out who wrote the song. Adams was Jewish and did not celebrate Christmas. The church tried to halt the singing of this song, but it was loved by the people so they continued to sing it.
The song was brought to America by an American music critic named John Sullivan Dwight. He saw more to this song other than the birth of Christ. He thought the words "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." were in line with his views about slavery in the South. Dwight had a magazine in which he published the translation of this song and it soon found favor with the American people, especially in the North during the Civil War.
In reading all this I am amazed that such a beautiful song was written by men who either denounced Jesus or did not believe in Jesus. Below is my favorite version of the song...enjoy




Source: Eras of Elegance http://www.erasofelegance.com/arts/music/oholynight.html